Apocalypse Now

"Human activity is putting such a strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet's ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted."

Tags: environment, Global Warming

The two largest earthquakes of our time...

It's worth noting that the TWO LARGEST earthquakes in the past 15 years have both occured in the last 3 months and have been within a few hundred kilometres of each other. In fact they dwarf all the other quakes by comparison.

You can watch the world's earthquakes here:Quake Map.

I check it out daily and for the past week, there had been very little seismic activity on the west coast of Sumatera - which is unusual. Seems the build up was too much.

Next time it gets quiet, better run for the hills.

Tags: earthquake, indonesia

Amazon Top Reviewer Rankings - What's The formula?

Sorry I don't have the formula. But here's the informed view:

• negative review ratings don't affect your ranking
• the review ranking is a function of positive helpful votes, however
• more value is given to unique IDs that review your reviews

i.e. if you simply have the same cabal ratings your stuff over and over again, you will not rank ask highly as a person with the same number of helpful votes all from different people.

For a detailed look at the cut throat world of amazon reviewers, read the Dancing Badger's article.

Tags: amazon, books

Error: GROUP CHECK - Troubleshoot

I discovered that I was unable to upload a a group photo for some of my Yahoo groups. Everytime I jsut got some weird ass message like "gup6.bc.scd.yahoo.com:GROUP_CHECK". Nobody on the net seemed to have an answer for this but after some poking around the answer is simple...

The error means you've run out of photo space. Unfortunately you get the same error if you've turned of the photo and file functionality of your group. This is a new bug that came with the latest groups upgrade... that or I just noticed it but with the latest design, many people will.

OK. So simply turn the photo option back on (under Web Tools) and you should have no problem loading up your group pic. If it was on all the time and you're getting this message, then delete some photos. You're running out of space.

And if that doesn't help you're probably screwed.

Technorati Tags: yahoo groups, yahoo, error, photos, troubleshoot, bug

Singapore PSI Readings - Chart

Source: National Environment Agency, Government of Singapore

The Good News is that the NEA recently moved to providing 3 hour average readings on an hourly basis so the daily variation around the numbers plotted above is known. Unfortunately they do not archive the hourly numbers for the benefit of the public but on any given day you can see what is happening.

Obviously the trend above is bad (signalling a return to the 1997 environmental crisis perhaps?) and the effects of the increasing haze have become a presence in our daily lives.

Technorati Tags: singapore, psi, haze, pollution, drought, chart

Technorati Priority Ping Bookmarklet

My bookmarklet spree continues.

The purpose of this bookmarklet is to ping Technorati using their "high priority index".

Drag this link to your Favorites / Toolbar above (if that doesn't work right click and save to Favorites).

Priority Ping

How it works: Simply click the bookmarklet from the page you want sent to the Technorati Index.

Technorati Tag Lookup Bookmarklet

The purpose of this bookmarklet is to hop to the relvant Technorati Tag page based on highlighted text Drag this link to your Favorites / Toolbar above (if that doesn't work right click and save to Favorites).

Technorati Tag

How it works:

• on a webpage you can select any text
• otherwise highlight nothing, click the bookmarklet and it will prompt you for the tag

For Kate: On Children

And new mothers everwhere...a poem from The Prohet

 

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children."

And he said:

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

by Kahlil Gibran - The Prophet

Tags: squirmy, children, gibran, motherhood, parenthood

Singapore Postcode Mapper Bookmarklet

This bookmarklet works for Singapore postcodes only!!!

Drag this link to your Favorites / Toolbar above (if that doesn't work right click and save to Favorites).

Postcode Lookup

How it works:

• on a webpage you can select the 6 digit code then click the bookmarklet
• otherwise highlight nothing, click the bookmarklet and it will prompt you for the code

Test:

039393 436919

Tampons are Satan's Little Cotton Fingers!

This and other delights are over at: http://www.cafepress.com/landoverbaptist

Technorati Tags: humour, christian, humor, jesus, random

Condi Rice Can Kiss My Beaver

An Open Letter to the Secretary of State

... we've had eight years of balanced or surplus financial accounts. If we're going to spend money, Mr. Goodale added, it will be on day-care and health programs, and even on more foreign aid and improved defence.

Sure, that doesn't match the gargantuan, multi-billion-dollar deficits that your government blithely runs up fighting a "liberation war" in Iraq, laying out more than half of all weapons expenditures in the world, and giving massive tax breaks to the top one per cent of your population while cutting food programs for poor children.

Just chalk that up to a different sense of priorities..

- Lloyd Axworthy, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canada

Now how can you not love a crazy bastard like that? I haven't lived in Canada for 15 years but the place keeps providing me with reasons to brag about being Canadian... Decriminalizing pot, recognizing gay marriages and getting foamy at the mouth from time to time are the only rational reactions to having the USA as your neighbour.

I haven't had this much good clean canuck fun since the Molson I Am Canadian ad (a must watch).

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