for_sv's blog

New Indian drug patent rule hurts poor AIDS patients: US experts

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US law and AIDS experts urged the Indian parliament to reject an executive order that will curb India's ability to sell cheap copies of the newest drugs for the world's poorest patients.

The Indian parliament will debate the new December 26 order, which changed its laws to put India in line with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules on intellectual property rights.

Until its new rule, the South Asian giant had not recognized international drug patents, thereby leaving its pharmaceutical industry with a half-million-strong workforce free to copy foreign products.

India is the world's third-biggest producer and prime exporter of generic drugs, which are cheaper than drugs sold under patent.

The experts said the Indian parliament should either amend the order or let it die when it expires after six months in order to take time to revise it and improve it.

"Hundreds of millions of lives are at stake," said Brook Baker, a law professor at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, and a policy adviser to the Health Global Access Project, an activist organization seeking worldwide access to HIV/AIDS treatment.

"People need access to the newest medicine," Baker said. "This ordinance cannot and should not stand."

The new ordinance could hurt public health programs in Africa, a continent plagued by AIDS cases, experts said.

"This is really about our ability to get these life-saving medicines in the mouths of people that urgently need them," said Paul Zeitz, executive director of US-based Global AIDS Alliance.

African and Indian activists, along with AIDS organizations, will hold a rally Saturday in front of India's embassy in Washington to show solidarity with similar protests to be held in India.

February 26, 2005 in World News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 25, 2005

You damned dirty ape

If you're going to work with Koko the Gorilla, the famous talking ape, you've got to know more than sign language. Allegedly, Dr. Penny Patterson insists you've also gotta show your boobs... who knew?

February 25, 2005 in Tech/Science | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Chimps: fair. Humans:...?

[You humans] [have been around a lot longer than you were thought to have been here] -- [since at least 190,000 years ago]. [In 1967, the Omo ] [fossils were ] [thought to be about 130,000 ] [years old.]

February 25, 2005 in Tech/Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 24, 2005

How Stock Market functions

It was autumn, and the Red Indians on the remote reservation asked their New Chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild.

Since he was a Red Indian chief in a modern society, he couldn't tell what the weather was going to be.
Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he replied to his Tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect wood to be prepared.

But also being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea.

He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked "Is the coming winter going to be cold?" "It looks like this winter is Going to be quite cold indeed," the meteorologist at the weather service responded.

So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more wood. A week later, he called the National Weather Service again. "Is it going to be a very cold winter?" "Yes," the man at National Weather Service again replied, "It's definitely going to be a very cold winter. The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of wood they could find.

Two weeks later, he called the National Weather Service again. "Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?" "Absolutely, The man replied. "It's going to be one of the coldest winters ever."

"How can you be so sure?" the Chief asked.

The weatherman replied, "The Red Indians are collecting wood like crazy."

This is how stock markets work!!!

February 24, 2005 in Humor | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Career Builder Super Bowl ad

Check out one of the famous Super Bowl Commercials from Career Builder.

Click here all 2005 Super Bowl Commercials

February 24, 2005 in Art, Humor | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Bud Light Ads

Ads. are becoming intelligent and more funny. Though you may not drink but am sure you will enjoy all the Bud Light ads. My favorite is the Sky diver one.

February 24, 2005 in Art, Humor | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 23, 2005

best way to transfer your music collection

"What's the best way to transfer your music collection to your iPod? It depends on what you value most: your time, money, or sanity."

February 23, 2005 in Music | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Bush is Making the world safe

For gynaecologists. Video, Hilarious.

February 23, 2005 in Humor | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

mix mp3s

This is a great tool to mix mp3s with, especially if you don't have $400-600 for final scratch pro. It was designed specifically for DJing live and works like a virtual turntable. Besides being free, it's far better than most of the other toy-ish mixing programs available. Having two soundcards makes things easier, but it can even run on a system with one soundcard (although you still need a real mixer). We've come a long way since this.

February 23, 2005 in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 22, 2005

The Incremental Web

Rich Skrenta writes about the difference between the Reference Web and the Incremental Web:

Google searches the reference Internet. Users come to google with a specific query, and search a vast corpus of largely static information. This is a very valuable and lucrative service to provide: it's the Yellow Pages.

Blogs may look like regular HTML pages, but the key difference is that they're organized chronologically. New posts appear at the top, so with a single browser reload you can say "Just show me what's new."

This seems like a trivial difference, but it drives an entirely different delivery, advertising and value chain. Rather than using HTML, the delivery protocol for web pages, there is a desire for a new, feed-centric protocol: RSS. To search chronologically-ordered content, a relevance-based search that destroys the chronology such as Google is inappropriate. Instead you want Feedster, PubSub or Technorati. Feed content may be better to read in a different sort of client, such as Newsgator, rather than a web browser.

And finally, there is a different advertising opportunity. Rather than the sort of business ads you see in the Yellow Pages, instead the ad opportunity is more about reaching a particular demographic or subscriber group. The kind of ads that are in magazines. How do you keyword target a breakfast cereal advertisement to fitness-conscious 21-25 year olds? You can't. You need to find something those people are reading, and put your ad there.

There are 4-8 million active blogs now. At this size, you can still "know" the top bloggers, and find new posts worth reading by clicking around. But when the blogosphere grows 100X or 1000X, the current discovery model will break down. You'll need algorithmic techniques like Topix.net or a Findory to channel the most relevant material from the constant flood of new content.

Rich is on the right track, but there are a few additional points which need thinking:
- We need to think beyond just text to multimedia for mass-market content creation and management. [Think Flickr.]
- In emerging markets like India, the mobile and not the computer will be at the heart of the Incremental Web.
- The interface has to go beyond the search box to more natural navigational interfaces. [Think Speech.]
- The published content is being amplified/tagged by the mass market --this also needs to be taken into account. [Think Del.icio.us.]
- A user's "subscriptions" will be the filter through which the user will want to see the Incremental Web. [Think RSS+OPML.]

(via Emergic)

February 22, 2005 in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Google Goodies

Gmail Journal:
Here’s how to turn your Gmail account into a multi-category journal.

Google Help:
Cheat Sheet

Google Toolbar 3 beta:
Google Toolbar 3 beta. Google writes:

- SpellCheck: Whenever users type into a web form (including web-based email, discussion forums, and intranet web applications), SpellCheck instantly reviews and suggests corrections. The AutoFix option enables users to automatically check and correct all the text they're entering with one
click.
- AutoLink: Whenever users see a U.S. address on a web page, one click on AutoLink automatically links the address to an online map. For example, if users are reading a review of a new restaurant, clicking on AutoLink will turn its address into a link to a map, complete with directions. AutoLink also links package tracking numbers to pages displaying that package's delivery status and other useful information, such as Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) and Publication ISBN numbers.
- WordTranslator: This feature translates words from English web pages into one of 8 other languages. Hover the cursor over a word and Google Toolbar's WordTranslator feature displays the word in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Japanese, or Korean.

International verison coming soon.

February 22, 2005 in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

February 21, 2005

Otherwise - by Jane Kenyon

I got out of bed on two strong legs.
It might have been otherwise.
I ate cereal, sweet milk, ripe, flawless peach.
It might have been otherwise.
I took the dog uphill to the birch wood. All morning I did the work I love.
At noon I lay down with my mate.
It might have been otherwise.
We ate dinner together at a table with silver candlesticks.
It might have been otherwise.
I slept in a bed in a room with paintings on the walls, and planned another day just like this day.
But one day, I know, it will be otherwise.

From Otherwise: New and Selected Poems by Jane Kenyon. She has written 25 books

February 21, 2005 in Reality | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

February 20, 2005

Escher Web Sketch

Escher Web Sketch allows you to draw repeating patterns. You can select the symmetry of the patterns by clicking on one of the icons in the bar above the drawing area. The drawing tools are selected from the icon bar under the drawing area. You can also change the pattern size and placement with the Modify cell button. The right hand side of the drawing area is reserved for each drawing tool's usage. Typically it changes the pen size and color.

February 20, 2005 in Art | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Gene therapy converts dead bone graft to new, living tissue

Researchers have created a way to transform the dead bone of a transplanted skeletal graft into living tissue in an experiment involving mice. The advance, which uses gene therapy to stimulate the body into treating the foreign splint as living bone, is a promising development for the thousands of cancer and trauma patients each year who suffer with fragile and failing bone grafts. The findings were posted online Feb. 13 and will appear in the March 1 issue of Nature Medicine.

February 20, 2005 in Tech/Science | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

India special: The next knowledge superpower

Was there ever a doubt!

- India special: The next knowledge superpower
In just a few years, more than 100 IT and science-based firms have located R&D labs in India. Big changes are making the country a centre of innovation.

- India special: Space programme presses ahead
While detractors say India cannot afford a space programme, Indira Gandhi believed it was vital for India's development - the Moon is on the agenda.

- India special: The silicon subcontinent
Some of the biggest names in IT are heading towards Bangalore once more, but now it's the brightest minds they seek - not cheap labour

- India special: Millions get mobiles
The country is becoming connected as never before, and the consequences could be dramatic

- India special: Making science pay
R A Mashelkar is running a one-man campaign to create an enterprise culture in India: to bring science and industry together to benefit the country.

- India special: Vaccines for pennies
An Indian husband and wife team risked everything to build a facility producing the hepatitis B vaccine for just 28 cents per shot

- India special: Radio telescope offers dishes to savour
Why astronomers are flocking to India's wine country.

- India special: Closing the door on generic drugs
Recent changes in India's unusual patent laws mean the country's recently booming drugs industry is risking everything to stay afloat.

- India special: The returning scientist
Physicist Shobo Bhattacharya spent decades in leading US labs before returning to India to direct the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research in Mumbai.

- India special: The IT pioneer
In 1981, Nandan Nilekani was one of seven engineers who scraped together $250 to start a software company in India - annual sales now exceed $1 billion

- India special: Welcome to the global village
The internet has arrived in Pinjavakkam - a village with only 500 residents, intermittent electricity and five telephone lines.

- The mystery of disappearing gravity
Gravity is a force unlike the other fundamental forces of the universe - and it might be leaking into other dimensions. Bruce Schechter follows its trail.

- India special: Bold plans for the nuclear future
India's energy needs are set to soar over the coming decades and the nuclear option is embraced as the key to meeting the demand.

- India special: Sight for sore eyes
An Indian charity hospital is pioneering an innovative stem-cell-based cure for blindness - its success rate is impressive.

February 19, 2005 in Reality, World News | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

February 18, 2005

A Painting a Day

Some of us have a hard enough time just brushing our teeth and watering the plants each day, let alone undertaking anything as ambitious as creating an entire work of art. But that's just what Richmond, Virginia, artist Duane Keiser is attempting. Since early December, he's been a-paintin' and a-postin' postcard-sized oil sketches daily, and they're really quite lovely. Some are still lifes of food or common everyday objects. Others are scenes of nature or common things seen in a new light. Check out the December and January archives to survey his entire oeuvres. If we only had a nickel each time he posted...

Check Duane Keiser's homepage too.

February 18, 2005 in Art | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

February 17, 2005

John Maxwell Hamilton: Vietnam fights for liberty after WWII

I take great pride in being the first one to bring this best seller novel to the world through my blog (January 14 2005) and now the world is talking about it!

Published on Sunday, January 30, 2005 by John Maxwell Hamilton Special to The Plain Dealer. Hamilton is dean of the Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University.

Write about what you know." No one better exemplifies the wisdom of this admonition to writers than veteran newsman Seymour Topping.

The setting of Topping's historical novel is Vietnam at the end of World War II, not long before he became the first American correspondent stationed in the country. The central issue is the fate of the Vietnamese people, who yearn for independence rather than a return to French control.

Fatal Crossroads: A Novel of Vietnam 1945 by Seymour Topping

The French and Vietnamese, both of whom have vying factions, are not the only ones to figure in this fateful story. The defeated Japanese, who have yet to completely surrender in Vietnam, do not want to see Westerners rule an Asian country. The British, whose job it is to disarm the Japanese, favor preserving colonization. The Chinese commu- nists and the Soviets have their interests -- and intrigues. And there is the United States, which in the end fails by not playing a strong enough role at this "Fatal Crossroads" in history. Topping's tragic hero is Travis Duncan, a U.S. foreign-service officer who is detailed to the Office of Strategic Services or OSS, the wartime forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency. Duncan's mission is to link up with nationalist leader Ho Chi Minh, who is hiding in the countryside, and report back on his aspirations. Duncan's mission is complicated -- and abetted -- by love interests with a Vietnamese woman he had known when stationed in Saigon in the 1930s and with a Frenchwoman who works for France's M.5 intelligence service while posing as a journalist.

Duncan finds Ho a contradictory figure, at once unwilling to rein in his brutal general, Vo Nguyen Giap, and yet interested in democratic ideals. Ho asks Duncan for a copy of the Declaration of Independence and incorporates language from it in the speech he gives upon entering Hanoi.

"I'm first a nationalist and then a member of the Communist Party," Ho tells Duncan. "Independence is my paramount goal." Accordingly Duncan argues the United States should press France's new leader, Charles De Gaulle, to establish phased-in independence for the Vietnamese.

Our hero maintains this point of view despite the danger of being labeled soft on communism, an issue that is becoming political at home. He is equally courageous when sent to Saigon ostensibly to repatriate American prisoners held by the Japanese. In reality, he is there to work behind the scenes to avert a French takeover, which he correctly foresees leading to protracted bloody fighting.

Duncan's French lover is also disillusioned with her country's Vietnam policy. When the British declare him persona non grata and he must leave Saigon, Duncan and his lover agree to reunite soon. That is not to be.

Topping, whose career includes stints abroad for The New York Times, for which he served as managing editor, is one of our country's most distinguished journalists. OSS involvement with Ho, which Topping learned about while a correspondent in Saigon, has been substantiated in memoirs that he has drawn upon. This is Topping's second historical novel and an engaging story that is well told. After years of reporting, Topping's strength quite naturally comes more in providing facts than, say, in writing clever dialog. In fact, he uses every inch of the story, including much of his characters' conversations, to fill in facts related to this complicated history. The virtue of this historically careful approach is that it delivers more than a good story. Duncan vividly and poignantly personifies what could have been right with U.S. policy but was not.

Vietnam did not command much attention from American policymakers in those fateful years. Consumed with countering the threat of the Soviet Union in Europe and not wanting to alienate De Gaulle, U.S. policymakers ignored Ho's overtures. As Topping suggests, more attention could have prevented the tragic war that consumed so many American lives.

Hamilton is dean of the Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University.

February 17, 2005 in Books, Columnists | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

February 16, 2005

Tsunami throws up India relics

The deadly tsunami could have uncovered the remains of an ancient port city off the coast in southern India.

Archaeologists say they have discovered some stone remains from the coast close to India's famous beachfront Mahabalipuram temple in Tamil Nadu state following the 26 December tsunami.

They believe that the "structures" could be the remains of an ancient and once-flourishing port city in the area housing the famous 1200-year-old rock-hewn temple.

Three pieces of remains, which include a granite lion, were found buried in the sand after the coastline receded in the area after the tsunami struck.

February 16, 2005 in World News | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

February 15, 2005

Fireman use snowballs to quench flames

Romanian firefighters managed to put out a fire in an apartment by throwing snowballs through the window.

They used snowballs because they could not got their fire engines close enough to the building in Sibiu.

Fire crews arrived within minutes of the alarm being raised by neighbours of the elderly woman who lived in the apartment.

But icy roads prevented them from getting close enough to the building to use their hoses so they resorted to desperate measures.

Chief firefighter Florian Chioar told National newspaper: "We had to do something because our cars couldn't get near that building. So we used the snow and put out the fire in about 30 minutes."

February 15, 2005 in Info | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

February 14, 2005

women are too intelligent

A woman goes to England to attend a 2-week, company training session. Her husband drives her to the airport and wishes her to have a good Trip. The wife answers: "Thank you honey, what would you like me to bring for you?"

The husband laughs and says: "An English girl!!!"

The woman kept quiet and left.

Two weeks later he picks her up in the Airport and Asks: "So, honey, how the trip was?"

"Very good, thank you." "And, what happened to my present?"

"Which present?" She asked?

"The one I asked for- the English girl!!"

"Oh, that" she said "Well, I did what I could; now we have to wait a few months to see if it is a girl!!!"

Moral of the story: "Don't tempt a woman, they are too intelligent"

February 14, 2005 in Humor | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Solar Cell implant for the blind

Ophthalmologists at Rush University Medical Center implanted Artificial Silicon Retina (ASR) microchips in the eyes of five patients to treat vision loss caused by retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The implant is a silicon microchip 2mm in diameter and one-thousandth of an inch thick, less than the thickness of a human hair. Four patients had surgery Tuesday, January 25. The fifth patient is scheduled for a later date.

Rush principal investigator Dr. John Pollack performed the surgeries with Dr. Kirk Packo, Dr. Pauline Merrill, Dr. Mathew MacCumber, and Dr. Jack Cohen. All are members of Illinois Retina Associates, S.C., a private practice group and are on the Rush faculty. Patients leave the hospital the same day and will be followed for two years as part of the study, and then indefinitely.

The patients were recruited from a pool of about 5,000 applicants.

The implants are designed for people with retinal diseases such as macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa, which cause blindness and vision impairment in about 10 million Americans. More than one million of these people are legally blind.

Continue reading ...

February 14, 2005 in Tech/Science | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

February 13, 2005

Monkeys pay per view

In a study titled "Monkeys Pay Per View," neuroscientists at Duke University discovered that rhesus monkeys will give up a portion of hard-earned perks for a peek at pictures of the dominant leaders and nubile females in their troop. But they won't pony up to look at faces of subordinate simians.

"People are willing to pay money to look at pictures of high-ranking human primates. When you fork out $3" for a celebrity magazine, [said one researcher], "you're doing exactly what the monkeys are doing."

February 13, 2005 in Info, Reality | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Epica 2004 Awards

It contains 109 commercials from 18 countries, including the popular 'Gandhi' spot for Telecom Italia.

Posted by SV at 6:08:00 AM in Reality, Tech/Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Friday, Feb 11, 2005

A Mysterious Streak Above Hawaii

A Mysterious Streak Above Hawaii
Credit: Night Sky Live Collaboration

Explanation: What in heavens-above was that? Not everything seen on the night sky is understood. The Night Sky Live (NSL) project keeps its global array of continuously updating web cameras (CONCAMs) always watching the night sky. On the night of 2004 December 17, the fisheye CONCAM perched on top of an active volcano in Haleakala, Hawaii, saw something moving across the night sky that remains mysterious. The NSL team might have disregarded the above streak as unconfirmed, but the Mauna Kea CONCAM on the next Hawaiian island recorded the same thing. The NSL team might then have disregarded the streak as a satellite, but no record of it was found in the heavens-above.com site that usually documents bright satellite events. If you think you have a reasonable explanation for the streak, please contribute to the on-line discussion. Current candidates include a known satellite that was somehow missed by heavens-above, a recently launched rocket, and a passing space rock. Volunteers are solicited by the NSL project to help monitor the operability of each NSL CONCAM, including looking for interesting anomalies such as this. Disclosure: Robert Nemiroff collaborates on both the NSL and APOD projects.

Posted by SV at 6:02:00 AM in Tech/Science | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Thursday, Feb 10, 2005

WMD on Google Maps

Google finds what neither the US nor the UN inspectors couldn’t: Weapons of Mass Destruction:

Find more goodies for yourself. How about Osama Bin Ladin?

Posted by SV at 6:09:00 AM in Humor, Info | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Einstein, the brainy bird

Einstein proves why she's a bird brain. Watch her winning moment.

Posted by SV at 6:09:00 AM in Fun, Info, Reality, World News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Feline-powered screen clean utility

(click the image to see) As noted by Judith, the site now has a message:
there is always someone who pisses on the fire..... :( sorry, its not pozzible to show you this 'legally' anymore...thanks to all who have viewed and enjoyed this in the past few weeks and have sent such nice emails byee j
So please try this link, looks like a larger version of this thing which made the rounds heavily a few weeks ago. Flash required, as is patience with content load time. And if you're burned out on screenlicking kittens, try this excellent monkey chimpanzee version.

Posted by SV at 6:06:00 AM in Fun | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Wednesday, Feb 9, 2005

Don't go job hunting in Germany

A 25-year-old waitress who turned down a job providing "sexual services'' at a brothel in Berlin faces possible cuts to her unemployment benefit under laws introduced this year.

Prostitution was legalised in Germany just over two years ago and brothel owners – who must pay tax and employee health insurance – were granted access to official databases of jobseekers.

Continue reading ...

Posted by SV at 6:00:00 AM in Reality | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Tuesday, Feb 8, 2005

wackiest warnings!

Here are the winnners of the M-LAW competition for wackiest warning label of the year:

1st prize
Do not use for personal hygiene – on a toilet brush

2nd prize
This product moves when used – from a child’s scooter

Previous winners have included:
* Remove child before folding – on a baby’s buggy
* Once used rectally, the thermometer should not be used orally - on a digital thermometer
* Never remove food or other items from the blades while the product is operating - on an electric hand blender
* Harmful if swallowed – on a three-pronged brass fishing lure.
* Do not use this product as a toy, pillow, or flotation device - on a bag of air used as a packing material
* Do not use as a ladder – on a 30cm tall CD rack
* Never iron clothes while they are being worn - on a household iron
* Do not use the Silence Feature in emergency situations. It will not extinguish a fire - on a smoke detector
* Do not eat toner - on a laser printer cartridge
* And on a pair of cyclist’s shin guards – Shin pads cannot protect any part of the body they do not cover.

Posted by SV at 6:07:00 AM in Reality | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Monday, Feb 7, 2005

Crazy Horoscopes

We don't know what's in store for you this week, but the last time we checked, we discovered that Virgos should avoid muffins and Aquarians may want to try something really outrageous involving gooseberries. If a Pisces wants to attach paperweights to his or her eyelids and dance like a harlequin, that week was not the best time. So says the Goblin Prince, a zany young Brit who offers alternative astrological predictions. In addition to weekly horoscopes, the site offers an offbeat love-match tool to see which signs you're compatible with. Or try the dream interpreter if you've ever woken up from a dreamy sleep and thought, "What the hell was that all about?" The Goblin Prince can't guarantee accurate predictions, but you might have cause to worry if you're dreaming about lemons singing and dancing in your bathroom.

Posted by SV at 6:09:00 AM in Humor | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Sunday, Feb 6, 2005

Content will be More Important than its Container

PressThink writes on one of the most important ideas of 2004 in journalism:

Content is an analytic term. It refers to the "stuff" media carry rather than the carriage system itself. We need a term like that. It's not a leveler; it's just neutral. I think what smart people mean when they "hate" the word content is they hate thinking about things in that way. We should talk about literature-- not content.

It was another important thing said by Tom Curley, CEO of the Associated Press, in his big speech this year to the Online News Association: "Content will be more important than its container" in the next phase of Web development. "That's a big shift for old media to come to grips with," Curley added. "Killer apps, such as search, RSS and video-capture software such as Tivo -- to name just a few -- have begun to unlock content from any vessel we try to put it in."

The means are there to unlock content from any vessel we try to put it in. Those vessels are the big media brands themselves, including the flagships of the press fleet. Here's Admiral Curley telling them that news is becoming unhinged from "brand," and so we who make news content have to re-locate where we brand it, and think about adding our voice at every step.

"Content will be more important than its container" is thus a disruptive idea in journalism. In a way it is similar to that cross-platform battle-cry in the software biz: write once, run anywhere.

Posted by SV at 6:02:00 AM in World News | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

The New York Times killed a story

The Emperor's New Hump

The New York Times killed a story that could have changed the election—because it could have changed the election By Dave Lindorff.

In the weeks leading up to the November 2 election, the New York Times was abuzz with excitement. Besides the election itself, the paper’s reporters were hard at work on two hot investigative projects, each of which could have a major impact on the outcome of the tight presidential race.

One week before Election Day, the Times (10/25/04) ran a hard-hitting and controversial exposé of the Al-Qaqaa ammunition dump—identified by U.N. inspectors before the war as containing 400 tons of special high-density explosives useful for aircraft bombings and as triggers for nuclear devices, but left unguarded and available to insurgents by U.S. forces after the invasion.

On Thursday, just three days after that first exposé, the paper was set to run a second, perhaps more explosive piece, exposing how George W. Bush had worn an electronic cueing device in his ear and probably cheated during the presidential debates.

Continue reading...

Posted by SV at 6:15:00 AM in World News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

mind your language

1. Goto Google Translate ( http://translate.google.com/translate_t )
2. Type Aishwarya's mom is nice and cool
3. Select English to Spanish translation
4. Copy the text from under the "This text has been automatically translated from English:" box
5. Again goto Google Translate ( http://translate.google.com/translate_t )
6. Paste the spanish in translate text box
5. Select spanish to english translation

Posted by SV at 6:07:00 AM in Humor | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Friday, Feb 4, 2005

Fashion Accessories

What's that? Oh, you like my brown bracelet? Why, thank you! It signifies support for tobacco-free colorectal and colon cancer survivors. Once the sun fades it a little, I'll also be supporting multiple myeloma awareness! And does it get any better than the half-black, half-white “God Bless The Dead” bracelet?

Thanks (or no thanks).

(via Anil Dash and Jason)

Posted by SV at 6:16:00 AM in World News | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Thursday, Feb 3, 2005

Cheese triangles shed light on hobbits

Cheese triangles are helping an Australian researcher to explain how hobbits on Flores could make the stone tools found with their bones.

Archaeology PhD student Mark Moore of the University of New England in Armidale presented his research at the recent Australian Archaeological Association conference.

One of the puzzling facts about the discovery of a new species of hobbit human in Liang Bua cave on Flores announced last year is that the remains were found alongside tools that appear to be as sophisticated as those made by modern humans.

This was a surprise as hobbits have such a small brain.

Continue reading ...

Posted by SV at 6:12:00 AM in Tech/Science | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Wednesday, Feb 2, 2005

The 101 Dumbest Moments in Business

1 Defrauding investors is sooooooo 2002. These days it's all about hosing your customers.
2 Now that's pain relief.
3 What's the problem? We love a guy who stands behind his product.
4 Do as I say, not as I...hey, get a load of those!
5 For more nostalgia, you can always check out your legal bills from the DOJ antitrust lawsuit.
6 The family that colludes together, stays together.
7-9 If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
10 In fairness, though, they did turn away the $300 with Dennis Kucinich.

Continue reading...

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Tuesday, Feb 1, 2005

Ribbon of the week

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Monday, Jan 31, 2005

jest for pun (January'05)

January'05 BlogThoughts

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Posted by SV at 6:27:00 AM in Humor | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Sunday, Jan 30, 2005

India’s growing younger

Aging population and India. According to a story in BusinessWeek, while the rest of the world frets about the economic effects of an aging population, one country that will grow increasingly younger is India. India’s census bureau has pointed out that “40% of the populace is below the age of 18, and by 2015, 55% will be under 20”. The magazine adds that the trend would help fulfill the promise of making India a service and manufacturing power over the next two decades. But, the situation is not gung-ho all along. “The bad news is that India could easily squander its demographic edge. Despite the success of a few world-class schools such as the Indian Institutes of Technology, India’s education system is in a dismal state overall,” it argues. This is part of the cover story of BusinessWeek on Global Aging.

Posted by SV at 6:03:00 AM in Info, Reality, World News | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)