Baka Synchronicity

Candid Camera

2006-05-17T14:10:00.000-07:00

bushl
Originally uploaded by En Syn.

The true man in office?
How did he get there?
Why are we at war?
Where did all the surplus go?
How can I afford to get to work, if I have work?

They call the wind Maria

2006-04-19T00:38:00.000-07:00

They call the wind Maria
Originally uploaded by En Syn.

They call the wind Maria

Maria
Maria
They call the wind Maria

Away out here they got a name
For rain and wind and fire
The rain is Tess, the fire Joe,
And they call the wind Maria

Maria blows the stars around
And sends the clouds a'flyin'
Maria makes the mountains sound
Like folks were up there dying

Maria
Maria
They call the wind Maria

Before I knew Maria?s name
And heard her wail and whinin?
I had a girl and she had me
And the sun was always shinin?

But then one day I left my girl
I left her far behind me
And now I?m lost, so gone and lost
Not even God can find me

Maria
Maria
They call the wind Maria

Out here they got a name for rain
For wind and fire only
But when you?re lost and all alone
There ain?t no word but lonely

And I?m a lost and lonely man
Without a star to guide me
Maria blow my love to me
I need my girl beside me

Maria
Maria
They call the wind Maria

Maria
Maria!
Blow my love to me

I can't help but cry

2006-04-19T00:37:00.000-07:00

I can't help but cry
Originally uploaded by En Syn.

Black Gold Fever

2006-04-19T00:36:00.000-07:00

Black Gold Fever
Originally uploaded by En Syn.

Black Gold Fever

Black gold Fever Lyrics

Day was day, and night was night
Wrong, was never right
Didn't matter where I went
As much as where I stood

I had dreams, average size
There were stars in the skies
Not my eyes

Then I got...
Black gold fever
No romp 'n rollin' girl
And fellow stuck
'Cause your the, black gold fever
Nothin' can help you
But the black stuff

What! Can stop that itchin'?
Ain't! Around the kitchen
Black gold, black gold, hooked am I
Susannah, go ahead and cry

Once we all did honest work
Farmer, lawyer, clerk
Married men, and single men
And some who ain't so sure

Now I look at them and see
Duplicates of me
Cured of what we suffered from
And sufferin' from the cure

Who can say, why we came?
Where's the hope, where's the flame?
We're the same

When you've got
Black gold fever
No romp 'n rollin' girl
And fellow stuck
'Cause your the black gold fever
Nothin' can help you
But the black golden stuff

What! Can stop that itchin'?
Ain't! Around the kitchen

Black gold, black gold, hooked am I
Susannah, go ahead and cry

Black gold fever
Black gold fever
Black gold fever
Black gold fever
Black gold fever
Deal!

The Gospel Of No Name City

2006-04-19T00:35:00.000-07:00

The Gospel Of No Name City
Originally uploaded by En Syn.

The Gospel Of No Name City

The Gospel Of No Name City
You wanna see sin of the wickedest kind?
Here it is!
You wanna see virtue left behind?
Here it is!
Sodom was vice
And visa-versa
You wanna say where the vice is worser?
Here it is!
I mean, here it is!

You wanna live life in the rottenest city?
Here it is!
Women and whiskey, night and day?
Here it is!
You wanna embrace the golden calf?
Ankle, and thigh, and upper half?
Here it is!
I mean, here it is!

No name city
No name city
The Lord don't like it here

No name city
No name city
Your reckoning day is near

No name city
No name city
Here's what he's gonna do

God love this town
And swallow it down
And goodbye to you

Will you go to heaven?
Will you go to hell?
Either repent, or fare thee well

God will take care of no name city
Comes the end, and it won't be pretty
Here it is!
I mean, here it is!

Here it is!
I mean, here it is!

Here it is!
I mean, here it is!
Amen!

2006-04-14T12:52:00.000-07:00

You Are an Old Soul

You are an experienced soul who appreciates tradition.
Mellow and wise, you like to be with others but also to be alone.
Down to earth, you are sensible and impatient.
A creature of habit, it takes you a while to warm up to new people.

You hate injustice, and you're very protective of family and friends
A bit demanding, you expect proper behavior from others.
Extremely independent you don't mind living or being alone.
But when you find love, you tend to want marriage right away.

Souls you are most compatible with: Warrior Soul and Visionary Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

You Belong in Paris

You enjoy all that life has to offer, and you can appreciate the fine tastes and sites of Paris.
You're the perfect person to wander the streets of Paris aimlessly, enjoying architecture and a crepe.

What European City Do You Belong In?

You Are The Magician

You are powerful and wise - beyond what anyone can see.
Deeply complex, you have the resources to connect to the spiritual and material world.
You posses the knowledge to manipulate your life and the lives around you.
You also have a great healing power, should you choose to use it.

Your fortune:

You have unhidden powers that you have yet to tap into.
Soon, you will better understand how to use your intellect and intuition.
Believe it or now, you will discover how you can manipulate yourself and others for good.
You are at the beginning of a path of spiritual enlightenment.

What Tarot Card Are You?

You Should Be a Science Fiction Writer

Your ideas are very strange, and people often wonder what planet you're from.
And while you may have some problems being "normal," you'll have no problems writing sci-fi.
Whether it's epic films, important novels, or vivid comics...
Your own little universe could leave an important mark on the world!

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

ALBA FORGIVES PLAYBOY

2006-04-07T00:15:00.000-07:00

ALBA FORGIVES PLAYBOY
Originally uploaded by en syn.

Jessica Alba, Playboy end spat with Hefner apology

By Dan WhitcombTue Apr 4, 5:11 PM ET

Film star Jessica Alba forgave Playboy magazine on Tuesday for making her an unwitting cover girl after founder Hugh Hefner sent the actress a personal apology and pledged to donate money to her favorite charities.

Alba had threatened to sue Playboy after the men's magazine printed a photo of the bikini-clad actress from her 2005 movie "Into the Blue" on the cover of its March issue -- which she said duped readers into thinking she was nude inside.

"In light of Mr. Hefner's personal apology for Playboy's unauthorized use of my photo on their cover, I have decided to discontinue my claims against them," Alba, 24, said in a written statement.

"This was never about money, it was about setting the record straight about something that was done without my knowledge or consent," she added.

Alba's lawyers, who claimed that Playboy tricked Sony Pictures Entertainment into supplying the photo after the "Fantastic Four" star refused to pose for the cover, had also asked that the magazine pull the March issue from newsstands.

A spokeswoman for Playboy was not immediately available for comment. The magazine initially had claimed to have "done nothing wrong" in giving cover treatment to Alba, who was chosen "sexiest star of the year" by Playboy readers in an online poll.

In his letter to Alba, Hefner apologized for "any distress unintentionally caused by the publication of your photo" on the March cover.

"What was intended as a tribute to your tremendous popularity has been misinterpreted by some as something else for which we are truly sorry since we are among your biggest fans," Hefner said.

A representative for Alba, who also starred in films "Sin City" and "Honey" and the TV series "Dark Angel," said the actress did not file a lawsuit against Playboy but that her lawyers had been speaking to attorneys for the magazine.

He said that Playboy, a unit of Playboy Enterprises Inc , had agreed to make donations, in a sum he would not disclose, to two charities supported by the actress.

Warning Animation - Also hint of Beaver- This May Make You Laugh

2006-03-18T17:59:00.000-08:00

Warning Animation - Also hint of Beaver- This May Make You Laugh
Originally uploaded by en syn.

The Geek Wins

Amonite View

2006-03-18T17:54:00.000-08:00

amoniteView WARNING STROBOSCOPIC EFFECT View at your own risk
Originally uploaded by en syn.

As seen over Calgary

Canadian WARNING Animation

2006-03-18T17:46:00.000-08:00

Canadian WARNING Animation
Originally uploaded by en syn.

You are what you Drink

cleoheartgif WARNING HEART THROBBING ANIMATION

2006-03-18T17:37:00.000-08:00

cleoheartgif WARNING HEART THROBBING ANIMATION
Originally uploaded by en syn.

And she Sings http://www.myspace.com/candymilla

Bush

2006-03-10T23:02:00.001-08:00

Bush
Originally uploaded by en syn.

Speaks for itself

Harper

2006-03-10T23:02:00.000-08:00

Harper
Originally uploaded by en syn.

Who is this Guy

Dvorak

2006-03-10T23:01:00.000-08:00

Dvorak
Originally uploaded by en syn.

WEB 2.0 Hype

Oh! Shit

2006-02-25T12:54:00.000-08:00

Oh! Shit
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

n1966 Pro User says:

:)))))))))))))))))))))super photo

photoni Pro User says:

panicooooo

Cane Sugar Pro User says:

lol

Sponge Pro User says:

OMG!

apey dawn Pro User says:

wow!!!! and I love the Title!!

hira3 Pro User says:

lol!
Witty as usual!

Genin-X Pro User says:

Darwinism in action.

Nex Ninek says:

LOL! Thanks for the great morning laugh...

engineering synchronicity Pro User says:

I can't make this stuff up.
Well I can with photoshop, but it's not the same.
BTW - This is the most common phrase recorded on a "black box" from an airplane crash.

buzzby09 Pro User says:

Thanks for the laugh... Great

engineering synchronicity Pro User says:

buzzby09 - Thanks for dropping by.^_^.

The Real Bear Pro User says:

You could also title this one "Learning To Fly In One Easy Lesson."

Oh, was the guy hurt?

aarthyr Pro User says:

hahahaha. brilliance in a frame.

Sylvia...Sometimes Pro User says:

oh...I needed this!!! ;-D

Rainmountain Pro User says:

I think, he lost something...... ;)

farmrman43 says:

perfect title for a perfect picture

engineering synchronicity Pro User says:

The Real Bear - This is kinda like "Duck and Cover" look it up on archive.org
aathyr - Thanks though it is all about the humor. No rules of course.
Sylvia Sometimes - always trying to fill needs.
Rainmountain - I think he lost more than just something.

Junk Girl Pro User says:

Really Oh shit! This made me laughed :p

Kwisatch says:

This is supposed to be motivational!? |-)

engineering synchronicity Pro User says:

Junk Girl - you are now a contact.^_^.- check out
www.flickr.com/groups/baka_baka/
Kwisatch - Yeah! If you are going to Make like a bird, learn to fly.

sudoku Pro User says:

this is great! i love it! :)

engineering synchronicity Pro User says:

Sudoku A big thanks. You help me to get to #65 for 22 Feb in explorer>^_^.
Thank you All.

Domain Barnyard Pro User says:

Love what you did with the toys!

dblues Pro User says:

Bet that left a mark!!!!!

engineering synchronicity Pro User says:

Domain Barnyard - I have this urge to caption.
dblues - glad it was not me.^_^.

My Sun

2006-02-25T12:47:00.000-08:00

My Sun
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

"You are my Sunshine
My only Sunshine.
You Make me Happy
When Skies are Grey............"

Holy Rollers

2006-02-18T15:25:00.000-08:00

Holy Rollers
Originally uploaded by mychael alchemy.

Cartholicism

2006-02-18T15:22:00.002-08:00

Cartholicism
Originally uploaded by mychael alchemy.

Bicurianists

2006-02-18T15:22:00.001-08:00

Bicurianists
Originally uploaded by mychael alchemy.

The Morethemerriers

2006-02-18T15:22:00.000-08:00

The Morethemerriers
Originally uploaded by mychael alchemy.

Zen Butthism

2006-02-18T15:21:00.000-08:00

Zen Butthism
Originally uploaded by mychael alchemy.

Frisbeetarianism

2006-02-18T15:20:00.000-08:00

Frisbeetarianism
Originally uploaded by mychael alchemy.

Goddess of the Sky Penetrates the Sanctuary

2006-02-18T10:11:00.000-08:00

Goddess of the Sky Penetrates the Sanctuary
Originally uploaded by Cunis Diabolis.

All Gods and Goddesses are different reflections of the Divine.
Thanks to Engineering Synchronicity for the background.

My creation

2006-02-18T10:07:00.000-08:00

My creation
Originally uploaded by Genin-X.

found collage

2006-02-18T10:05:00.000-08:00

found collage
Originally uploaded by the pain of fleeting joy.

On what seemed to be the door of a tiny private residence near Nipponbashi.

I like this. The crosshatching gives it kind of a fish net stocking feel which works with Audrey.

NO ANGEL WINGS

2006-02-18T10:04:00.000-08:00

NO ANGEL WINGS
Originally uploaded by SHY.

We have hawks in our complex. And, appearently, this pidgon, or what remains was breakfast. It is interesting that even in an urban environment life strives.

Wow...that's quite a find... Intense image!

Striking image!
Common sense in the world of living thing?

whoa. must agree -- what a strong image. cool yet gruesome.

Oh my. It looks like amputated angel wings. Life, and death, in the concrete jungle...

strong shot...but this is life too, well composed my friend ;)

Excellent Capture. It was a sight like this that made me carry my Camera everywhere I go. I was walking Roche & the Day I didn't have It was the Day a Bird of Prey was Dragging a Pigeon across the Pavement (Sidewalk)

stunning. guess the head had more meat than the wings...no pigeon hot wings for us.

Us humans tend to forget that we are on someone's food chain... What an intense, viceral image, SHY.

This rocks

Perfect timing.

22nd Century CyberFlickr

2006-02-18T09:48:00.000-08:00

22nd Century CyberFlickr
Originally uploaded by Zone Patcher.

YA know her - she is an archetype

Omni-Tek

Omni-Tek is maybe the most successful hypercorporation (Hypercorporation defined as having 1 billion + employees) in the history of humankind. This massive entity lease more than 10 million solar systems from the ICC, and has a staggering 282 billion employees at the latest count.

Omni-Tek's huge success is without any doubt based on the Nano-Tek technology the company patented 25,000 years ago. The company is ruled by an interstellar board, with members currently unknown. Founders unknown. Origin Unknown. Its first documented appearance was in the late 22nd century, Earth.

Omni-Tek Intergalactic HQ populates an entire solar system (all 7 planets + 23 moons) in the Perseus Arm (Northeastern part of the Milky Way). They have several divisions, sporting everything from the most advanced military units in the Galaxy (Omni-Pol) to the best social engineering department (Omni-Social) via Omni-Med, Omni-Trans and what have you...

A new recruit should carefully consider his field of interest before choosing an Omni-Tek department to work in. If the recruit wants to reach the highest levels of the company hierarchy, the Partner level, it is important to know where it will be possible to raise quickly. A mentor with a lot of influence on the inside will always help. There are all kinds of breeds and professions in a department. However, as an organization, each and every department, has its own agenda.

Omni-Tek Divisions:
Omni-Pol

Tasks: Police, military, guarding - the servants of the public.
Archetype: A simple warrior who believes in the system. Omni-Pol recruits are very proficient in all kinds of weapons.

Omni-InternOp

Tasks: Special Operations, spying, assassinations - the antibodies of the company.
Archetype: A careful person that prefers to stay in the shadows or act in disguise. Homo Opifex like this department, but are still a minority.

Omni-Med

Tasks: Medical research, biotechnology, drugs - the seekers of knowledge.
Archetype: A scientist who wants to change the world through healing and new knowledge.

Omni-Reform

Tasks: Social engineering, information, brainwashing - the teachers of the public.
Archetype: The manipulator who uses other people to achieve his goals. A recruit is often able to lie so well that he believes the lie himself.

Omni-Adm

Tasks: Administration, bureaucracy, diplomacy, trade - the nerves of society.
Archetype: The best leaders are found in this department. They keep all the parts of the organization together.

Omni-Mine

Tasks: Mining, extracting minerals, production - the workhorses of society.
Archetype: This is the reason Omni-Tek® is on the planet, and nano-mages love this department. Omni-Mine controls much of the economy in Omni-Tek.

Omni-TransCom

Tasks: Transportation, teleporting, communication, infrastructure.
Archetype: Scouts, messengers and explorers are in control of the department. Their information about what is happening is often better than what Omni-InternOp has.

Reach out...

2006-02-18T09:38:00.000-08:00

Reach out...
Originally uploaded by Sylvia...Sometimes.

and grab Life
while you can.

isn't life such an amazing spectacle, sylvia? just being able to wake up in the morning, once those eyes have opened to see whatever is in the bedroom (or wherever one is sleeping), and to be able to get up out of the bed without needing help. being able to see the sun shine amongst our faces, the rain hitting our skin, the greetings of strangers, the health, the vision, the love. it's all there.

Finiky...yes, life is short...so how come the airlines make us waste half of it, waiting to board a plane? Just teasing...appreciate your comment!

Derrick...hmmm...spectacle? sure has its moments. comedy of errors? I make my share. amazing? hasn't stopped amazing me yet. Good to see you!

CountryDreaming...just your name is uplifting! Thanks.

Ten...your pictures are good for the soul. Happy you stopped by.

Holger...have to stay warm the best way we can. Have a beautiful day!

Ken...yep, life is short and so is yer comment! lol Thank you!

isolano...hi and good to see you. Thanks for your comments and have a good day!

Love the caption.^_^.
Very Baka Baka.

I love the big hunk of yellow in the lower left hand corner! Not a very poetic description on my part but what the hey.

lol, eng...and I just baka'd it over to the group. Thanx!

snowjoe...you big hunka! lol...great to see you. love it.

susanne...yeah, it's a "hey day", lol. I didn't say that! bejeebs...good to see you!

senos...otra visión

2006-02-18T09:34:00.000-08:00

senos...otra visión
Originally uploaded by ruurmo.

Bareback Mountain

2006-02-18T09:32:00.001-08:00

Bareback Mountain
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

Brokeback Mandalorian

2006-02-18T09:32:00.000-08:00

Brokeback Mandalorian
Originally uploaded by Genin-X.

there was a discussion over on theforce.net about whether the Mandalorian Supercommandoes were like the Spartans, i.e. "women are for babies, men are for pleasure". But I think thats total BS. Everybody knows Boba Fett was the Don Juan de la Nooch of the GFFA.

Penguinian Relief Efforts

2006-02-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

Penguinian Relief Efforts
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

No Censorship

2006-02-18T09:22:00.000-08:00

No Censorship
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

Bad what ??? Ha ha ha !!!

"We already know that! :-)," said the blind woman.

neat! i had no trouble at all reading it without my glasses! :)

Bad... breath?

Opinions are like Bellybuttons

2006-02-18T09:18:00.000-08:00

Opinions are like Bellybuttons
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

Q: Did Adam have an opinion about the garden of eden?

Q: :-)
What do you mean by that answer?

Q: LOl.. nicely put

Q: hahaha Great Title!!!

A: tuxcomputers-we are not told that god did not give adam a bellybutton. My belief gives adam a bellybutton

hira3 Everybody has an opinion so;)
意見は皆に1 つがある腹ボタンのようである.
In North America this is a derogatory phrase for the value of opinions.

Kilaloe sunrise & ape dawn- please use this phrase often.

S: well, eng, one has to consider the source to judge the value of an opinion...that's my opinion ;-)

A: Sylvia Sometimes - Right on Target.
Which is why you will see puns, jokes and paradox in my stream.
Humor is a positive re-enforcement that makes us question.
At the moment many bloggers are trusted more than the traditional news media and are being supported by the press too.

Q: heh funny is that really my bellybutton? from which pic?

A: Yes it is.^_^. Do you want credit?
I knew you would like the phrase.^_^.

S: A surprise to see a Dirty Harry quote diluted.

A: It works though.^_^.
Kinda like straightening your glasses with your middle finger during a meeting.^_^.

Shades of freedom fries

2006-02-18T09:09:00.000-08:00

Shades of freedom fries
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

ALI AKAR DAREINIThu Feb 16, 12:04 PM ET
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iranians love Danish pastries, but now when they look for the flaky dessert at the bakery they have to ask for "Roses of the Prophet Muhammad."
Bakeries across the capital were covering up their ads for Danish pastries Thursday after the confectioners union ordered the name change in retaliation for cartoons of Islam's revered Prophet first published in a Danish newspaper.
The move was reminiscent of a decision by the US House of Representatives in 2004 to rename French fries as "freedom fries" after France refused to back the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
"Given the insults by Danish newspapers against the prophet, as of now the name of Danish pastries will give way to Rose of Mohammad' pastries," the confectioners union said in its order.
"This is a punishment for those who started misusing freedom of expression to insult the sanctities of Islam," said Ahmad Mahmoudi, a cake-shop owner in northern Tehran.
One of Tehran's most popular bakeries, named Danish Pastries, covered up the word Danish on its sign with a black banner emblazoned Oh Hussein, a reference to a martyred saint of Shiite Islam. The banner is a traditional sign of mourning.
The shop owner refused to speak, reluctant to be drawn into discussion over the issue.
In Zartosht street in central Tehran, cake shop owner Mahdi Pedari didn't cover up the words "Danish pastries" on his menu, but put the new name next to it.
"I did so just to inform my customers that Rose of Mohammad is the new name for Danish pastries," he said.
Some customers took immediately to the new name. But others asked for "roses of Muhammad" - "gul-e-muhammadi" in Farsi - with a laugh or even with sarcasm, apparently unenthused about the new form of protest.
"I just want the sweet pastries. I have nothing to do with the name," housewife Zohreh Masoumi told the man at the counter in one shop.
Iranians are big sweets eaters, often buying candies and pastries to bring to parties. While there are many types of Iranian-style sweets, Danish pastries - flaky pastry with fruit or chocolate between the layers - are extremely popular.
The pastries are domestically baked, not imported. Iran has cut all commercial ties with Denmark.
The cartoons, first published in Denmark in September then reprinted by other western newspapers over the last month as a support for freedom of expression - have sparked sometimes violent protests in Iran as well as demonstrations across the Islamic world, where they were seen as an insult to the Prophet.

I've Got An Eye on You

2006-02-18T09:08:00.000-08:00

I've Got An Eye on You
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

>"If you belong to ANY Yahoo Groups - be aware that Yahoo is now using
>"Web Beacons" to track every Yahoo Group user. It's similar to
>cookies, but allows Yahoo to record every website and every group you
>visit, even when you're not connected to Yahoo.
>
>Look at their updated privacy statement at:
>http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy
>
>About half-way down the page, in the section on cookies, you will see
>a link that says WEB BEACONS.
>
>Click on the phrase "Web Beacons." On the page that opens, find a para
>graph entitled "Outside the Yahoo Network."
>
>In that section find a little "Click Here to Opt Out" link that will
>let you "opt-out" of their snooping. Be careful! NOT to click on the
>next button shown. It is an "Opt Back In" button that, if clicked,
>will UNDO the opt-out.
>
>Note that Yahoo's invasion of your privacy - and your ability to
>opt-out of it - is not user-specific. It is MACHINE specific. That
>means you will have to opt-out on every computer (and browser) you use.

Batman to fight: al-Qaeda.

2006-02-18T09:04:00.000-08:00

Batman to fight: al-Qaeda.
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

Comic book writer/artist Frank Miller, who also created the "Sin City" serial, is rumoured to be revamping the rogue Creator-Destroyer (a villain with a vicious temper also known as Jeremy Dorfman) as an Islamic fundamentalist for Gotham city's defender to battle.
"It is, not to put too fine a point on it, a piece of propaganda: Batman kicks al-Quaedas ass," Miller reportedly stated at a comic book convention in San Francisco. "It just seems silly to chase around the Riddler when you've got al-Qaeda out there."

Same Sith

2006-02-12T17:22:00.000-08:00

Same Sith
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

“Cheney accidentally shoots and injures fellow quail hunter in Texas
Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, spraying the fellow hunter in the face and chest with shotgun pellets.
Harry Whittington, a millionaire lawyer from Austin, was "alert and doing fine" in a Corpus Christi hospital Sunday after he was shot by Cheney on a ranch in south Texas, said Katharine Armstrong, the property's owner.
He was described as in stable condition by Yvonne Wheeler, spokeswoman for the Christus Spohn Health System in Corpus Christi.
Armstrong in an interview with The Associated Press said Whittington, 78, was mostly injured on his right side, with the pellets hitting his cheek, neck and chest during the incident which occurred late afternoon Saturday
She said emergency personnel traveling with Cheney tended to Whittington until the ambulance arrived.
Cheney's spokeswoman, Lea Anne McBride, said the vice-president was with Whittington and his wife at the hospital Sunday.
The shooting was first reported by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. The vice-president's office did not disclose the accident until nearly 24 hours after it happened.
Armstrong said she was watching from a car while Cheney, Whittington and another hunter got out of the vehicle to shoot at a covey of quail.
Whittington shot a bird and went to look for it in the tall grass, while Cheney and the third hunter walked to another spot and discovered a second covey.
Whittington "came up from behind the vice-president and the other hunter and didn't signal them or indicate to them or announce himself," Armstrong said.
"The vice-president didn't see him," she continued. "The covey flushed and the vice-president picked out a bird and was following it and shot. And by god, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good."
Whittington has been a private practice lawyer in Austin since 1950 and has long been active in Texas Republican politics. He's been appointed to several state boards, including when then-Gov. George W. Bush named him to the Texas Funeral Service Commission.
Whittington owns property in Travis County worth at least $11 million US, the Austin American-Statesman reported last year, not counting a downtown block at the centre of a long-running dispute with the city over a condemnation issue.
Armstrong, owner of the Armstrong Ranch where the accident occurred, said Whittington was bleeding and Cheney was very apologetic.
"It broke the skin," she said of the shotgun pellets. "It knocked him silly. But he was fine. He was talking. His eyes were open. It didn't get in his eyes or anything like that."
"Fortunately, the vice-president has got a lot of medical people around him and so they were right there and probably more cautious than we would have been," she said. "The vice-president has got an ambulance on call, so the ambulance came."
Cheney is an avid hunter who makes annual hunting trips to South Dakota to hunt pheasants. He also travels frequently to Arkansas to hunt ducks.
Armstrong said Cheney is a longtime friend who comes to the ranch to hunt about once a year and is "a very safe sportsman." She said Whittington is a regular, too, but she thought it was the first time the two men hunted together.

"This is something that happens from time to time. You know, I've been peppered pretty well myself," said Armstrong.”

As Easy As (46+77) 123

2006-02-07T10:53:00.000-08:00

As Easy As (46+77) 123
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

46

Quand le monde est en possession du Tao (la manière du coeur),
When the world is in possession of the Tao ( the Way of the Heart ),

Les chevaux galopants sont menés à fertiliser les champs avec leurs crottes (les gens créent des marchandises pour l'échange et font face à l'un l'autre dans le sport.)
The galloping horses are led to fertilize the fields with their droppings.
( People create goods for exchange and contend with each other in sport.)

Quand le monde a Taoless devenu (sans manière du coeur),
When the world has become Taoless ( without the Way of the Heart ),

Race de chevaux de guerre elles-mêmes dans les banlieues. (les gens forment des soldats et font face à l'un l'autre au-dessus de la propriété des pays.)
War horses breed themselves in the suburbs.
(People train soldiers and contend with each other over the ownership of countries.)

Il n'y a aucun désastre comme ne sachant pas ce qui est assez.
There is no disaster like not knowing what is enough.

Il n'y a aucun mal comme l'avarice.
There is no evil like greed.

Il qui sait ce qui est asse'aura toujours assez.
He who knows what is enough will always have enough.

77
Peut-être la manière du coeur (Tao) peut être comparée à l'étirage d'un arc.
Maybe the Way of the Heart (Tao) may be compared to the stretching of a bow.

La partie supérieure est diminuée, alors que le inférieur est augmenté. Si la cintrer-corde est trop longue, elle est coupée sous peu : si trop court, on l'ajoute à.
The upper part is depressed, while the lower is raised.
If the bow-string is too long, it is cut short:
if too short, it is added to.

La manière du coeur (Tao) fait plus petit les plus-que-assez pour fournir moins qu'assez.
The Way of the Heart (Tao) makes smaller the more-than-enough
to supply the less than enough.

La manière des personnes est différente : elle prend du moins-qu'assez pour faire plus grand plus-qu'assez.
The way of people is different:
it takes from the less-than enough to make bigger the more-than enough.

Qui excepté une personne du Tao peut mettre leur richesse jamais non terminale au service du monde ?
Who except a person of the Tao can put their never ending riches
to the service of the world?

Le penseur complet effectue leur travail sans placer n'importe quel magasin par lui, accomplit le leur chargent sans demeurer sur lui.
The Complete Thinker does their work without setting any store by it,
accomplishes their task without dwelling upon it.

Ils ne veulent pas que leurs mérites soient vus.
They do not want their merits to be seen.

http://static.flickr.com/34/96362548_63dbbccd6d_b.jpg

This email I recieved should have been a comment:
"HEY!
You don't have awicked sense of humor...you have the wicked sense of s''t for brains!
www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=3&art_id=qw11390...
"
"The State Department reaction "was a strong statement in support of Muslims around the world. It's a reflection of the concern felt by millions of Muslims and I think it will be appreciated," he said.

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, said the United States avoided drawing the ire of Muslims in this dispute, but it would take an overhaul of its policies to begin to improve its image.

"It's a sound response on this issue that escapes the fire. But repairing the US standing in the Muslim world is already so out of reach that this move can't provide any help," he said.

The US criticism of the newspapers also comes after the Pentagon complained over a Washington Post cartoon.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff sent an unusual letter to the editor that was published on Thursday, denouncing as "reprehensible" and "beyond tasteless" a cartoon earlier in the week portraying Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as insensitive to US troop casualties.

The cartoon portrayed a soldier who had lost his arms and legs with Rumsfeld at his hospital bedside saying, "I'm listing your condition as 'battle hardened'."

My response:
I understand the fear that motivates you, thanks for the concern.
In my country (Canada) we still have freedom of speech and supply over 1/3 of your oil and natural gas. Mexico also supplies the US with over 1/3 of their oil needs, 10-15 percent are US sources.
My conclusion is if this war is being waged so certain people can drive Hummers your leaders need to rethink how they waste your money.
The posting I made in "no censorship" reflects my belief in no censorship.
There is no humor intended, only the fact that people need enough information to judge the truth.
Note:
I recieved this series of cartoons on my Japanese news feed.^_^.

Là où le vent souffle toujours - Where the Wind always Blows

2006-02-03T21:47:00.000-08:00

Là où le vent souffle toujours - Where the Wind always Blows
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

Insipide comme l'océan,
sans but comme le vent dérivant.

Tasteless like the ocean,
Aimless like the drifting wind.

As Easy As (45+78) 123

2006-02-02T22:06:00.000-08:00

As Easy As (45+78) 123
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

45
La plus grande perfection n'est jamais accomplie,
The greatest perfection
is never completed,

Ainsi son utilisation ne s'épuise jamais.
So its use
never runs out.

La plus grande plénitude a toujours la pièce pour plus,
The greatest fullness
always has room for more,

Ainsi son utilisation continue pour toujours.
So its use
goes on forever.

La plus grande rectitude est une courbe (temps de l'espace)
The greatest straightness
is a curve. (spacetime)

La plus grande compétence semble sans effort.
The greatest skill
looks effortless.

Plus grand parler est lent.
The greatest speaking
is slow.

Se déplacer autour surmonte le froid,
Moving around
overcomes cold,

Le calme surmonte la chaleur.
Calm
overcomes heat.

Le paisible et calme est la normale du monde.
The peaceful and
calm
Is the Normal
of the World.

78
Rien dans les cieux ou la terre n'est plus doux et plus faible que l'eau ;
Nothing in the Heavens or Earth
is softer and weaker
than water;

Mais, pour attaquer le dur et fort, il n'y a rien comme lui !
But, for attacking
the hard and strong,
there is nothing like it!

Pour rien peut prendre son endroit. Que le faible surmonte le fort, et le doux surmonte le dur,
For nothing
can take its place.
That the weak
overcomes the strong,
and the soft
overcomes the hard,

C'est quelque chose connue par tous, mais pratiquée par aucun.
This is something
known by all,
but practiced
by none.

Le penseur complet dit :
The Complete Thinker says:

Recevoir la saleté (merde) d'un pays est d'être le seigneur de son soil-tombeau. supporter sous les désastres d'un pays est d'être le prince du monde.
To receive
the dirt ( shit) of a country
is to be
the lord of its soil-shrines.
to hold up under
the disasters of a country
is to be
the prince of the world.

( être fort face au discrace et au désastre, doit être vraiment noble)
( To be strong in the face of discrace and disaster, is to be truly Noble. )

En effet, le bruit de vérité aiment son opposé !
Indeed, the Truth
sound like its opposite!

As Easy as (44+79) 123

2006-01-28T23:02:00.000-08:00

As Easy as (44+79) 123
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

44
Votre nom et votre corps, qui est plus valable ?
Your name and your body,
which is more valuable?
Votre corps et votre richesse, qui est plus estimé ?
Your body and your wealth,
which is more prized?
Gain et perte, qui est plus douloureux ?
Gain and loss,
which is more painful?
Trop d'amour pour n'importe quoi vous coûtera beaucoup à la fin.
Too much love for anything
will cost you a lot in the end.
Le stockage vers le haut du trop de les marchandises mondaines signifiera une grande perte.
The storing up of too much worldly goods
will mean a big loss.
Connaissez quand vous avez asse'et soyez immunisé du déshonneur.
Know when you have enough and
be immune from disgrace.
Savez quand s'arrêter et être protégé contre le danger.
Know when to stop and
be protected from danger.
Seulement cette manière peut vous durer longtemps.
Only this way can you
last long.

79
Quand une grande blessure est guérie, là immobile restera une cicatrice.
Est-ce que ceci peut être une chose souhaitable ?
When a great wound is healed,
There will still remain a scar.
Can this be a desirable thing?
Le penseur complet, tenant le contrôle à gauche (le compte de choses à venir), exécute leur partie de l'accord, mais ne met aucune demande sur d'autres.
The Complete Thinker, holding the left-hand tally
( the count of things to come),
Performs their part of the agreement,
But puts no demands on others.
Les vertueux (puissant) effectuent leur travail ; La vertu-moins (impuissante) sait pour mettre seulement des impôts sur le peuple.
The virtuous ( powerful) do their work;
The virtue-less ( powerless) knows only to put
taxes on the people.
Les manières du coeur (Tao) n'ont aucun sentiment privé,
The Ways of the Heart ( Tao) have no private feelings,
Mais soyez d'accord toujours avec le constructif.
But always agree
with the constructive.

www.technologyreview.com/TR/wtr_16203,323,p1.html

Some people put this in their mouth

2006-01-19T23:23:00.000-08:00

Some people put this in their mouth
Originally uploaded by olivander.

Feeds: New Food for Marketers
Syndication technology is creating a personalized Internet -- and advertisers are taking notice.
By Kate Greene
First, Web browsers brought us one screenful of the Internet at a time. Then search engines made it possible to find whatever we wanted. Now subscription-based "feeds" allow us to pick and choose the content we want -- news summaries, podcasts, event calendar updates, photos, video -- and sit back while it's automatically delivered to our homes and offices.
This latest innovation in Web-based technology has burgeoned over the past year, especially in the form of a syndication standard called RSS (Really Simple Syndication). Now, marketers and advertisers are waking up to its possibilities.
Yahoo is experimenting with ways of inserting ads into feeds, which should help businesses see how effective a marketing tool it can be. In November, Yahoo upgraded its Publisher Network so that bloggers and other online publishers could include ads in their feeds. And companies such as FeedBurner and Feedster are tracking the number of people subscribing, reading, and re-syndicating feeds, to give publishers, and ultimately advertisers, information on where their ads are going and how to better target their audiences.
One attraction of RSS ads may be that feed syndication is still in the "early adopter" phase -- meaning that feeds' audience members are not typical Web surfers. For the most part, they have actively set up feed readers and subscriptions -- they've "raised their hand and said ‘I'm interested'," as Ben Fox, senior product manager in Yahoo’s search marketing division, puts it. "You know from a marketing standpoint that they've invested in their content."
Yahoo's RSS ad scheme exploits this fact. For instance, if a blogger writes about digital camera technology and products, and publishes an RSS feed through Yahoo, he or she can send subscribers an ad from Canon with the blog entry's headline. The blogger earns a bit of cash and Canon gets to target a self-selected niche audience -- that's likely to include people shopping for a camera.
Feeds are chosen by publisher, such as Reuters, or by subject matter, such as Washington politics, so subscribers' interests are clear to advertisers, explains Feedster president Chris Redlitz. Another advantage to advertising through feeds, both for the subscriber and advertiser, is that feeds can't be spammed by outsiders, unlike e-mail ads that overwhelm an Inbox, Redlitz says. And since a subscriber doesn't have to use e-mail to get a feed, there's less risk to a user's privacy, he adds.
At this early stage, companies haven't yet settled on the best way to advertise through feeds. But detailed data about their subscribers could help. FeedBurner has introduced a new technology for publishers to track their feeds, using software that sorts the way people view feeds and follows the content flow when it is redistributed.
Of course this benefits advertisers, too, who want to know whether their ad spending is effective. "Over the past 10 years, people have been able to track site traffic and the paths people take to the site; but being able to track feeds is a whole different model," says Eric Lunt, chief technology officer for FeedBurner. It's not just how many people subscribe to feeds, he says, but how many people are repeatedly exposed to the feeds and how many actually read them.
Additionally, the content is sometimes resyndicated -- "used in different ways, mashed up, and spliced together," Lunt says. "A lot of times publishers are happy about that; but other times, they're not and they want to be aware of it. You as a publisher want to know how your content is being redistributed," for example, via a social bookmarking service like Delicious or as content in a blog.
Since there are many ways to access feeds, each with important implications for publishers, FeedBurner uses software to track every request for a feed (as of January 1, the company had just over 170,000) and divides them into five categories.
The most common way people read feeds, Lunt says, is on a desktop with a reader that checks for feeds, in some cases up to 24 times a day. In this scenario, a publisher needs to know that its feed is being accessed by one person, albeit 24 times.
The second way to read feeds is through online blog aggregators, such as My Yahoo or Bloglines, which request a feed only once per update cycle -- but on behalf of thousands of users. FeedBurner tracks the number of users, not the single request.
The third way is through a Web browser, where a person may see a feed, but not subscribe. FeedBurner also tracks "bots" that crawl the Web and add feeds and other content to search engines' indexes, without any human actually reading the material. And the final category includes e-mail feeds that are much like newsletters.
Lunt says getting a breakdown of these different types of feeds is important for FeedBurner clients, who have been experimenting with different ways to present feeds to their subscribers, based on the numbers. For instance, the Houston Chronicle has moved toward categorizing its news feeds into topics such as Hurricane Katrina, Lunt says, as opposed to sections, such as business, sports, and national news.
As for tracking what happens to the content after it's been read, Lunt explains that FeedBurner embeds a transparent picture file the size of a single pixel into the feeds of publishers that pay for the service. Feeburner is notified when a browser makes a request for that tiny image, and the aggregated information is passed on to clients. There is no single way to use this resyndication information, Lunt says: "We're giving them the tools to tune their content, offer more or less [content], and test effective kinds of monetization."
As it becomes easier to track the eyeballs of feed subscribers, and especially as feeds become even more pervasive, RSS will become ripe picking for advertisers. Hundreds of new feeds become available every day, and Microsoft has said its new operating system, Vista, will include feed-reading software, giving the masses an easy way to subscribe to content.
Says Troy Young, the "chief experience architect" at Organic, a digital marketing agency in San Francisco: "I think [feed advertising] absolutely will be huge."

As easy as (42+81) 123

2006-01-18T21:08:00.000-08:00

As easy as (42+81) 123
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

42
Tao (la manière de l'univers) a donné naissance à une. (L'Univers)
Tao ( the Way of the Universe ) gave birth to One. (The unified field)
On a donné naissance à deux, (énergie et matière, E=MC2)
One gave birth to Two, (Energy and Matter, E=MC2)
Deux ont donné naissance à trois, (les forces de pesanteur, nucléaires et électromagnétiques)
Two gave birth to Three, (Gravity, Nuclear and Electro-Magnetic Forces)
Trois ont donné naissance à toutes les choses.
Three gave birth to all things.
Toutes les choses portent le Yin (matière de physical) sur leurs dos et tiennent le Yang (énergie de spiritual) sur leur coffre,All the things carry the Yin (physical(matter)) on their backs and
hold the Yang (spiritual(energy)) to their chest,
Obtenir leur équilibre essentiel de se mélanger approprié des deux souffles essentiels. (matière de Physical et énergie de Spiritual)
Getting their vital balance from the proper blending of the
two vital Breaths. (Physical(matter) and Spiritual(energy))
Que davantage par des personnes que pour n'être le "helpless(nécessitant l'aide)," "little(est-il détesté aucun désir d'être supérieur)," et "worthless(aucun désir d'être riche)" ?
What is more hated by people than to be “helpless(in need of help),"
"little(no desire to be superior),” and “worthless(no desire to be rich)”?
Ce sont les noms mêmes que les chefs s'appellent.
These are the very names the leaders call themselves.
Vous pouvez gagner en perdant (se mettant à une place au gain), et vous pouvez perdre en gagnant (la réception de nos coeurs désirent et se sentir perdues).
You can gain by losing (putting ourselves in a position to gain),
And you can lose by gaining ( receiving our hearts desire and feeling lost ).
Ce qui d'autres m'ont enseigné répétez :
What others have taught I repeat:
"une personne qui vit pour la destruction attirera la destruction à eux."
“A person who lives for destruction will attract destruction to themself.”
(la construction attire la construction. La destruction attire la destruction. La faiblesse attire la destruction. La vertu (puissance de heart) attire la construction)
(Construction attracts construction.
Destruction attracts destruction.
Weakness attracts destruction.
Virtue (heart(power)) attracts construction)
Je ferai à ce chapitre mon enseignement plus important.
I will make this chapter my most important teaching.

81
Les mots honnêtes ne sont pas des mots doux ,
et doux ne sont pas honnêtes.
Honest words are not sweet,
Sweet words are not honest.
Des hommes constructifs mauvais-ne sont pas gâchés,
Mauvais-gâchés ne sont pas constructifs.
Constructive men are not bad-tempered,
The bad-tempered are not constructive.
Les sages ne pensent pas à eux-mêmes en tant que savoir plus que d'autres,
ceux qui pensent à eux-mêmes car sachant plus que d'autres ne sont pas sages.
The wise do not think of themselves
as knowing more than others,
the ones who think of themselves
as knowing more than others are not wise.
Le penseur complet ne rassemble pas la richesse.
Plus qu'ils vit pour d'autres, plus est leur vie pleine.
Plus qu'ils donnent, plus ils gagnent.
The Complete Thinker does not collect riches.
The more they lives for others, the fuller is their life.
The more they give, the more they win.
Les manières du coeur (Tao) sont d'aider, pour ne pas blesser.
The Ways of the Heart (Tao) are to help, not to hurt.
La manière du penseur complet est de faire leur devoir, pour ne pas concurrencer n'importe qui.
The Way of the Complete Thinker is to do their duty,
not to compete with anyone.

A Rose of Tears

2006-01-12T19:16:00.000-08:00

A Rose of Tears
Originally uploaded by greywulf.

8 January 2006
HIV BOMBERS
Sunday Mirror
..co.uk
(EXCERPTED)
EXCLUSIVE Al-Qaeda's plot to infect troops with AIDS virus
By Rupert Hamer Defence Correspondent

AL-QAEDA is recruiting suicide bombers who are infected with the AIDS virus,
according to documents revealed to the Sunday Mirror.

Terror chiefs are also targeting fanatics who suffer other lethal blood
diseases such as hepatitis and dengue fever in order to increase their "kill
rate" from an explosion. The chilling new threat is revealed in papers
distributed to British military camps in Iraq and across Europe.

Under the heading "HIV/Hepatitis" the document states: "There is evidence
that terrorists might be deliberately recruiting volunteers with diseases
that are spread by blood transference."

Experts have found that bones and other blood-spattered fragments from a
suicide bomber could penetrate the skin of a victim 50 metres away and
infect them.

In the papers (part of which is summarised above) soldiers are warned to
wear special protective clothing when on guard duty or if they have to deal
with casualties in the event of an attack.

All bases must also have snipers hidden behind blast-proof defences ready to
take out would-be suicide bombers. The guidelines were issued following the
7/7 London bombings which left 52 dead and injured hundreds more.

Emerald Tower 02

2006-01-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

tower02
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Turning on LEDs

Solid-state lighting is mounting a challenge to light bulbs.

By Neil Savage

When the Christmas tree at the U.S. Capitol was illuminated this year, it shone with the light of 10,000 light-emitting diodes (LEDs). And next year the giant New Year's Eve ball in Times Square will also be festooned with LED lights. Such milestones are another indication that the use of solid-state lighting made from semiconductor chips or organic polymers is advancing rapidly.

According to projections from Sandia National Laboratories, the energy-saving benefits of LED lighting would be impressive: If the technology can be improved so that half of all lighting is solid-state by 2025, it will cut worldwide power use by 120 gigawatts, saving $100 billion a year and reducing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 350 megatons a year.

Moreover, lighting experts say, semiconductor LEDs and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) would change the way people think about lighting their homes. Rather than static fixtures holding single-color bulbs, solid-state lighting will be more flexible, allowing for glowing ceiling tiles or accent lights whose colors can be digitally adjusted at the touch of a button.

Before that can happen, however, plenty of technological hurdles need to be overcome. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Lighting Technology Roadmap calls for LEDs to be able to produce 150 lumens of illumination per watt of input power by 2012, up from just 25 lumens/watt in 2002. That’s 10 times the efficiency of an incandescent bulb and substantially more than the 50-100 lumens/watt from a fluorescent bulb.

Nadarajah Narendran, director of research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lighting Research Center, isn’t worried about hitting that target. “Three years ago a lot of people were skeptical that that could happen, but now when you look at the numbers it’s not an issue,” he says. In fact, researchers have already demonstrated 110 lumens/watt in the lab. If anything, Narendran says, scientists may be ahead of the DOE's goal.

Researchers are pursuing two tracks for increasing the light output of LEDs. One is to improve the internal quantum efficiency -- the percentage of electricity that gets turned into photons; the other is to boost the external quantum efficiency -- the percentage of photons that get out of the LED and into the world.

Jerry Simmons, head of Sandia’s solid-state lighting program, thinks his group may have done both.

They use nanoscale engineering to etch special features into a semiconductor chip, near the active area of material that produces the photons. When photons are emitted, they can travel in any direction -- but it’s only the ones at a 90-degree angle to the surface of the chip that make it out of the chip; the others are reabsorbed. The etched features, called photolattices, are patterns of lines whose spacing is similar to the wavelength of the light they’re dealing with. Hence, the lattices act like lenses, diverting more of the photons out of the chip, thereby improving the external efficiency.

It’s also possible, though not yet proven, Simmons says, that they’re improving the internal efficiency at the same time. It may be that the photolattices, by making it impossible for photons to exist in certain places in the material, are causing more of the photons that are produced to be emitted in the right direction in the first place.

The energy bill passed by Congress last summer included authorization for up to $50 million in research funding for the technology over each of the next seven years. But whether Congress will actually appropriate the funds is anybody’s guess.

Nevertheless, Simmons is excited about the possibilities. The real test, he emphasizes, will be whether or not consumers warm to a new type of lighting. “What we’re waiting for -- the next big impact -- is to start seeing use in the home,” Simmons says.

{{{ Surfin Huntington Beach #4 }}}

2006-01-11T07:45:00.000-08:00

*****{{{ Surfin Huntington Beach #4 }}}*****
Originally uploaded by ironman-x.

Monday, January 09, 2006
Game Consoles Drive New DVD Format

Posted at 12:00 AM

Both the Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats may have their fates decided long before their stand-alone players hit the marketplace thanks to next-generation game consoles, which will play both, according to the New York Times:

(I)t may be the relatively low-priced video game consoles that tip the balance toward one format -- or prolong the stalemate for several more years. That's because the new game machines from Sony and Microsoft will play high-definition DVDs and may spur disc sales far faster than stand-alone players.

Of course, it's not new that Sony and Microsoft are trying to outdo each by offering up next-gen DVD format playback on their consoles. These two companies have been streaking to pack their boxes with as much digital entertainment firepower as possible for the last two years.

And it's likely that much of our home digital entertainment will be largely influenced -- in some manner -- by the game consoles in the near future. With both systems getting exponentially more powerful and moving online (which encourages a plethora of music and movie usage, along with wireless and broadband activities), it's likely we are at the cusp of a serious home invasion that will help push things such as wireless technologies as more people (read: parents and siblings of gamers) begin to use and store media on the consoles.

While it's clear that the demographics of gamers is changing, I think the unknown factor in how quickly new technologies make it into the average American living room is how much the rest of the people in the household begin to migrate toward one unified entertainment system. There isn't a lot of data on this yet, simply because there has been very little reason for dad and sis to try to figure out how to play music or watch DVDs through a console.

A Spirit of the Plains

2006-01-09T00:36:00.000-08:00

A Spirit of the Plains
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

Friday, January 06, 2006
Banned in Beijing

MS, Yahoo, Google, others comply with Chinese government's ban on political material.

By Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. has shut down the Internet journal of a Chinese blogger that discussed politically sensitive issues including a recent strike at a Beijing newspaper.

The action came amid criticism by free-speech activists of foreign technology companies that help the communist government enforce censorship or silence dissent in order to be allowed into China's market.

Microsoft's China-based Web log-hosting service shut down the blog at the Chinese government's request, said Brooke Richardson, group product manager with Microsoft's MSN online division at the company headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

Though Beijing has supported Internet use for education and business, it fiercely polices content. Filters block objectionable foreign Web sites and regulations ban subversive and pornographic content and require service providers to enforce censorship rules.

''When we operate in markets around the world we have to ensure that our service complies with global laws as well as local laws and norms,'' Richardson said.

Richardson said the blog was shut down Dec. 30 or Dec. 31 for violating Microsoft's code of conduct, which states that users must be in compliance with local laws in the country in which the user is based.

But the blog, written under the pen name An Ti by Zhao Jing, who works for the Beijing bureau of The New York Times as a research assistant, touched on sensitive topics such as China's relations with Taiwan. Last week, he used the blog to crusade on behalf of a Beijing newspaper.

Reporters at the Beijing News, a daily known for its aggressive reporting, staged an informal one-day strike after their chief editor was removed from his post. The editor's removal and the strike attracted comments on Chinese online bulletin boards, which censors then erased.

Online bulletin boards and Web logs have given millions of Chinese an opportunity to express opinions in a public setting in a system where all media are government-controlled.

But service providers are required to monitor Web logs and bulletin boards, erase banned content and report offenders.

Foreign companies have adopted Chinese standards, saying they must obey local laws.

Microsoft's Web log service bars use of terms such as ''democracy'' and ''human rights.'' On the China-based portal of search engine Google, a search for material the Dalai Lama, Taiwan and other sensitive topics returns a message saying ''site cannot be found.''

Last year, Web portal Yahoo! was the target of criticism when it was disclosed that the company provided information that was used to convict a Chinese reporter on charges of revealing state secrets.

Reporter Shi Tao was sentenced to 10 years in prison based on an e-mail that he had sent abroad with details of a memo read out at his newspaper about media controls.

In September, a Chinese journalist was sentenced to seven years in prison on subversion charges after writing articles that appeared on Web sites abroad that are blocked in China.

China also is in the midst of a crackdown on online smut. The police ministry said last month that it had shut down 598 Web sites with sexually explicit content and arrested 25 people.

David Wolf, a Beijing-based technology consultant, said that while Microsoft might be hurt abroad by controversy over its actions in China, Chinese Internet services routinely exercise similar censorship.

''They simply do it as a matter of course,'' said Wolf, managing director of Wolf Group Asia. ''When you're looking around China, there is nothing that Microsoft and Yahoo have to do that is any different from what Chinese companies already are doing.''

Bear Behind

2006-01-05T02:02:00.000-08:00

Bear Behind
Originally uploaded by darkbeans.

http://www.daniellecorsetto.com/gws.html

My motivator

2006-01-04T10:12:00.000-08:00

My motivator
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

As I was driving to an appointment, I stopped to smell the flowers.
This seems like a good omen for 2006.

The Way of the Heart #31 copyright 2006

2006-01-01T21:05:00.000-08:00

TTC31multi
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

TTC31multi

Les soldats de la guerre prévoient la destruction. Et servez contre la vie.
I soldati della guerra prevedono la distruzione. E servite contro la vita.
Os soldados da guerra prevêem a destruição. E serve contra a vida.
Los soldados de la guerra prevén la destrucción. Y sirva contra la vida.
De oorlogsmilitairen voorspellen vernietiging. En zijn voor gebruik tegen het Leven.
Soldaten des Krieges sagen Zerstörung voraus. Und seien Sie für Gebrauch gegen das Leben.
Воины войны предсказывают разрушение. И для пользы против жизни.
Οι στρατιώτες του πολέμου προβλέπουν την καταστροφή. Και είναι για τη χρήση ενάντια στη ζωή.
Soldiers of war predict destruction. And are for use against Life.

Une personne de Tao (la manière du coeur)
Ne place pas leur coeur sur eux. (Un homme de Tao ne construit pas des armées pour combattre et prendre la commande).
Una persona di Tao (il modo del cuore) non mette il loro cuore su loro (un uomo di Tao non costruisce eserciti per combattere e prendere il comando di altri).
Uma pessoa de Tao (a maneira do coração) não coloca o seu coração sobre ele (um homem de Tao não constrói exércitos para combater e tomar a encomenda a ).
Una persona de Tao (la manera del corazón) no coloca su corazón sobre ellos (un hombre de Tao no construye ejércitos para combatir y tomar el pedido ).
Een persoon van Tao (de Manier van het Hart) plaatst hun hart niet op de them.(a mens van Tao bouwt geen legers om controle van anderen te bestrijden en te nemen land.)
Eine Person von Tao (die Weise des Herzens) stellt ihr Herz nicht nach ihnen. (ein Ein Mann von Tao errichtet nicht Armeen, um zu kämpfen und Steuerung von anderen zu nehmen landen Sie.)
Ένα πρόσωπο Tao (ο τρόπος της καρδιάς) δεν θέτει την καρδιά τους επάνω σε τους. ( Ένα άτομο Tao δεν χτίζει τους στρατούς για να παλεψει και να πάρει τον έλεγχο άλλοι έδαφος.)
Персона Tao (дорога сердца) не устанавливает их сердце на их. ( Человек Tao не строит армии для того чтобы воевать и принять управление других.)
A person of Tao (the Way of the Heart) does not set their heart upon them.( A man of Tao does not build armies to fight and take control of others land.)

Dans la vie ordinaire, une personne douce considère le côté gauche comme l'endroit de l'honneur (le présage du futur) : Dans la guerre, le bon côté est l'endroit de l'honneur (le présage du passé).
Nella vita ordinaria, una persona delicata considerare la parte di sinistra come il posto di honor (il omen del futuro): Nella guerra, la parte di destra è il posto di honor (il omen del passato).
Na vida ordinária, uma pessoa delicada considera o lado esquerdo como o lugar da honra (o omen do futuro): Na guerra, o lado direito é o lugar da honra (o omen do passado).
En vida ordinaria, una persona apacible mira el lado izquierdo como el lugar del honor (el presagio del futuro): En guerra, el derecho es el lugar del honor (el presagio del pasado).
In het gewone leven, beschouwt een zachte persoon de linkerkant als plaats van eer (omen van de toekomst): In oorlog, is de juiste kant de plaats van eer (omen van voorbij).v
Im gewöhnlichen Leben sieht eine leichte Person die linke Seite als der Ort der Ehre an (das Omen der Zukunft): Im Krieg ist die rechte Seite der Ort der Ehre (das Omen der Vergangenheit).

Στη συνηθισμένη ζωή, ένα ευγενές πρόσωπο θεωρεί την αριστερή πλευρά ως θέση του honor(o οιωνός του μέλλοντος): Στον πόλεμο, η σωστή πλευρά είναι η θέση του honor(o οιωνός από μπροστά).
В обычной жизни, нежно персона считает левую сторону как почетное место (предзнаменование будущего): В войне, правой стороной будет почетное место (предзнаменование прошлого).
In ordinary life, a gentle person regards the left side as the place of honor(the omen of the future): In war, the right side is the place of honor(the omen of the past).

Car les soldats sont des outils de destruction, ils ne sont pas correctement les outils d'une personne douce ;
Sur la volonté de nécessiter ils les emploient, (les ayant et sachant leur utilisation).
Avec la commande calme.
À lui même le gain n'est aucune cause pour se réjouir.
Se réjouir au-dessus d'une guerre gagnée est de se réjouir au-dessus de l'abattage des hommes !
Ainsi un homme qui se réjouit au-dessus de l'abattage des hommes ne peut pas compter faire bien dans le monde des hommes.
Poichè i soldati sono attrezzi di distruzione, non sono correttamente attrezzi della persona delicata; Sulla volontà di necessità lo usa, (avendoli e conoscendo il loro uso). Con controllo calmo. A lui persino vincere è causa per rejoicing. Rejoice sopra una guerra vinta è di rejoice sopra il macello degli uomini! Così un uomo che rejoices sopra il macello degli uomini non può pensare fare bene nel mondo degli uomini.
Porque os soldados são ferramentas da destruição, não são corretamente ferramentas de uma pessoa delicada; Na vontade da necessidade usa-os, (tendo os e sabendo seu uso). Com controle calmo. A ele mesmo ganhar não é nenhuma causa para rejoicing. Rejoice sobre uma guerra ganhada é rejoice sobre a matança dos homens! Assim um homem que rejoices sobre a matança dos homens não pode esperar fazer bem no mundo dos homens.
Pues los soldados son herramientas de la destrucción, no son correctamente herramientas de una persona apacible; En voluntad de la necesidad él los utiliza, (teniéndolos y sabiendo su uso). Con control tranquilo. A él incluso el ganar no es ninguna causa para rejoicing. ¡Rejoice sobre una guerra ganada es rejoice sobre la matanza de hombres! Un hombre que rejoices sobre la matanza de hombres no puede esperar tan hacer bien en el mundo de hombres.
Aangezien de militairen hulpmiddelen van vernietiging zijn, zijn zij niet behoorlijk de hulpmiddelen van een zachte persoon; Op noodzaak zal hij hen gebruiken, (hebbend hen en kennend hun gebruik). Met kalme controle. Aan hem die zelfs is geen oorzaak voor zich het verheugen wint. Zich over een gewonnen oorlog verheugen moet zich over de moord van mensen verheugen! Zo niet een mens die zich over de moord van mensen verheugt kan verwachten om goed in de wereld van mensen te doen.
Da Soldaten Werkzeuge der Zerstörung sind, sind sie nicht richtig die Werkzeuge einer leichten Person; Auf Notwendigkeit Willen verwendet er sie, (sie habend und ihren Gebrauch kennend). Mit ruhiger Steuerung. Zu ihm sogar ist gewinnen keine Ursache für das Freuen. Sich über einem gewonnenen Krieg zu freuen ist sich über der Tötung der Männer zu freuen! So kann ein Mann, der über der Tötung der Männer sich freut, nicht erwarten, in der Welt der Männer gut zu tun.

Δεδομένου ότι οι στρατιώτες είναι εργαλεία της καταστροφής, δεν είναι κατάλληλα εργαλεία ενός ευγενούς προσώπου Στην ανάγκη θα τους χρησιμοποιήσει, (έχοντας τους και ξέροντας τη χρήση τους). Με τον ήρεμο έλεγχο. Σε τον που κερδίζει ακόμη και δεν είναι καμία αιτία για να χαρεί. Να χαρεί για έναν πόλεμο που κερδίζεται πρόκειται να χαρεί για τη δολοφονία των ατόμων! Έτσι ένα άτομο που χαίρεται για τη δολοφονία των ατόμων δεν μπορεί να αναμείνει να κάνει καλά στον κόσμο των ατόμων.
По мере того как воины будут инструментами разрушения, они не будут правильн инструментами нежно персоны; На воле необходимости он использует их, (имеющ их и знающ их пользу). С штилевым управлением. К ему даже выигрывать будет никакой причиной для rejoicing. К rejoice над выигранным войной к rejoice над умерщвлением людей! Так человек rejoices над умерщвлением людей не могут ожидать, что сделал наилучшим образом в мире людей.
As soldiers are tools of destruction, They are not properly a gentle person’s tools;
On necessity will he use them, (having them and knowing their use).
With calm control. To him even winning is no cause for rejoicing.
To rejoice over a war won is to rejoice over the slaughter of men!
So a man who rejoices over the slaughter of men cannot expect to do well in the world of men.

À l'occasion heureuse le côté gauche est préféré (le présage du futur) : Aux occasions tristes le bon côté (le présage du passé). Dans l'armée, le lieutenant le commandant se tient du côté gauche. Tandis que les stands de commandant et de chef du côté droit. Ceci signifie que la guerre est traitée en tant qu'égale à un service funèbre. Puisque beaucoup de gens ont été tuées, il est seulement exact que la vie devrait être triste à la perte d'eux. Par conséquent, même dans une victoire est un enterrement.Nelle occasioni felici la parte di sinistra è preferita (il omen del futuro): Nelle occasioni tristi la parte di destra (il omen del passato). Nell'esercito, il tenente comandante si leva in piedi a sinistra. Mentre il commander-in-Chief si leva in piedi a destra. Ciò significa che la guerra è trattare come il uguale ad un servizio funereo. Poiché molta gente è stata uccisa, è soltanto di destra che vivere dovrebbe essere triste alla perdita di loro. Quindi, anche in una vittoria è un funerale.
Em ocasiões felizes o lado esquerdo é preferido (o omen do futuro): Em ocasiões sad o lado direito (o omen do passado). No exército, capitão-de-corveta está na esquerda. Quando o comandante-chefe estiver na direita. Isto significa que a guerra está tratada como o igual a um serviço funeral. Porque muitos povos foram matados, é somente direito que viver deve ser sad na perda deles. Daqui, uniforme em uma vitória é um funeral.
En ocasiones felices se prefiere el lado izquierdo (el presagio del futuro): En ocasiones tristes el derecho (el presagio del pasado). En el ejército, el teniente comandante está parado a la izquierda. Mientras que el comandante en jefe está parado a la derecha. Esto significa que la guerra está tratada como igual a un servicio fúnebre. Porque han matado a mucha gente, solamente correcto que el vivir debe ser triste en la pérdida de ellos. Por lo tanto, uniforme en una victoria es un entierro.
Bij gelukkige gelegenheden heeft de linkerkant (omen van de toekomst) de voorkeur: Bij droevige gelegenheden de juiste kant (omen van voorbij). In het leger, de tribunes van de Bevelhebber van de Luitenant op de linkerzijde. Terwijl de bevelhebber-in-Leider zich op het recht bevindt. Dit betekent dat de oorlog gelijk aan de begrafenisdienst wordt behandeld. Omdat vele mensen zijn gedood, is het slechts juist dat leven bij het verlies van hen droevig zou moeten zijn. Vandaar, zelfs in een overwinning is een begrafenis.
Bei glücklichen Gelegenheiten wird die linke Seite bevorzugt (das Omen der Zukunft): Bei traurigen Gelegenheiten die rechte Seite (das Omen der Vergangenheit). In der Armee steht der Leutnant Kommandant auf dem links. Während der Commander-in-Chief auf dem Recht steht. Dies heißt, daß Krieg als Gleichgestelltes zu einem Begräbnis- Service behandelt wird. Weil viele Leute getötet worden sind, ist es nur recht, daß das Leben am Verlust von ihnen traurig sein sollte. Folglich in einem Sieg ist ein Begräbnis gleichmäßig.
Στην ευτυχή περίπτωση η αριστερή πλευρά προτιμάται (ο οιωνός του μέλλοντος): Στις λυπημένες περιπτώσεις η σωστή πλευρά (ο οιωνός από μπροστά). Στο στρατό, οι στάσεις διοικητών υπολοχαγών στο αριστερό. Ενώ ο διοικητής και στέκεται Προϊστάμενος στο δικαίωμα. Αυτό σημαίνει ότι ο πόλεμος αντιμετωπίζεται όπως ίσος με μια νεκρική υπηρεσία. Επειδή πολλοί άνθρωποι έχουν σκοτωθεί, είναι μόνο σωστό ότι η διαβίωση πρέπει να είναι λυπημένη με την απώλεια τους. Ως εκ τούτου, ακόμη και σε μια νίκη είναι μια κηδεία.
На счастливых случаях левая сторона предпочесна (предзнаменование будущего): На унылых случаях правая сторона (предзнаменование прошлого). В армии, лейтенант командир стоит на левой стороне. Пока commander-in-Chief стоит на праве. Это намеревается что война обработано как равный к похоронному обслуживанию. Потому что много людей были убиты, только право что жить должен быть уныл на потере их. Следовательно, ровн в победе funeral.
On happy occasions the left side is preferred(the omen of the future): On sad occasions the right side(the omen of the past). In the army, the Lieutenant Commander stands on the left. While the Commander-in-Chief stands on the right.This means that war is treated as equal to a funeral service.
Because many people have been killed, it is only right that living should be sad at the loss of them.
Hence, even in a victory is a funeral.

2005-12-29T07:16:00.000-08:00

Blogs N Dogs

Watch the video

There is something about COLD that makes Hot Chocolate taste so good. I think it's called hypothermia.^_^.

The temperature was about -35 F, ****ing cold.

The weather was perfect for the dogs. My camera's stopped working due to the cold, batteries drained fast.

The Lake we walked on at the halfway point was used in the filming of X-Men 2 and looked about the same on this day.

What a Bootcamp.

Thanks to the Blogs N Dogs Team

And new friends

2005-12-28T22:10:00.000-08:00

Behind Banff Hotel 02

Watch the video

The Lone Ranger and Silver

2005-12-27T15:11:00.000-08:00

The Lone Ranger and Silver
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

"The Lone Ranger! "Hi Yo Silver!"
A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty "Hi Yo Silver!" The Lone Ranger. "Hi Yo Silver, away!" With his faithful Indian companion Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains, led the fight for law and order in the early west. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. The Lone Ranger rides again!

"The Lone Ranger was ambushed and captured by an enemy Indian war party.

The Indian Chief proclaims, “So, you are the great Lone Ranger. In honor of the Harvest Festival, you will be executed in three days. But, before I kill you, I will grant you three requests. What is your first request?”

The Lone Ranger responds, “I’d like to speak to my horse.” Chief nods and Silver is brought before the Lone Ranger, who whispers in Silver’s ear, and the horse gallops away.

Later that evening, Silver returns with a beautiful blonde woman on his back. As the Indian Chief watches, the blonde enters the Lone Ranger’s tent and spends the night.

The next morning the Indian Chief admits he’s impressed. “You have a very fine and loyal horse, but I will still kill you in two days.
What is your second request?”

The Lone Ranger again asks to speak to his horse. Silver is brought to him, and he again whispers in the horse’s ear. As before, Silver takes off across the plains and disappears over the horizon.

Later that evening, to the Chief’s surprise, Silver again returns, this time with a voluptuous brunette, even more attractive than the blonde.

She enters the Lone Ranger’s tent and spends the night.

The following morning the Indian Chief is again impressed. “You are indeed a man of many talents, but I will still kill you tomorrow.
What is your last request.”

The Lone Ranger responds, “I’d like to speak to my horse, alone.”

The Chief is curious, but he agrees, and Silver is brought to the Lone Ranger’s tent.

Once they’re alone, the Lone Ranger grabs Silver by both ears, looks him square in the eye and says, ....”Listen carefully, .... for the last time.
I said “BRING POSSE!"

Hey Darren, I hope this makes you laugh.^_^.

happy

2005-12-24T16:37:00.000-08:00

happy
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

Joyeux Noël

73

The man who is brave
and takes un-needed chances
will be killed;

The man who is brave
and does not take un-needed chances will survive.

Of these two kinds of bravery,
one proves harmful,
while the other is helpful.

Some things
are hated by the Way of the Universe,
But who knows the reason?

Even the Complete Thinker
does not understand
such a question.

It is the Universal Law,
to win without effort.
It is the Universal Law
to get answers without speaking.
It is the Universal Law
To get the people to come
without calling them.
It is the Universal Law
To act agreeing to plans without hurry.

Powerful, beyond knowing are the Ways of the Universe:

Visible only by its results
and yet

Only Nothing ( that which is beyond detection) can not obey them.

Its the Holiday Season.
Goodwill to ALL.

the smell of Fear

2005-12-21T22:38:00.000-08:00

the smell
Originally uploaded by SaintAlia.

Tamiflu found ineffective in bird flu treatment
CTV.ca News Staff

The drug most of the world is counting on to prevent an avian flu pandemic may not be a failsafe defence, according to a New England Journal of Medicine report.

The authors say they have found evidence the H5N1 virus can mutate into a form unaffected by Tamiflu -- rendering the world's ever-growing stockpiles of the drug ineffective if the mutated strain were to spread.

According to the study, completed by Dr. Menno de Jong at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, four out of eight avian flu patients who were given the medication died despite the treatment.

This has many health care experts worried, since many predict bird flu will be the world's next major pandemic.

Toronto infectious disease consultant Dr. Neil Rau says the study has serious implications.

"Here you have the optimal situations, the right dose, the right duration, the right timing and administration and yet you have a bad outcome. That's not a good thing to see," Rau told CTV News.

The drug's maker, Swiss firm Roche AG, said it's trying to figure out why it doesn't work in some patients, and is looking at whether severe cases should be given a higher dose or longer duration of treatment.

Another article in the same journal cautions doctors against prescribing the drug for patients to stockpile. It says if not administered in a large enough dose, the chemical structure of Tamiflu could allow the virus to develop a resistance to the treatment.

Dr. Allison McGeer thinks this should remind doctors and researchers to keep looking for new solutions.

"There's one other drug, GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza, that is licensed that people are starting to talk about stockpiling," said McGeer, a Toronto infectious disease microbiologist. "There are also some other drugs in development. It really tells us that we need to move those drugs in development forward as fast as possible."

While drugs such as Tamiflu don't cure bird flu, experts hope they will help reduce its severity if taken early enough.

Bird flu has not yet appeared in North America and there is no proof that it can spread from person to person. But officials worry that if the virus mutates, it could become as contagious as the annual flu, but much more deadly.

Since 2004, the H5N1 virus has killed at least 71 people in Asia. According to figures updated by the World Health Organization on Dec. 16, there have been at least 139 human cases, including 95 this year alone.

More than 200 companies and governments have asked Roche if they can help manufacture Tamiflu. So far, Roche has allowed Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines to produce the drug without paying compensation. Tamiflu is not patent protected in those countries.

*>>>> Counterfeits

Now, consumers are starting to have to deal with questions about Tamiflu's authenticity as well as its efficacy.

The Canadian Press report that British authorities have identified 18 websites -- including two in Canada -- selling what they believe are counterfeit products sold under the Tamiflu brand.

But Health Canada spokeswoman Jirina Vlk said the drug supplied by the Canadian sites in question is, in fact, Tamiflu, and not counterfeit medication.

"(British authorities) may think it's counterfeit because it may not meet their labelling (standards), but they're legitimate Roche products," she said.

The other sites the British authorities flagged are based in the U.S., Britain, Switzerland, Bahrain, the Channel Island of Jersey, Cyprus, Singapore and Malta.

The British Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency launched the investigation over concerns that a shortage of the drug in the public market has fueled sales of bogus Tamiflu over the Internet. Test purchases were made from the sites and the drugs are being tested to determine if they are really Tamiflu.

U.S. customs officials recently seized a shipment of counterfeit Tamiflu in San Francisco.

Vlk said even though the Canadian drugs were not counterfeits, would-be Tamiflu buyers should beware.

"Buying drugs from Internet pharmacies that do not provide a street address and telephone number can pose serious concerns. Patients have no way of knowing where the company is located, where it gets its drugs, what is in the drugs, and how to reach the pharmacy if there is a problem,'' she said.

Where is this?

2005-12-21T00:52:00.000-08:00

Where is this?
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

December 2005

At Random
It's Time to Move On
Bob Colwell
This is my last At Random column. Writing this column for the past four years has been a fascinating experience, but it keeps getting harder (some overused metaphor concerning the relative altitude of fruit comes to mind), and other projects beckon. So it's with great fondness and considerable regret that I find it's time to move on.

This last column will be about the column itself. (Don't ponder that sentence for too long or you'll recurse your way into oblivion, overflow your stack, and start watching reality TV shows. And enjoying them. Nobody wants that.) I'm a big fan of learning from others—I think that ability is the key to the collective wisdom of the human race. We don't live long enough to accumulate enough personal experience from our own mistakes, so we amplify our learning by absorbing the experiences of others.

Passing along the knowledge I've gained in design has been one of my prime motivations for writing the column. So here are some things I learned over the past four years.

I Are a Writer
When I began writing the At Random column in January 2002, I had only a vague idea of what I wanted to say and how to say it. I read constantly—I have books stashed strategically in different places so that I can read while brushing my teeth, eating lunch, traveling, waiting to pick up kids at school, and during breaks in their soccer games.

I did have a list of topics that I thought deserved wider public exposure and a set of opinions with which to color them. Having once spent an entire summer doing nothing but typing for eight hours a day, I can also type extremely fast. (The noise used to drive my cubicle neighbors nuts.) Opinions plus fast fingers plus lots of books read equals the general recipe for about half of my columns.

My first column (Jan. 2002, pp. 12-14) was a blizzard of ideas and opinions, many of which I expanded on in later installments. After reading what I'd written, I realized that the ideas deserved much more elaboration than I'd had room for in that column, and if I continued to use up my idea list so profligately, my column might only last three months.

That column established a framework that I liked well enough to replicate for all the others: an initial exposition intended to state my general premise, written in a "hook-the-readers" way so they will keep reading. At the end, I tried for a pithy summary of the points made in the article, striving to supply the reader a "takeaway." In between the opening and the ending was a stream-of-consciousness approach peppered with trenchant observations and whatever humor Computer's editors let me get away with.

I don't remember having had any serious conflicts with my editors, and I think Judi Prow gets the credit for that. Judi is an exemplary editor, judiciously tweaking when that's all that's necessary, but willing to do heavy lifting of whole sections of text when it was clear my muse had taken the day off while I was writing a particular column. She also shares enough of my slightly bent sense of humor to be willing to defend me against other editors who sometimes worried I was pushing Computer too far in the general direction of Mad magazine. I occasionally worried about that, too. I wanted to improve the magazine, not cheapen it or dumb it down, but I also believe it's possible to discuss serious subjects without taking oneself too seriously.

Computer is an international magazine, reflecting the IEEE Computer Society's readership. I envy my European counterparts their natural facility with thinking and working across national boundaries. As an American, I usually feel I'm struggling with that, and this tension was often in the back of my mind as I wrote. In the end, I hoped that any inadvertent American chauvinism on my part would be forgiven in the same spirit as my attempting to use my high-school French in Paris—it's not that I'm good at it, but at least I'm trying.

For a brief moment several months ago, I thought evidence had arrived in my inbox that I was succeeding at my efforts to seem transnationally literate. I got a request from some people in Korea to use a couple of my columns in their university courses. I was intrigued and asked them what it was about those columns that they liked. Their answer: They were teaching students to translate technical material from English to Korean, and they liked the balance between technical content and the colloquial (verging on slang) English that I employ. In other words, it's almost contrary evidence: If you can translate this guy, you can translate anything.

Here's an example of humor that I thought would work for Computer's readership, but collective editor wisdom voted it down. One of my columns had a construct like "up with which I would not put." This is, of course, both a reference to Winston Churchill and a way of softening the message with a little humor. The original draft followed that with a parenthetical "(Why talking like Yoda am I?)" But the editors didn't feel that enough readers would get the joke. They seemed to think that not everyone on the planet has seen Star Wars. You would have gotten the joke, wouldn't you?

Getting the male/female thing right has turned out to be no easy trick. The English language has several design errata, and chief among them is this one: There just isn't any good way to express the idea that one is referring to a human, any human, male or female. Some writers use only "he" or "she" and instruct the readers not to draw any inferences from that usage; others alternate male and female references, hoping that readers will notice the pattern and draw the proper message from it for use in any specific instance. I've tried all of these methods at various times, and the one constant is that if I don't get it right, some readers will e-mail me corrective messages. Many women certainly care about this issue.

I wrote about my experiences as a science fair judge in a couple of columns (Apr. 2003, pp. 13-16; July 2005, pp. 12-15). While writing one of them, I was thinking only of the details of the projects involved, and I accurately noted the actual sexes of the students. Unfortunately, with the examples I happened to choose (the "best of the best" and the "best of the worst"), it turned out that my "bad project" example happened to be a female student's, while the others were by males. Guided e-mail missiles quickly struck my inbox, inquiring as to whether it was my intention to discourage girls from pursuing science and technology.

For various other columns where I had tried to strike a neutral balance between genders, I got guidance from both kinds of readers. Females objected that my every-other-reference algorithm had assigned a female to a metaphor about sweeping out a kitchen. (I think they were right. Lesson: You can't blindly use an every-other-reference-is-female algorithm; you must also check the final result.)

I've also occasionally gotten feedback from male readers, all living outside the United States, saying that I've strained credulity sometimes by assigning a female pronoun where it was statistically unlikely, and questioning whether I was being a wimp by bowing to the pressures of political correctness. I replied that it's necessary to strike a balance, and we might as well try to do it in a way that benefits half the population without hurting the other half. I know that doesn't satisfy everyone, but in the end it's all thermodynamics anyway: You can't win. You can't break even. And you can't not play.

Memorable Moments
I wrote two columns on the correlations between rock-and-roll lyrics and computer design (Feb. 2002, pp. 9-11; Feb. 2004, pp. 7-9). These were, of course, so tongue-in-cheek that it was hazardous to my dental work. But those columns were fun. I got lots more suggestions from readers who also spotted funny associations between lyrics and technology. Only one reader ever e-mailed me the equivalent of "Harumph, what's all this got to do with Computer?" But that guy claimed to never have heard "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen, so that makes him pretty suspect anyway. He probably didn't even know that Elvis has left the building.

Early on, I wrote a column about quantum mechanics (Mar. 2002, pp. 8-10), a topic I find endlessly fascinating. I've taken college courses on this and done extensive reading, but I'm by no means an expert. I had two objectives in writing that column: The first was to stimulate thought and discussion by relaying some of the ideas I've absorbed on the topic; the second was to establish the idea that it isn't necessary to be an "expert" at something to have the right to discuss it.

I think we have too much compartmentalization in science as it is, too much autodeferring to people that we hope know more about something than we do. It's all too human to substitute jargon and acronyms for true understanding, and if an expert can't explain something to an intelligent layperson, then that expert's understanding isn't what it should be. We should have respect for expertise, but not too much.

I got the reader feedback I had expected—physics gurus accusing me of "quantum mystery mongering," as though there's no real mystery there, I just hadn't broken through to their enlightened stage yet. Richard Feynman once said that anyone who said they understood quantum physics was wrong. That's good enough for me. Others wrote that I should stick to what I know. Where were they when I proposed that Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton were offering design tips?

But the column that really put a stick in the hornet's nest was the one on why airplanes fly (May 2003, pp. 10-12). When people believe something, they don't want to change that belief without compelling proof (and sometimes not even then). Scientists and engineers are, if anything, even more dogmatic about this, perhaps because we often reach our opinions via long and arduous study; you don't jettison that kind of intellectual investment without a very good reason.

This was another column with a dual agenda: to raise an interesting topic for discussion and to venture into areas where I wouldn't be assumed an expert (thereby asserting my right to do exactly that). Predictably, I got lots of e-mail. Some thought I should just go design chips some more; some thought it was all Bernoulli; some thought Newton's laws held up a plane; and at least one expert—John McMaster, a Fellow at Boeing—waded in and pointed out lots of subtleties as to how both Bernoulli and Newton operate on a wing.

And then there was the "reflected wave" guy. This reader had a very forcefully held opinion that the plane's forward movement, combined with the upward tilt of the wing, caused air molecules to bounce off the wing and head toward the ground in a "pressure wave." Then those molecules would reflect off the ground and come back up to push up on the plane. Presto, lift. He was infuriatingly condescending about this, too.

My first (polite) e-mail reply to him pointed out that the surface area of the plane's wings was minuscule compared to the volume of the sky. Picture yourself standing on the ground looking up at a jet at high altitude—you can barely see it. How was it that a group of molecules could be expected to bounce off the ground and go zooming off into the sky, somehow finding the jet so as to push up on it? His answer was, "You haven't thought about this enough yet. Once you've done that and you think you've got it, write me again."' Well, I wrote him again, considerably less polite this time, and pointed out that an SR-71 Blackbird traveling at Mach 3.5 would be many miles away before any air molecules could get to the ground and back up. This reader replied yeah! You're right!? End of discussion.

I wrote a column on Heathkits (Nov. 2002, pp. 10-12) that was based on many fond memories of building them when I was growing up. Turns out a lot of you readers did the same. I think a surprising number of IEEE members played with Erector sets as youngsters, and many are also musicians. A lot of you do woodworking and metalworking as well—my guess is that a disproportionately high number of you do so. This must mean something about us—I don't know what it is, but I hope it's good.

The column I had the most fun with was probably "Engineering Follies" (June 2002, pp. 10-12), where I recounted all the weird and wacky events I've witnessed in my engineering career. Several readers sent me their own experiences, which were just as nutty as my story of the grad student who stood on the calibration weight of a motor-generator and told us to power it up. If it weren't for the lab's ceiling, that guy would have been the first human to achieve orbit without a rocket. Almost made me wish more goofy things had happened so I could do another column like that. Almost.

Readers Write
Except for the eccentrics, most readers who've responded to my columns have been polite and thoughtful. I knew I was taking a chance in March 2004 with my column on overclocking, and I wasn't disappointed.

Overclocking is the act of purposely running a computer system faster than its guaranteed rating, in effect using an unknown amount of design margin for the privilege of getting higher performance. I doubt that many of Computer's readers have the time or inclination for this hobby, but I thought some of them might find it interesting (verging on bizarre, for those readers who are intimately familiar with what's inside silicon chips). But I also conjectured that the article would find its way into the hands of the overclockers, who are among the planet's most Net-savvy humans.

In the 1960s, teenagers would soup up their cars; nowadays, it seems they're souping up their computers instead. Nothing wrong with that, but the point of my column was that these folks are playing with forces they don't understand, and there are implications that should be addressed.

I got the usual amount of e-mail feedback, mostly of the "What part of "it works' don't you understand?" variety, but generally much less reasoned and rational than I was used to. One e-mail essentially said, "I hate you, and I wish you were dead." After deleting the first draft of my reply—"Oh yeah? Well, you're ugly and your mother dresses you funny"—I decided this conversation wasn't likely to converge in any mutually satisfactory way and sent something more like "Thank you for your support and encouragement, and much good luck to you in whatever future dangerous and poorly understood activities you might indulge in."

I Don't Know What I Think Until I Read What I've Written
For me, writing isn't just the act of committing what's in my head to paper or a text editor. What I think isn't all laid out in neat, orderly patterns in my head. Part of the fun of writing is recognizing the interconnections that are stimulated in real time while communicating. It often feels like a race between my typing fingers, trying to capture the ideas so I don't just as quickly forget them, and the part of my brain that decides what's good English and what needs to be deleted.

Many times I sat down to write my At Random column on some topic, thought of an introduction that might work, and started typing. A couple of hours later, I realized that my introduction had grown longer than the column itself, and I still hadn't even broached my intended topic.

Scott Hamilton and Judi Prow are Computer's dazzling editorial duo, and their constant support and encouragement (and diplomatically deft hands at editing) were indispensable to my having done this column for four years.

I also thank Computer's editorial board for their sustentation. Speaking of big words, I also thank everyone concerned for putting up with my occasional penchant for using five-dollar words, when style guides and common sense dictate that fifty-cent words would have done as well. I just like big words—that's my only defense. To me, it's like being a numismatist. Is there a similar word for someone who collects big words? "Logophile" is too small a word to be appropriate.

Above all I thank you, the readers. When surveys suggested a lot of you were reading what I wrote, it helped tremendously when the next month's deadline arrived. And when you sent me e-mail with your encouragement and ideas, it always lifted my spirits—well, except for the wish-you-were-dead guy.

I intend to continue my association with Computer because it's a class act done by really great people, and I believe in its mission. When you have ideas to improve the magazine, remember: We do care about what you think, and we read what you send us.

My first book, The Pentium Chronicles, is due out this month. As many of you have suggested over the years, I plan to use the four years of At Random columns as a launching point to write my next book. Watch for that sometime in 2007.

Finally, in the immortal words of the dolphins in TheHitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Ballantine Books, 1995): So long, and thanks for all the fish.

Bob Colwell, the 2005 recipient of the IEEE Computer Society/ACM Eckert-Mauchly Award, was Intel's chief IA32 architect through the Pentium II, III, and 4 microprocessors. He is now an independent consultant. Contact him at bob.colwell@comcast.net.

Christmas Past the 60's

2005-12-20T22:36:00.000-08:00

scan0006
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

The early 60's, When the trees were Aluminum, the fireplace cardboard and a good time was had by all.

Happiness is Blog Sledding

2005-12-19T19:36:00.000-08:00

Jon Trottier
Originally uploaded by kk+.

It was a cold and crisp day (about -35F, sounds colder than about -30 degrees C). (note the ice on the ear flap ;)
A good time was had by ALL.
We redefined the definition of "exposed skin". Skin will freeze if exposed.
The Dogs were friendly and fast.
Had a short walk on the lake. (Ice about 3 inches thick)
The Hot Chocolate we had at midway of the trip was the best I've ever had.

So check out:

http://www.blogsndogs.com/

blogsndogs

ZonAL PoP

2005-12-18T19:05:00.000-08:00

ZonAL PoP
Originally uploaded by Zone Patcher.

Santa!
All I want for Xmas is "Peace on Earth"
If I can't get that, see I get a piece anyway ;)

"Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing." - Clive James

The Cunning Linguist

2005-12-17T17:22:00.000-08:00

The Cunning Linguist
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

"Dans chaque Américain il y a un air de l'innocence incorrigible, qui semble cacher une adresse diabolique."

"Em cada Americano há um ar da inocência incorrigible, que parece esconder um endereço diabolique."

"En cada Americano hay un aire de la inocencia incorregible, que parece ocultar una dirección diabolique."

"In ogni americano c'è un'aria dell'innocenza incorrigible, che sembra nascondere un indirizzo diabolique."

"Auf jeden Amerikaner gibt es eine Luft der nicht korrigierbaren Unschuld, die scheint, eine diabolical Verschlagenheit zu verbergen."

"In elke Amerikaan is er een lucht van incorrigible onschuld, die schijnt om een afschuwelijke sluwheid te verbergen."

"用每個美國人有不可救藥的無罪空氣, 似乎隱瞞惡魔般狡猾。"

“In every American there is an air of incorrigible innocence, which seems to conceal a diabolical cunning.” - A. E. Housman

Translation – The Cunning Linguist

Tiny House on the Prairie 2

2005-12-15T23:39:00.000-08:00

Tiny House on the Prairie 2
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

In my neighborhood the front yard of a house has this tiny log house.
It is not bothered by pets or kids.
It is True Magic

TTC31S

2005-12-13T19:18:00.000-08:00

TTC31S
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

The Way of the Heart Chapter 31 as translated 11 December 2005 ^_^

31
Les soldats de la guerre prévoient la destruction. Et servez contre la vie.
Soldiers of war predict destruction. And are for use against Life.

Une personne de Tao (la manière du coeur)ne place pas leur coeur sur eux. ( Un homme de Tao ne construit pas des armées pour combattre et prendre la commande de d'autres débarquez).
A person of Tao (the Way of the Heart) does not set their heart upon them.( A man of Tao does not build armies to fight and take control of others land.)

Dans la vie ordinaire, une personne douce considère le côté gauche comme l'endroit de l'honneur (le présage du futur).
Dans la guerre, le bon côté est l'endroit du honor(le présage du passé).
In ordinary life, a gentle person regards the left side as the place of honor(the omen of the future): In war, the right side is the place of honor(the omen of the past).

Car les soldats sont des outils de destruction, ils ne sont pas correctement les outils d'une personne douce ;
Sur la volonté de nécessité il les emploient, (les ayant et sachant leur utilisation).
Avec la commande calme.
À lui même le gain n'est aucune cause pour se réjouir.
Se réjouir au-dessus d'une guerre gagnée est de se réjouir au-dessus de l'abattage des hommes !
Ainsi un homme qui se réjouit au-dessus de l'abattage des hommes ne peut pas compter faire bien dans le monde des hommes.
As soldiers are tools of destruction, They are not properly a gentle person’s tools;
On necessity will he use them, (having them and knowing their use).
With calm control. To him even winning is no cause for rejoicing.
To rejoice over a war won is to rejoice over the slaughter of men!
So a man who rejoices over the slaughter of men cannot expect to do well in the world of men.

Aux occasions heureuses le côté gauche est preferred(le présage du futur) : Aux occasions tristes le bon side(le présage du passé).
Dans l'armée, le lieutenant le commandant se tient du côté gauche. Tandis que le commander-in-Chief se tient du côté droit. Ceci signifie que la guerre est traitée en tant qu'égale à un service funèbre. Puisque beaucoup de gens ont été tuées, il est seulement exact que la vie devrait être triste à la perte d'eux.
Par conséquent, même dans une victoire est un enterrement.
On happy occasions the left side is preferred(the omen of the future): On sad occasions the right side(the omen of the past). In the army, the Lieutenant Commander stands on the left. While the Commander-in-Chief stands on the right.This means that war is treated as equal to a funeral service.
Because many people have been killed, it is only right that living should be sad at the loss of them.
Hence, even in a victory is a funeral.

Thanks for sharing such beautiful words, may someday men understand that peace is the glory of the humanity!

Ah! A dialog, I was wondering when a person would comment .^_^.
This is the chapter is what started me down the “rabbit hole” of the Chinese/Japanese written language. Circa 500 BC.
At first I read translations of Lao Tzu and came to an abrupt halt at this chapter.
Something had been “Lost in Translation”.
My rough draft of 1994 vintage is posted here
www.daoisopen.com/DDJTranslations.html
and other places.
I start to differ with chapter 31 and now find that “Tao Teh Ching” can be translated as “Way Heart Classic” or The Way of the Heart.
Timely to repost this paradigm in the true spirit of the season.

W Wears Souvenir Pyramid Hat

2005-12-08T21:47:00.000-08:00

W Wears Souvenir Pyramid Hat
Originally uploaded by BullyRook.

Pointy Halo

TTC63

2005-12-08T21:33:00.000-08:00

TTC63
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

63
Faites le sans effort.
Do the Effortless.
Essai pour le sans effort.
Try for the effortless.
Appréciez le triste.
Enjoy the joyless.
Augmenter haut le bas.
Raise high the low.
Multipliez les peu.
Multiply the few.
Renvoyez le mal avec la bonté.
Return hurt with kindness.
Arrêtez les ennuis dans le commencement.
Stop troubles in the beginning.
Plantez le grand avec le petit.
Plant the great with the small.
Choses difficiles du monde. Le bidon seulement soit abordé quand elles sont faciles.
Difficult things of the world.
Can only be tackled when they are easy.
De grandes choses du monde peuvent seulement être accomplies en prêtant l'attention à leurs petits commencements.
Big things of the world
Can only be completed by paying attention to their small beginnings.
Le penseur complet doit ne jamais lutter avec les grandes choses,
The Complete Thinker never has to struggle with the big things,
Mais eux seuls sont capables de les accomplir !
But they alone are capable of completing them!
Ils qui promettent légèrement doivent manquer dans la foi.
They who promise lightly must be lacking in faith.
Ils qui pensent tout facile finiront en trouvant la difficulté.
They who think everything easy
will end by finding difficulty.
Le penseur complet, qui considère tout comme difficile, se réunit sans des difficultés à la fin.
The Complete Thinker, who regards everything as difficult,
Meets with no difficulties in the end.

dang

2005-12-07T13:50:00.000-08:00

dang
Originally uploaded by Shade McVay.

66

How does the sea become the King of all streams?

Because it lies lower than they!
That is why it is the king of all streams.

The Complete Thinker rules over the people by lowering themself in speech;
Leads the people by putting themself behind.

When a Complete Thinker stands above the people,
People do not feel the heaviness of their weight;

When they stands in front of the people,
they do not feel hurt.
All the world is glad to push them forward without getting tired of them.

Because they compete with nobody,
Nobody can ever compete with them.

TAO

2005-12-07T12:53:00.000-08:00

TAO
Originally uploaded by di Cinarca.

64

What is not moving is easy to hold.
What shows no predictions is easily made not to happen.
What is delicate is easily smashed.
What is small is easily widely separated and lost.
Do things before they have become visible. ( Plan ahead.)
Help peace and order before confusion and disorder have set in.

A tree as big as a man’s embrace starts from a tiny sprout. (Big things start small.)
A tower nine stories high begins with a heap of earth.
A journey of three thousand miles starts from where your feet stand.

They who trouble over anything spoil it.
They who hold anything lose it.

The Complete Thinker troubles over nothing and then spoils nothing.
They trie to hold nothing and then lose nothing.

In handling business, people often spoil it just at the point of success.
With carefulness in the beginning and
patience at the end,
nothing will be spoiled.

The Complete Thinker
wants to be want-less.
Sets no value on rare goods.
Learns to relearn their learning.
And convinces the people to return from where they have passed.
They only help all creatures to find their own nature,
but does not try to lead them by the nose.

Blogs n Dogs goes Dogsledding XXII

2005-12-06T21:06:00.000-08:00

Blogs n Dogs goes Dogsledding XXII
Originally uploaded by roland.

tasteful

Arenal Volcano

2005-12-05T15:13:00.000-08:00

Arenal Volcano
Originally uploaded by Flynnwynn.

51

TAO ( THE WAY OF THE HEART )
gives them life,
Virtue (Heart(Power))
nurses them,
Matter
shapes them,
Environment
completes them.

All things worship Tao ( the Way of the Heart )
and pray to Virtue (Heart(Power)).

They have not been commanded to worship Tao ( the Way of the Heart ) and pray to Virtue (Heart(Power)),

But they always do so automatically.

It is Tao ( the Way of the Heart )
that gives them life:

Its Virtue (Heart(Power))
that nurses them,
grows them,
raises them,
shelters them,
comforts them,
feeds them
and covers them under her wings.

To give life but to demand nothing,

To do your work
but to set no importance to it,

To be a leader, not a rule maker,

This is called
Hidden Virtue (Heart(Power)).

BlogsNDogs The Start of the Adventure

2005-12-05T11:05:00.000-08:00

BlogsNDogs 203
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

Clear skies in the Frozen North, -20 C, the beginning of the journey to Blogs N Dogs ( B and D ).

http://www.blogsndogs.com/
A accelerator program offered by the Banff New Media Institute .^_^. http://www.banffcentre.ca/programs/program.aspx?id=487

Three full days of not having to wear a "I see Dumb People" T-shirt.
No Cell Phone just HIGH speed Wi-Fi.

Oh Yeah and Dog Sleading :))

One with Death

2005-12-05T10:16:00.000-08:00

One with Death
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

50

When one is out of Life,
one is in Death.

The partners of
Life are thirteen;
the partners of
Death are thirteen;

When a living person
moves into
the Realm of Death,
their partners are also thirteen.

How is this?

Because they draws upon
the property of
Life too heavily.

They who know well how to live
meets no tigers
or wild buffaloes on their road,
comes out
from the battle-ground
not touched by the weapons of war.

For, in him,
a buffalo would
find no target for his horns,
a tiger
nothing to put
his claws upon,
and a weapon of war
no place for its point to enter.

How is this?

Because there is
no room for Death
in them.

bad hair day

2005-12-03T22:11:00.000-08:00

bad hair day
Originally uploaded by Cilest.

The so called 'Perchtenlaeufe' have a long tradition here in Austria. At the beginning of December in many towns people dressed up with scaring masks run around frightening children (and adults, too). They are called 'Perchten' and often accompanied by Santa Claus.
The masks are traditionally hand-carved and they can be quite heavy - the whole costume can weigh up to 50 kg.

"We three Pings don't travel by car.
Through the Net we travel so far.
Hubs and Switches
NOCS with Glitches
Web Surfing is so sub-par.

Oh perfect path of fewest hops
Round trip average hard to top.
Always routed never doubted
Ne'er a packet drops.

We spend our life existing as bits.
Unaware of pages or hits.
Don't give us Hell
Cause we can't tell
When the data is SPAM or T*t*.

Winter

2005-12-03T20:38:00.000-08:00

Originally uploaded by perceived.

In the Frozen North we have Early Winter, Winter, Late Winter and Road Construction

Rurouni Kenshin

2005-12-02T20:48:00.000-08:00

Rurouni Kenshin
Originally uploaded by 敏.

38
High Virtue (Heart) is completely virtuous (heartful) without chasing after virtue (heart);
Therefore it has Virtue (Heart).
Low Virtue (Power) is always chasing after virtue (power) and never frees itself from the chase;
Therefore it is without Virtue (Heart).

High Virtue (Heart) is without problems and is without private goals to serve:
Low Virtue (Power) not only makes problems but has private goals to serve.
High humanity makes problems but is without private goals to serve:
High morality not only makes problems but has private goals to serve.
High ceremony makes problems but is without response;
Then it raises its arms to show itself.

Losing Tao ( the Way of the Heart ), man uses Virtue (Heart).
Losing Virtue (Heart), man uses humanity.
Losing humanity, man uses morality.
Losing morality, man uses ceremony.

Ceremony is the shell of faith and loyalty;
It is the beginning of all, not understanding and mix-up.
Knowing the future, is only, the attractive without substance part, of the Tao ( the Way of the Heart ),And the beginning of foolishness.
The full-grown person can enter the substance rather than the shell;
Can enter totality
rather than the promise.
They prefers what is within
instead of appearance.

O Véu de Borboleta- The Butterfly Veil

2005-12-01T16:35:00.000-08:00

O Véu de Borboleta- The Butterfly Veil
Originally uploaded by Jackie Pittigliani.

"...Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?..."

Blowin' in the Wind-
Bob Dylan

i've seen you naked in photos

2005-11-30T12:39:00.000-08:00

i've seen you naked in photos
Originally uploaded by jAded rabiEs.

(on your boyfriends website)

16
Achieve the utmost Emptiness.
Cling single-heartedly to
interior peace.
Become a part of all things,
In this way you see the pattern.
Flourish they do,
Each of them will
return to its root.
To return to the root is to find peace.
To find peace is to fulfill one’s destiny.
To fulfill one’s destiny is
to be unchanging.
To know the Unchanging is
called Insight.

If one does not know the Unchanging,
One runs blindly into disasters.
If one knows the Unchanging,
One can understand and embrace all.
If one understands and embraces all,
One is capable of doing justice.
To be just is to be a leader;
To be a leader is to be one with nature;
To be one with nature is to be one with the Tao (the Way of the Heart);
To be one with the Tao (the Way of the Heart) is to go on forever.
Such a one will be safe and whole,
Even after the death of their body.

I Vodka Drunkie Robot

2005-11-29T22:21:00.000-08:00

I Vodka Drunkie Robot
Originally uploaded by fabian17.

This is an interesting rendition of I robot, Phillip Dick and other classic topics of SciFi applied to the selling of a moderately ok Vodka. Interesting. It appeared lately in the streets of New York. I don't know if this campaign is taking place somewhere else. If that's the case please contribute. Cheers

If you live in a brick house don't throw cars

2005-11-28T14:50:00.000-08:00

If you live in a brick house don't throw cars
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

22
Bend and you will be whole.

Curl and you will be straight.

Keep empty and you will be filled.

Grow old and you will be renewed.

Have little and you will gain.

Have much and you will be confused.

The Complete Thinker
embraces the One,
Becomes a Pattern to all under Heaven.

Does not make a show of self,
Then shines;

Does not justify self,
Then becomes known;

Does not brag of ability,
Then gets credit;

Does not make show of success,
Then lasts;

Does not compete with anyone,
Then no one can compete with them.

Indeed, the ancient saying: “Bend and you will remain whole” is no idle word.

To become whole,
Turn within and concentrate your Power.

To Hold Chaos in your Hand

2005-11-27T22:27:00.000-08:00

See Ya Guys Later :)
Originally uploaded by Superchou.

59

In governing a people
and in serving Heaven,
There is nothing like
not being wasteful.

To not be wasteful
is to return before
going away from the path.

To return
before going away
from the path
is to have
a double supply of Heart.

To have
a double supply of Heart
is to overcome everything.

To overcome everything
is to have no limits.

Only they who have no limits can have a kingdom.

Only they who have the true understanding of the Tao can last long.

This is the way
to be deep-rooted and
firm-planted
in the Tao ( the Way of the Heart ).

This is the secret of
long life and
lasting understanding.

deer whisperer

2005-11-26T21:31:00.000-08:00

deer whisperer
Originally uploaded by Mr. Mark.

"pssst, don't look now, but I think the tall goofy one is watching you..."

hungover

2005-11-26T21:10:00.000-08:00

hungover
Originally uploaded by gongemonge.

"The Saturday morning baptism brings absolution from Friday night's sins."
We create our realities ^_^

layers

2005-11-26T09:14:00.000-08:00

layers
Originally uploaded by inari_knows.

A Nice proof of the Mask Theory

2005-11-25T19:16:00.000-08:00

Push ups
bearly in time

Love or Lunch?

stop blocking flickr in UAE

2005-11-25T17:40:00.000-08:00

stop blocking flickr in UAE
Originally uploaded by Glauk@.

Dedicated to the people of the UAE who are not able to axcess flickr because the phone company blocked it FOR NO GOOD REASON.

and this is not enough
we should write a petition and sign all together and send to ETISALAT, it might work

http://www.petitiononline.com/create_petition.html

2005-11-25T17:35:00.000-08:00

Freedom !!!!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

2005-11-24T12:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Originally uploaded by Claudecf.

No Thanksgiving celebrations in France, so turkeys are not in danger... until Christmas, that is!

my sleepy brown-turning-into-green eyes

2005-11-23T22:41:00.000-08:00

my sleepy brown-turning-into-green eyes
Originally uploaded by Yuki.

i'm losing my color pigments. doug says dude, "in china, you'd be a ******* goddess."?

Cloud collage

2005-11-22T23:26:00.000-08:00

Cloud collage
Originally uploaded by Roselea.

23
Only simple and quiet words will ripen of themselves.
For a whirlwind does not last a whole morning.
A sudden rain does not last a whole day.
Who is their creator?
Heaven-and-Earth!
Even Heaven-and-Earth cannot make such
violent things last long;
The same is true of the reckless efforts of people.
They who help the Tao (the Way of the Heart) are one with the Tao (the Way of the Heart);
They who think with Power are one with
Power;
And they who seek the hand of loss are
one with Loss.
To be one with the Tao (the Way of the Heart) is to be a welcome addition to the Tao (the Way of the Heart);
To be one with Power is to be a welcome
addition to Power;
To be one with Loss is to be a welcome
addition to Loss.
Failure of faith on your part
Creates faithlessness on the part of others.

reassembly

2005-11-21T20:11:00.000-08:00

reassembly
Originally uploaded by dawn armfield.

~ flagstaff, arizona ~ november 2005 ~

"Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again. When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree."
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery ~

2005-11-20T12:39:00.000-08:00

40

The movement of the

Tao ( the Way of the Heart )

consists of Returning.

(In science, for every physical action there is a physical reaction. It is the same in social order.)

The use of the

Tao ( the Way of the Heart )

consists of perception.

(Understand the root cause and you will understand the process.)

All things

under heaven

are born

of the Visible;

The Visible

is born

of the Invisible.

(The principals that we do not directly perceive create what we see. Chaos has a pattern if only we use our intuition.)

The Pleaides

2005-11-20T12:07:00.000-08:00

The Pleaides
Originally uploaded by Peteman_.

21
It lies in the nature of Power
To follow the Tao (the Way of the Heart)
and the Tao alone.
Now what is the Tao (the Way of the
Heart)?
It is Something slippery and shifty.
Shifty and slippery!
And yet It contains within Itself a Form.
Shifty and slippery!
And yet It contains within Itself a
Substance.
Shadowy and dim!
And yet It contains within Itself a Core
of Energy ( the Force of Life(Ch’I) )
The Core of Energy ( Ch’I) is very real,
It contains within Itself an unfailing
Honesty.
Throughout the ages
Its Name has been preserved
In order to recall the
Beginning of all things.
(We can see and hear the background
radiation that was the Big Bang the
beginning of our Universe.)
How do I know the ways of all things at
the Beginning?
By what is within me.
(For we are made of Star Stuff.)

walking the dog in winter

2005-11-20T11:26:00.000-08:00

walking the dog in winter
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

marchant le chien en hiver

Yang @ 8 weeks

2005-11-20T11:23:00.000-08:00

Yang @ 8 weeks
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

Why are they doing this too me?

HighLevelAurora2

2005-11-20T11:18:00.000-08:00

HighLevelAurora2
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

On the Oldman River near Lethbridge

one month old Yin

2005-11-20T11:04:00.000-08:00

one month old Yin
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

She is full of energy and loves to play ^_^

johnny depp

2005-11-20T10:51:00.000-08:00

johnny depp
Originally uploaded by baka-monkey.

motivation
MOTIVATION

What drives a male College Student :)
" My sister was concerned that she mailed letters to her sons in college and never recieved a response.
I said "I bet I can make them respond."
The following day I sent a letter to each son and in the letter I mentioned I had enclosed $5. I did not enclose the money.
I was answered by return post" - Dale Carnegie

Newfoundland

2005-11-19T10:57:00.000-08:00

Newfoundland
Originally uploaded by engineering synchronicity.

For those who are not canadian, please try to understand ^_^

Torn between the love of Monsieur Orange and Monsieur Yellow she undoubtedly became blue

2005-11-18T23:13:00.000-08:00

Torn between the love of Monsieur Orange and Monsieur Yellow she undoubtedly became blue
Originally uploaded by DrJoanne.

LIVE: Bauhaus Bring Bela Back To Life
17/11/2005 5:30:00 PM

(ChartAttack) This is a review of Bauhaus concert at the Kool Haus in Toronto on November 16, 2005.

November 16, 2005
Kool Haus
Toronto, ON
by Noah Love

You've gotta love a goth show. It's like Halloween Pt. 2. Everyone gets dressed up and puts on makeup. All the goth hallmarks were out in full effect for Wednesday night's Bauhaus show — tons of leather pants, trenchcoats and black lipstick. But these were no ordinary goths. These were the goths of 25 years ago, reunited to see their British band who (most agree) started it all.

Singer Peter Murphy, guitarist Daniel Ash, bassist David J and drummer Kevin Haskins arrived on stage to a repeating deep rumble, which I can only assume was supposed to imply some sort of impending doom. The set, which was essentially the "best of" Bauhaus, actually wasn't as dark as you might think.

Sure, songs such as "In The Flat Field" and "Hair Of The Dog" sound as though they were written and performed by men on the brink of complete insanity, but they were littered amongst more upbeat, Bowie-esque tunes such as "Rose Garden Funeral Of Sores" and the superb "Passion Of Lovers."

As a band, Bauhaus are performing at the same capacity they have since the late '70s, but there's an interesting contrast happening within the band. Murphy and Ash are both highly skilled musicians. Murphy's voice is still as baritone, and is as threatening as it is engaging, and Ash's near 30 years of experience in both Bauhaus and Love And Rockets has made him one of the best new wave guitarists ever.

But then there's J and Haskins, neither of whom are particularly excellent at all. Maybe it was the frequent strobe lighting, but J seemed to have trouble keeping up with Ash's frenetic riffs and Haskins missed more than a few beats. I suspect, though, that this is just part of the Bauhaus aesthetic. I've heard live recordings of the band from their early period and they don't sound much different.

None of this mattered to any of the all-goth crowd on hand at the Kool Haus. Some swayed, others danced religiously, while a few were too cool to move, yet all of them cheered wildly for the quartet on stage. In fact, I wouldn't have thought they'd get excited enough to bring the band back for an encore, but after five minutes of hollering and pleading proved me wrong.

After three more songs, including the Ash-sung "Slice Of Life," they left again, but after waiting for 90 minutes, the audience wasn't going to let them off the hook for the song everyone in the building wanted to hear. A few minutes after that, Bauhaus finally stormed the stage and played "Bela Lugosi's Dead," after which, some people in the crowd looked as though they could die happy.

The Pixies reunion has brought us many more from the '60s-'80s, but Bauhaus aren't pretenders. This tour, if anything, is simply enhancing their ever-growing reputation.

"There is no blue without yellow and without orange" - Vincent van Gogh

I will not fight your war

2005-11-18T22:17:00.000-08:00

I will not fight your war
Originally uploaded by miss cleopatra.

35
They who hold to the Great Picture (pattern) will attract all things to them.

Things go to them and
receive no harm,

In them things find
peace,
security and
happiness.

Music and
snacks can only
make a passing guest pause.

The words of Tao (the Way of the Heart)
have lasting effects,

They are mild and
flavorless,

We look and see nothing.
We listen and hear nothing.
But if we use it,
It is without end.

classically japanese

2005-11-18T22:10:00.000-08:00

classically japanese
Originally uploaded by la femme jen.

8
The highest form of
goodness is like water.
Water knows how to
benefit all things
without effort.
It stays in places
unliked by all people.
It comes near the Tao (the Way of the Heart).

In choosing your dwelling,
know how to keep the ground.

In cultivating your mind,
know how to dive in the hidden depths.

In dealing with others,
know how to be gentle and kind.

In speaking,
know how to keep your words.

In governing,
know how to maintain order.

In transacting business,
know how to be efficient.

In making a move,
know how to choose the right moment.

If you do not compete
with others,
You will be free
from blame.