Image via Wikipedia

Search for Images Safely and Quickly

‘The Google Image Ripper improves on the existing Google image search tool by allowing you to safely and easily search through the results as thumbnails and also as a gallery of full-size images without having to surf to each website. You have the option to show the link to the website where the image is hosted but don’t have to risk visiting a malicious site just to see it. We are NOT associated with Google in any way, this is simply a tool for use in conjunction with the existing service…’
http://www.googleimageripper.com/

How to Make Google Music Your Backup Media Player
‘Even if you don’t want to use Google Music as your full-time music player, it’s become one of the best ways to back up and access your music library from anywhere. It doesn’t need to be your main player; you can still reap the benefits of Google’s free music backup and on-the-go streaming service. Here’s everything you need to know about setting it up as a secondary player and getting around its few quirks.

‘Google Music started off as a cool service, but it wasn’t without some pretty big annoyances. Since then, Google has slowly improved it to the point where it’s one of the best music webapps out there—not to mention a great way to sync your library to the cloud and get access on your mobile device (for free, no less). While it isn’t as easy as set-and-forget, it doesn’t take a ton of work to set up, as long as you know its limitations and quirks out of the gate. Even if your using Google Music as your go-to music player now, you might still want to peruse this—I can almost guarantee you’ll learn something new…’
US only
http://lifehacker.com/5882992/how-to-make-google-music-your-secondary-media-player-and-why-you-should

Handbrake
Rip, Save, Convert All Your DVDs and Videos
‘Everyone of us likes watching movies and if a movie is worth keeping in our collection, we also look forward to its official DVD/Blu-ray release. After we’ve brought the movie DVD, we either want to keep a copy of it in our computer for archival purpose or want to watch it on our growing collection of portable media devices.

‘Now, you might be wondering how to rip and encode your DVDs for keeping them safe and watch them on your iPod, iPad, Android, iPhone or other portable device? Handbrake is one such good free tool to rip and encode your DVDs for keeping them safe…’
http://www.mytechguide.org/11138/rip-save-convert-dvd-videos-handbrake-review/

Solve For X
‘Our gathering last week brought together a group that is already practiced at moonshot thinking to propose specific solutions. At least a few times a year, we hope that people will take a few hours or a day or two out of their busy schedules to dare to push the boundaries, and to consider moonshot approaches to some of the world’s many unresolved challenges. Solve for X isn’t about developing a new business line or building an investment portfolio. Rather, it aims to be a forum where technology-based moonshot thinking is practiced, celebrated and amplified. We invite you to come collaborate with us at www.wesolveforx.com.’

New Threat to Cops: ‘Sovereign Citizens’
The FBI warns that these anti-government crusaders can easily turn violent. What could you expect from law-abiding people who are being slowly mass-murdered?

‘These extremists, sometimes known as “sovereign citizens,” believe they can live outside any type of government authority, FBI agents said at a news conference.

‘The extremists may refuse to pay taxes, defy government environmental regulations and believe the United States went bankrupt by going off the gold standard.

‘Routine encounters with police can turn violent “at the drop of a hat,” said Stuart McArthur, deputy assistant director in the FBI’s counterterrorism division…’
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/07/us-usa-fbi-extremists-idUSTRE81600V20120207

Home Security Cams Get Hacked
Instead of watching for thieves, you get watched

‘Feeds from thousands of Trendnet home security cameras have been breached, allowing any web user to access live footage without needing a password.

‘Internet addresses which link to the video streams have been posted to a variety of popular messageboard sites.

‘Users have expressed concern after finding they could view children’s bedrooms, among other locations…’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16919664

The Trouble With Online Dating According to Scientists
‘”Online dating is a terrific addition for singles to meet. That said, there are two problems,” report author Eli Finkel, an associate professor of psychology at Northwestern University, said in an interview.

‘First, poring over seemingly endless lists of profiles of people one does not know, as on Match.com, does not reveal much about them. Second, it “overloads people and they end up shutting down,” Finkel said.

‘He compared it to shopping at “supermarkets of love” and said psychological research shows people presented with too many choices tend to make lazy and often poor decisions.

‘The study’s authors also questioned the algorithms employed by sites such as eHarmony.com to match people based on their interests or personality – comparing it to having a real estate agent of love…’
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/07/uk-internet-dating-idUSLNE81601720120207

Curb Obesity, Give Babies Finger Food
‘Infants outgrowing a liquid diet who give themselves finger food rather than being spoon-fed puree are likelier to eat healthily and avoid getting fat during weaning, reports a study released Tuesday.

‘Researchers found that the technique, known as “baby-led weaning,” led to a child expressing a clear preference for pasta, rice and other carbohydrates over sweets, thus helping to cement a foundation for eating the right foods.

‘Experts and parents alike have long debated over when and how to help an infant make the transition from mother’s milk or the bottle to a solid-food regimen.

‘Many studies have already concluded that self-feeding with finger food is fine for most infants.

‘But what impact this approach might have on longer-term taste preferences and a child’s overall health has until now been less clear…’

But how can we be sure they won’t choke to death?
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hLuw5qN6WjgT4gKolpBQ8Paejfmw?docId=CNG.3af870cc8dfdb9e31fb2c76df312c8c7.431

Image via Wikipedia

Just another old tech comeback
VHS is the DVD of the 80′s

‘…But the story goes beyond this. There are many, many films being left behind with the shift from VHS to DVD and Blu-Ray. Between 30 and 40 percent of films released on VHS may never be seen again on any other format.

‘And while researching this story, the trio of filmmakers found something interesting: there is a resurgence taking place of people going back to VHS.

‘According to Johnson, the fact that such a massive number of films are “trapped on VHS,” is one of the key reasons behind the format’s quiet return; but there are other reasons behind it.

‘Palmer said, “Most of the true VHS fanatics are children of the 1980s. Whether they are motivated by a sense of nostalgia or prefer the format for the grainy aesthetic qualities of magnetic tape or some other reason entirely unknown, each tapehead is unique like a snowflake. It would be impossible to say what motivation modern VHS fans hold in common.”…’
http://techzwn.com/2012/02/interview-filmmakers-tell-of-the-home-video-revolution/

New Facebook Alternative Friendio
Fed Up With Facebook Changes? Try Friendio [VIDEO]

‘A group of former Facebook users based in Orland Park, Ill., fed up with the mandatory changes that came with Facebook’s network-wide switch to Timeline, has created Friendio for Facebook defectors.

‘Friendio is an alternative social network to Facebook that promises more privacy and control, say its creators. The new social network feels like a pared-down Facebook, with similar tabs and capabilities for friend requests, messages and notifications.

‘“Friendio does not modify privacy settings, nor do we force people to create a scrapbook of their life,” said Doug Freitag, the company’s president in a statement…’
http://mashable.com/2012/02/06/friendio/

Top-Secret Windows 7 Features
‘With Microsoft’s new interface adjustments in the Windows franchise, the company put a lot of features into Windows 7 that it might have forgotten to mention. After having a really close look at the infrastructure of the operating system, I’ve noticed a couple of things that might startle you a bit about the operating system, including features that make you wonder where they’ve been your whole life. While you might know some of them, I doubt you knew them all, so let’s get started and discover together what Windows 7 had in store for you but wasn’t in a hurry to let you know about…’
http://maketecheasier.com/five-top-secret-windows-7-features/2012/02/06

Lake Vostok Penetrated
‘After 30 years of drilling, Russian scientists have penetrated the subglacial Lake Vostok in Antarctica, the source said on Monday in the scientific community.

‘”Yesterday, at Vostok Station in Antarctica, our scientists are at a depth of 3.768 thousand meters of drilling completed and reached the surface of the subglacial lake,” – said the source RIA “Novosti” .

‘A source in the structures of Hydromet confirmed that scientists have reached the surface of the lake, without telling details.

‘Lake Vostok in Antarctica, hidden under the thick ice chetyrehkilometrovoy, is a unique aquatic ecosystem, isolated from the Earth’s atmosphere and surface of the biosphere for millions of years. Its study plays an important role in the construction of natural climate change scenarios in the next millennium…’
http://vz.ru/news/2012/2/6/559235.html

Secure LastPass Even More with Google Authenticator
‘Storing your passwords in the cloud is convenient, but security can be a concern. LastPass provides two free multi-factor authentication methods to lock your password vault up tight: a mobile app or a piece of paper.

‘With two-factor authentication, you need more than just your password to log in. Even if your LastPass password is captured by a keylogger, no one can log into your account without the second authentication key. Only one two-factor authentication method can be enabled at a time, so choose the one you prefer…’
http://www.howtogeek.com/104666/how-to-make-lastpass-even-more-secure-with-google-authenticator/

There is a new group who keeps ‘liking’ all my new posts. Many thanks to you all.

9207-Bulatlat-拿著手機的菲律賓婦人 (Photo credit: KarlMarx)

Products that help you survive office life
Don’t miss this. It’s fun.

‘When you are hired by a large company or corporation, you are shown a video on office harassment. The video looks like a 1970s porn film without the sex. Bad acting and rhythmic guitar rifts, but the common thread throughout the video is that even when you are in the right, if someone complains about you, then you are guilty and wrong. With a small cast of characters in this video, it’s always the same person being offended by the actions of coworkers. One might wonder why the old rules of society aren’t followed and the constant complainer isn’t just buried up to his or her neck and hit in turn by every other employee with a polo mallet until dead. The modern office has a strange political hierarchy and it will not bend or break to your will or common sense. Learn to deal with it safely and with a sense of good-natured flair!…’
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2012/02/products-that-help-you-survive-office-life/

Shoestring Journalism
Many journos run on a shoestring budget but I rarely hear about a group running for a decade on one!

‘…For ten years, Bulatlat.com has been surviving on meager resources and relying on donations, some from unknown readers. We only have one DSLR and one Flip camera, which we bought from cash donations. Some two years ago, one of our friends who requested not to be named gave us a handy video camera. We use our own laptops and/or borrow digital cameras during coverage and press work.

‘One time, a student journalist approached me during coverage. He told me he is reading Bulatlat.com and I thanked him for doing so. Then, he asked me how much our salary is. I was surprised by his question but I told him honestly that we get a volunteer allowance and it is more a labor of love. He then said, “Ay! Gusto ko pa naman sanang mag-alternative journalism.” (I would have wanted to practice alternative journalism.) Not wanting to discourage him, I said he could write for other publications on the side to earn income but it seemed he was no longer listening.

‘We get by despite the limitations, but we still want to do more.

‘As much as we want to, we could not, for example, always respond to invitations to cover fact-finding missions in Mindanao or elsewhere due to financial constraints…’
http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/02/06/shoestring-journalism/

Image via Wikipedia

Since three years ago, between 282 and 535 civilians have been credibly reported as killed including more than 60 children, research by the Bureau has found

‘The decision comes two days after Russia and China vetoed a United Nations resolution condemning Syria’s violent repression of anti-government demonstrators, whose opposition to the government is threatening to become an all-out civil war…’
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/us-pulls-diplomats-out-of-syria-as-violence-intensifies/2012/02/06/gIQAN1CxtQ_story.html

US Drones Return to Hit Rescuers, Funerals
‘The CIA’s drone campaign in Pakistan has killed dozens of civilians who had gone to help rescue victims or were attending funerals, an investigation by the Bureau for the Sunday Times has revealed.

‘The findings are published just days after President Obama claimed that the drone campaign in Pakistan was a ‘targeted, focused effort’ that ‘has not caused a huge number of civilian casualties.’

‘Speaking publicly for the first time on the controversial CIA drone strikes, Obama claimed last week they are used strictly to target terrorists, rejecting what he called ‘this perception we’re just sending in a whole bunch of strikes willy-nilly’.

‘‘Drones have not caused a huge number of civilian casualties’, he told a questioner at an on-line forum. ‘This is a targeted, focused effort at people who are on a list of active terrorists trying to go in and harm Americans’.

‘But research by the Bureau has found that since Obama took office three years ago, between 282 and 535 civilians have been credibly reported as killed including more than 60 children. A three month investigation including eye witness reports has found evidence that at least 50 civilians were killed in follow-up strikes when they had gone to help victims. More than 20 civilians have also been attacked in deliberate strikes on funerals and mourners. The tactics have been condemned by leading legal experts…’
http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/02/04/obama-terror-drones-cia-tactics-in-pakistan-include-targeting-rescuers-and-funerals/

A Baghdad Country Club in War Zone
Joshuah Bearman tells the story of the real-life Baghdad Country Club, a bar in the Green Zone during the bloodiest years of the Iraq War.
Video:
http://www.forbiddenknowledgetv.com/videos/geopolitics/baghdad-country-club.html

Stop Outrageous US Health Insurance Rate Hikes
Help put Insurance Reform on the California Ballot
If you want to join the fight to prevent exorbitant premium rate increases on your health insurance, I encourage you to:

Click on this link: Justify Rates.org

Follow the instructions to print out the ballot initiative petition on that page.
Sign, date and return it to the address provided as soon as you possibly can.

Why is your signature so important?

If we can gather the signatures of 505,000 registered voters, the measure will qualify for the November 2012 ballot and give voters the right to stop price gouging by health insurance companies.

At the JustifyRates.org website, you can print out, sign, date and return the ballot initiative petition, or request copies of the petition in the mail

Many thanks,
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein

Philippines
Quake Death Toll Now 40
‘At least 40 persons, including a nine-year-old girl, died in Negros Oriental during the 6.9-magnitude earthquake that hit the province and other areas shortly before noon Monday, local authorities here said.

‘The quake hit 70 kilometers (44 miles) north of the city of Dumaguete on Negros Island at 11:49 am (0349 GMT) at a depth of 46 kilometers, the US Geological Survey said.

‘The Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) measured it as 6.9 at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers, centered off the heavily populated central island province of Negros and Cebu…’
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/140513/death-toll-in-strong-quake-rises-to-40

News Junkies Much Healthier
‘The people who were most exposed to information delivered by any mass media source reported higher adherence to a Mediterranean diet, which is considered the healthiest eating model in the world and the most effective for reducing the risk of chronic and neurodegenerative diseases. More precisely, they reportedly ate less animal fats and more fruits and fresh fish.

‘When used for information, TV, newspapers, and the Internet may have a positive impact on one’s health…’
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/02/study-of-the-day-news-junkies-are-well-informed-and-much-healthier/252151/

There is a new group who keeps ‘liking’ all my new posts. Many thanks to you all.

Public Awareness / Avaaz.org
My WebIt link: http://bit.ly/cqt5Fs

Image via Wikipedia

‘In this infographic by OnlineITdegree.net, an ad-free website describing itself as “an online informational resource for individuals looking to pursue IT degree of related education and careers,” you’ll find surprising information about the differences in Internet access in the United States.

‘There are vast gaps between Internet accessibility in cities and rural areas, racial disparities in Internet access (which isn’t as pronounced as it was a decade ago), and the growing gap between rich and poor and its influence on who goes without computers or Internet access.

‘Beyond that, you’ll see more information about how the U.S. lags behind other countries in Internet technology, broadband speed and access. This is the part that has us scratching our heads. Why do you think the United States lags behind less-wealthy countries when it comes to Internet access? Do find that as frustrating as we do?…’
http://mashable.com/2012/02/05/digital-divide-infographic/

Win a Video Game, Get Employed
Human Resources, Without the Humans

‘Imagine a scenario where your next job interview isn’t face-to-face, but face-to-screen. There are no questions about your former work experience and office habits. There’s simply a computer game. If you win, you get the job. If you lose, game over.

‘They’re called “employment simulations,” and they’re gaining popularity among high-tech firms that are seeking data from prospective employees that you can’t get from sit-down interviews…’
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/02/the-future-of-hiring-human-resources-without-the-humans/252518/

Ways Social Media Could Be Hurting Your Job Search
‘When used to its fullest potential, actively engaging a network online can transcend your social media game from person to personality — someone who engages his circle and provides interesting and relevant content to the masses.

‘However, like most good things, social media can be a real killer for job seekers who use it inappropriately. Any big no-no on a profile can be an ultimate deal-breaker in a matter of seconds, with no recourse and no notification. Are you sure your social media game is helping — not hurting — your cause? Check out these five ways that your social media efforts could be killing your job search…’
http://mashable.com/2012/02/05/social-media-hurting-job-search/

Facebook Malware Scam Goes Viral
‘A link to malware purporting to be CNN coverage of a US attack on Iran is reaching hundreds of thousands of Facebook users
A “worrying number” of Facebook users are sharing a link to a malware-laden fake CNN news page reporting the U.S. has attacked Iran and Saudi Arabia, security firm Sophos said Friday.

‘If users who follow the link then click to play what purports to be video coverage of the attack, they are prompted to update their Adobe Flash player with a pop-up window that looks very much like the real thing. Those who accept the prompt unwittingly install malware on their computers.

‘Within three hours of the scam’s appearance, more than 60,000 users had followed a link to the spoofed CNN page, according to Sophos Senior Security Advisor Chester Wisniewski. Facebook removed that link, but others are still being shared…’
http://www.itworld.com/saas/247206/facebook-malware-scam-takes-hold

‘So, what to do? Go the other direction. Realize piracy is a service problem. Right now, from the browser window in which I’m writing this article, it is possible to download and start watching a movie for free in a few swift clicks.
(This is all purely theoretical of course)…’
http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2012/02/03/you-will-never-kill-piracy-and-piracy-will-never-kill-you/

The Stop ACTA Coin
Make it yourself here:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:17010

Intel Driver Update Utility
One of the most neglected tasks in PC maintenance is updating drivers. If your PC runs on Intel, bookmark this site to help you remember

Intel lists the chipsets that this download is valid for so be sure to check that yours is listed before installing this update. If you’re not sure, you can always perform any Intel related updates using their automatic Intel Driver Update Utility.
http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect

Toggl – Very Simple Time Tracking
New users are up and tracking in under 12 seconds. After that, it’s one-click tracking forever.
Toggl supports the way you work: live tracking or the timesheet approach.
https://www.toggl.com/

100+ Wallpaper Collections for Your Desktop
‘Are you bored with the wallpaper on your desktop PC? In the past we have posted links to over 100 different collections of wallpaper images. Download your favorites and switch them out from time to time to provide some variety.
Scenic Images and Locations

‘If you like to look at beautiful scenery or pictures of places on Earth, the following collections provide some really pretty images. You can gaze at images such as the aurora borealis, mountains, beaches, gardens, ocean life, and seasonal images…’
http://www.howtogeek.com/104577/100-wallpaper-collections-to-spice-up-your-desktop/

Image via Wikipedia

Why is it that when an American is called ‘white’, no one cries racism? Whites, Browns, Yellows, and Reds don’t mind their brand. Do ‘African Americans’ just hate their own color? Many are now protesting the term in a Facebook page titled ‘Don’t Call Me African-American’. They want to be called either ‘black’ or simply ‘American’

‘The debate has waxed and waned since African-American went mainstream, and gained new significance after the son of a black Kenyan and a white American moved into the White House. President Barack Obama’s identity has been contested from all sides, renewing questions that have followed millions of darker Americans:

‘What are you? Where are you from? And how do you fit into this country?

‘”I prefer to be called black,” said Shawn Smith, an accountant from Houston. “How I really feel is, I’m American.”

‘”I don’t like African-American. It denotes something else to me than who I am,” said Smith, whose parents are from Mississippi and North Carolina. “I can’t recall any of them telling me anything about Africa. They told me a whole lot about where they grew up in Macomb County and Shelby, N.C.”…’
http://www.hutchnews.com/Nation/3AfricanAmerican
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dont-call-me-African-American/205170023553

Death Toll in European Cold Snap Now 300
Even in far Philippines, the January cold is still there

‘Ukraine continues to be hardest hit, with another nine deaths overnight. Officials say 131 have now died, most of them homeless people, and 1,800 people have been taken to hospital…’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16897068

Systematic Poisoning of the World
The appointment of former Monsanto VP, Michael Taylor, to head the FDA is such an extreme disappointment.

Taylor is the same person who was Food Safety Czar at the FDA when genetically modified organisms were allowed into the U.S. Food supply without undergoing a single test to determine their safety or risks.

Moreover, Monsanto is culpable in numerous cases of simply poisoning the earth and causing entire towns to become sick and die.

I thought a great follow-up to this morning’s video would be a movie that exposes just how much trouble we, AND OUR FOOD SUPPLY, are in.

So here it is in full-length, The World According to Monsanto…
Video: http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/9292.html

Public Awareness / Avaaz.org
My WebIt link: http://bit.ly/cqt5Fs

Image via Wikipedia

Top five regrets of the dying
On Getting What You Wish or Pray For
Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it

I personally know someone who had a son for his fourth child after three girls. Of course he was so happy. But something went wrong fast and his doctor said the baby would die soon. The religious father went on to tell me that he did all he could to storm heaven and nag God to let his son live. After extraneously doing all he could, his wish or prayer for a miracle was granted and his son survived. His son grew up problematic. He is now an irresponsible, jobless teenage father who use drugs and beats his working wife.

I don’t have any granted wish that I regretted yet. But I still have wishes that I want to come true and I’m not afraid of the consequences.

It would be wise to know them so we could avoid repeating the regrets. Here’s one surprise: most men regretted working so hard

‘Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She recorded their dying epiphanies in a blog called Inspiration and Chai, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.

‘Ware writes of the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how we might learn from their wisdom. “When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently,” she says, “common themes surfaced again and again.”…’

Here are the top five regrets of the dying, as witnessed by Ware:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/01/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying

Tech Versus Real Jobs
Careers That Are Dwindling Away
Even farmers aren’t spared; and that’s dangerous

‘In addition to agricultural workers, Postal Service employees are also expected to get hit hard over the decade. Three out of the ten occupations with the highest projected declines are some type of Postal Service worker, according to the report. The Postal Service is expected to close 3,700 local post offices in mid-May while losing a record $14.1 billion next year.

‘But some of the jobs on the most-decline list may defy easy explanation. The fast food cook occupation category is expected to lose 19.100 jobs, even as fast food chains are extending their late night hours to meet customer demand, according to the Wall Street Journal.

‘Here are the occupations slated to lose the most jobs by 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:…’
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/02/occupations-in-decline_n_1250058.html?ref=business

Myths Haunting Your Healthy Foods
‘These days, eating healthy has become a curiously difficult task. Despite the fact that the canons of healthy eating have not changed in centuries, the proliferation of health food products has continued unabated for years. It’s become a crisis of abundance.

‘However, just because a product occupies shelf space in a boutique food store doesn’t mean it’s any better for you than its generic counterpart. Advertisers are very aware of the powers of “mood affiliation”, which is the tendency to associate familiar claims with one another. For example, consumers are very likely to believe a food that has no cholesterol is very likely to have no fat as well, even though the two are unrelated.

‘This cognitive bias allows the food industry to make a variety of claims that confer fictitious health benefits, often resulting in higher prices and no value to you.

‘Let’s take a look at the perpetrators…’
http://www.dumblittleman.com/2012/02/5-myths-haunting-your-healthy-foods.html

Time to Regulate Sugar
It’s a health hazard too like alcohol and tobacco

‘In a provocative commentary coming out in Thursday’s edition of the journal Nature, Dr. Robert Lustig and two colleagues from UC San Francisco argue that the added sugars in processed foods and drinks are responsible for so many cases of chronic disease and premature deaths that their use ought to be regulated, just like alcohol and tobacco.

‘To those who view sugar as more of a treat than a poison – and especially to libertarian-minded people who oppose government regulation in general – Lustig’s proposal is certainly a nonstarter. Public health advocates have spent years trying to enact a soda tax to discourage consumption of added sugar, and none of their efforts is close to succeeding.

‘But if you set aside both political reality and your sweet tooth, you have to admit that Lustig makes some good points…’
http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-added-sugar-tax-lustig-20120201,0,5626906.story

The Occult Origins of NASA
Parsons co-founded Jet Propulsion Laboratory which is now NASA.

Regarded as the “Father of Astral Travel”, John Whitesides Parsons was basically the inventor of modern rocket fuel.

He was also a raving fruitcake and leader of one of Aleister Crowley’s occult O.T.O. lodges in California.

Parsons died attempting to call forth the goddess Babalon incarnate (a.k.a. The Scarlet Woman, The Great Mother, or the Mother of Abominations), but not before he co-founded JPL or Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is now NASA.
Video: http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/9287.html

The Disclosure Project
Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know

Does the US government really possess top-secret proof of alien life? The members of the Disclosure Project think so.

Tune in to learn more about the Disclosure Project’s quest in this episode of Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know.
Video: http://www.forbiddenknowledgetv.com/videos/ufosinterdimensionalultraterrestrials/the-disclosure-project-stuff-they-dont-want-you-to-know.html

Public Awareness / Avaaz.org
My WebIt link: http://bit.ly/cqt5Fs

Image via Wikipedia

Another glimpse at virtual reality
‘Gorilla Glass manufacturer Corning has unveiled a follow-up YouTube video to its wildly successful “A Day Made of Glass,” providing another look into what the future could be like with the growth of glass touchscreen interfaces, from innovative chalkboards and activity tables in classrooms to uses for it in hospitals.

‘Corning released two versions of “A Day Made of Glass 2″ — one with a narrator and another, abbreviated version without commentary — the video follows the life of young Amy and her family as they go through their day using various products made of glass. Amy does classwork on a glass tablet, controls the temperature of the car from the backseat and even attends a field trip at the Redwood Forrest with an interactive signage that brings learning to life. Her teacher also works with students on interactive touchscreen activity tables. Corning expects these activity tables to be rolled out in the near future…’
http://mashable.com/2012/02/03/day-of-glass/

Transplant of 3D Printed Jaw Successful
‘The University of Hasselt (Belgium) announced today that Belgian and Dutch scientists have successfully replacing a lower jaw with a 3D printed model for a 83 year-old woman. According to the researchers, It is the first custom-made implant in the world to replace an entire lower jaw.

‘The lower jaw of the elderly woman was badly infected and needed to be removed. Considering the age of the patient, a “classical” microsurgical reconstructive surgery takes too long time and can be risky. Therefore a tailor-made implant is the best choice…’
http://www.3ders.org/articles/20120203-83-year-old-woman-got-3d-printed-mandible.html

Anonymous Unleashes Coordinated Attack
‘The hacker group has claimed credit for coordinated attacks and leaks against the U.S. government and international law enforcement agencies Friday. According to Twitter accounts associated with the group of “hacktivists,” more activity can be expected throughout the day.

‘Anonymous released a call between the FBI and Scotland Yard regarding a joint effort in a cybercrime case. The case is tied to investigations in New York, Baltimore and Ireland, according to The Guardian. Anonymous posted the recording online for public access with some names censored from the tape but a later leak included the names and contact information of the alleged participants.

‘Anonymous members also took credit for defacing the Boston Police Department’s website which, at time of writing, displays a proxy page. The altered page has an “#antisec” header, a rap video titled Sound of Da Police, and this message:…’
http://mashable.com/2012/02/03/anonymous-attack/

The Persuasive Power of Sticky Notes
‘In Yes: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive, the authors (Cialdini, Goldstein, Martin) cite two studies on the use of yellow sticky notes to show how they engage people and can increase the response rate. In both studies, when a sticky note with a hand written message was attached to a survey cover letter, the response rate to the survey more than doubled when compared to just sending out the survey cover letter.

‘Most people would deny they took the survey because of the sticky note and short message written on it. However, quite often the psychological principles of influence are triggered at the subconscious level and that’s a big reason people deny it – because they’re unaware of how the stimuli affected them.

‘Why does the sticky note with the short message work so well?…’
http://www.influence-people-brian.blogspot.com/2012/01/700000-great-reasons-to-use-yellow.html