09.23.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:27 pm by laser
Yesterday#8217;s Washington Post ran a front page story on the amount of information collected by the Department of Homeland Security as part of its Automated Targeting System.
Collecting of Details on Travelers Documented - washingtonpost.com
The U.S. government is collecting electronic records on the travel habits of millions of Americans who fly, drive or take cruises abroad, retaining data on the persons with whom they travel or plan to stay, the personal items they carry during their journeys, and even the books that travelers have carried, according to documents obtained by a group of civil liberties advocates and statements by government officials.
The personal travel records are meant to be stored for as long as 15 years, as part of the Department of Homeland Security#8217;s effort to assess the security threat posed by all travelers entering the country. Officials say the records, which are analyzed by the department#8217;s Automated Targeting System, help border officials distinguish potential terrorists from innocent people entering the country.
But new details about the information being retained suggest that the government is monitoring the personal habits of travelers more closely than it has previously acknowledged. The details were learned when a group of activists requested copies of official records on their own travel. Those records included a description of a book on marijuana that one of them carried and small flashlights bearing the symbol of a marijuana leaf#8230;.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 4:34 pm by laser
Just when you think that all republicans have lost their minds, drunk the Kool-aid, and signed on to the hateful agenda of the national party, good people like Jerry Sanders step out and surprise you.
The San Diego city council signed a resolution that would allow gay marriage, and Mayor Sanders had publicly stated that he would veto it. Then, when he received the motion in his office and read it, he had an incredible change of heart. Here is a video of he and his wife at a news conference where he talks about his decision.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 2:49 pm by laser
There is a big projected to sail off Se7en for his US debut #8230; thought to share ^^
______________________________________________________________
This project is managed by Khype (organizes promotion for Korean concerts in the U.S.)with the support of Se7enth Heaven and Soompi.
Message Guidelines
1) Encouragement Note/Letter in ENGLISH. (will be edited for spelling/grammar)
2) Less than 100 words.
3) No pictures, no declaring your love for him, no emails or phone numbers.
4) First Name (Required) and Last Name (Optional), Age and Location (city, state, country).
Submit your note (in .doc format) to: se7enth.heaven@gmail.com
DEADLINE: SEPT. 30, 2007 - 8PM Pacific Time
For more questions/comments, please visit Khype and/or Se7enth Heaven.
________________________________________________________________
Now seems like YG finally registered Se7en#8217;s name for the trademark right on Sep 20th! mmm the other latest is that one of the Soompi#8217;s moderator#8217;s friend saw Se7en and seems like he has #8220;goatee#8221; now! (DO I HEAR A SCREAM?)
There is another news on the guy .. seems like YG dropped that #8220;white#8221; women this time .. now it#8217;s #8220;American Women#8221; pfewwww and like always the news about Se7en#8217;s debut is full of bragging on who he is working with *rolling eyes*
The Actual Trademark News>> (more#823 
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Posted in Uncategorized at 2:49 pm by laser
Rain Arrival at Shanghai Airport
For those didn#8217;t hear the news #8230;. Rain is in Shanghai China right now .. It started off for his Fu Ma cake endorsing project and later he will participate in the Mid-Autumn Festival programme (by CCTV) and the 9th Asian Arts Festival!
Q: Why did you choose rain?
FM Exec: Because Rain’s skin is very good, like our cake
A journalist asked about the Oct 6th concert in Shanghai, the MC said that this is unrelated to the Fu Ma endorsement so cannot reply. But Rain finally jumped in: “Oct 6th concert, I am definitely coming!”
Q: Why are you going to the Namtong Asian Arts Festival and so many of these activities?
Rain: Chinese fans have been waiting for me for a long time, this is a way for me to make it up to my Chinese fans…
Other interesting things:
They prepared champagne at the press conference. The FM Exec took the glass and wanted to drink w/ Rain with their arms linked (sorry I don’t know how to describe/translate, you know like when newlyweds drink together and they link their arms through each other). Rain looked really embarrassed and was laughing; everyone else were laughing. Finally Rain was so embarrassed he switched the glass to the other hand.The MC said Rain fans will be jealous if the exec keeps hanging on to Rain… the crowd was laughing
_____________________________
Source: mimimi33 at Baidu
Translated by Cherry@rain-usa
Credit for pictures: Soompi
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Posted in Uncategorized at 2:48 pm by laser
Based on a request we had yesterday, I searched videos of 2007 Asia Song Festival in Seoul and almost burst in tears as the chinese site, the only site where i found the SUJU video, was sooo slow#8230;
Super Junior did the Don#8217;t Don gig, of course. The song is kinda boring for me, if i don#8217;t see the MV.
video : berlala @ youtube, credit to bestiz
Aside from the Asian stars, the festival also gives a chance for new performers to show their talent. Korean pop group FT Island and Thai singer James will receive New Singer awards, while new girl group Kara and singer Whee will also perform.
now unless there#8217;s another singer Whee in Korea, i guess Whee here refers to Wheesung, right?So what#8217;s so new about Wheesung that he still need to show his talent?and why they didn#8217;t put him together with the rest of the 13 performers?
After a useful soompi browsing, i found out that Whee is a new singer Hwi#8230;
SG Wannabe
Lee Hyori, bringing the new meaning of #8220;Sexhyeh Lips#8221;
Hyori and A Mei, competing to be the sexiest on the stage that night. Maybe they both attended the wrong event?
FT Island
Super Junior, not the most photogenic group at the moment.
Kara
more pics
(more#823
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Posted in Uncategorized at 2:02 pm by laser
The president of Brazil#39;s Senate, Renan Calheiros, has been recently absolved over accusations of graft in a 40-to-35 secret ballot vote in the Senate House. The accusation against Calheiros was that he had personal expenses paid by a construction firm in exchange of political favors. He was discharged in a session carried out behind closed doors even after the Senate Ethics Commission concluded its investigation accusing him of unethical behavior and recommending his impeachment.
#8220;Faça o link: Vergonha Nacional. Não demora nem cinco minutos#8221;
#8220;Make the link: National Shame. It doesn#39;t take more than five minutes#8221;
Just by cyber-coincidence, in another part of the country Blender Blog [pt] came up with the same idea:
Ao invés de sair por aí postando que o Senado é a vergonha nacional sugiro fazer algo diferente:
VERGONHA NACIONAL
Quanto mais gente lincar estes termos da forma que eu fiz, mais rapidamente o Google mostrará para o mundo que o senado brasileiro é a vergonha nacional. E então, alguém a fim de colaborar?
Instead of going around posting that the Senate is the national shame, I#39;d suggest you to do something different:
NATIONAL SHAME
The more people link to these words like I#39;ve done, the quicker Google will show the world that the Brazilian Senate is the national shame. So, is anybody up for helping?
Many people were very keen to help and even quicker to respond. Rodrigo Stulzer [pt] celebrates the achievement:
#8220;A blogosfera acabou de mostrar a sua união! Em menos de 24 horas de campanha conseguimos colocar o site do senado federal como sendo a primeira resposta quando procurado o termo Vergonha Nacional, no google. Se quiser experimente você mesmo clicando aqui. Parabéns a todos os cidadãos que defendem o seu país!#8221;
After the success of the protest, Bianca B from Não Pertube [pt] thinks that cyber-activism is the way to go. She says:
#8220;Acredito que iniciativas como essa se utilizando sa internet - coisa que usamos e conhecemos muito bem - só tende a ser cada vez melhor sucedida, e cada vez melhor planejada e com efeitos cada vez melhores#8221;
#8220;I believe that initiatives making use of the Internet - something that we use and know well - like this one are only going to succeed more and more, be better planned every time and achieve better results each time#8221;
Marcio Merlone from Merlone’s Binary Log [pt] believes these protests can be the embryo of bigger changes. He hopes that:
#8220;Ações isoladas como um Google Bombing não farão qualquer mudança em nada, porém em conjunto, as ações isoladas formam as sementes de modificações maiores amanhã. Os resultados sim serão motivo de orgulho, não estas ações#8221;
The first successful Brazilian Google bomb redirected president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva#39;s biography to searches for #8220;despota cachaceiro#8221; (boozer tyrant). On an international level, everyone must have come across George Bush#39;s CV when typing #8220;miserable failure#8221; or just #8220;failure#8221;. Since then, Google has announced that they now have #8220;an algorithm that minimizes the impact of many Googlebombs#8221;.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 2:02 pm by laser
Web 2.0. is finally coming to the Balkans: SeminarskiRad.com, a portal based on the share principle and offering free resources to Serbian students, has become really popular very quickly. A few days ago, the portal#39;s blog supplement opened on Blogger, dedicated to the topics relevant to Serbia#39;s youth.
The first post (SRP), published by the blog#39;s co-founder Milos Stefanovic (nicknamed Kiskovic), is a report from a recent Moscow conference on renewable energy, whose aim was to educate young scientists in order to make this planet greener. Below is the post#39;s translation:
[#8230;] Renewables are our planet’s future. It is very important for UNESCO to take a lead in educating young inventors. The European Network for Education in the Field of Renewable Energy (EURONETERS) met Sept. 3-7, 2007, in Moscow [#8230;]. Professors from FYROM, Lithuania, Greece, Serbia, Belarus and Russia held meetings at the All-Russian Institute for Electrification of Agriculture. The initial gathering of a task group for solar energy was followed by the executive committee of the network for education in this field. Professors coming from state universities across Europe are volunteers looking enthusiastically towards the future and working hard to establish joint educational program which involves publishing new booklets, creating online lab experiments and investing in lab equipment. The intention is to motivate students to handle innovative projects and opportunities in both research and application of renewables.
The main alternative sources of energy are wind and water power, solar energy, biofuel and geothermal energy. Between 1990 and 2003, renewable energy’s share in Germany’s electric power generation fuel mix grew from less than 3 percent to almost 9 percent. Over the same period, net electricity consumption in Germany grew by approximately 5 percent, while carbon dioxide emissions from electric power production declined by roughly 13 percent. The Renewable Obligation legislation places a commitment on licensed electricity suppliers in the United Kingdom to source an increasing proportion of electricity from renewable sources. The World Summit on Sustainable Development has placed the promotion of sustainable and renewable energies high on the international agenda.
Moscow UNESCO chair in renewable energy and rural electrification is lead by professor Dmitry Strebkov, who presided at the meeting of the EURONETERS Group for Solar Energy, which consisted of numerous papers and educational methods presentations. Scientists, gathered at a round table, exchanged their experiences. Conversation continued at labs where students showcased their works. Professor Igor Tyukhov introduced participants to the exciting methods to teach effects of the moving sun on solar cells. Polite hosts gave tour of a laboratory that produces solar panels. These panels are part of the extremely effective solar concentrators used to elevate the power of the electricity produced. The facility is capable of producing 1 megawatt of power by using these devices.
Meeting of the EURONETERS executive committee was presided by head of the network, professor Spyros Kyritsis. Academicians agreed to continue implementing agenda with minor changes. They applauded the completion of several new didactic tool, a book written by professor Kiril Popovski and colleagues on geothermal energy, a book of Strebkov and Tverjanovich on solar concentrators, Arbusov and Evdokimov on fundamentals of photovoltaics and Axaopoulos and colleagues on solar thermal conversion. Professor Vytautas Adomavicius highlighted hydrogen energy as highly promising for automotive industry of the future. Professor Viktor Bashtovoy said that biomass is a promising energy source for heating and electricity production when adequate technologies are present.
These educational materials are applied in many universities in Italy, Sweden and at the U.N. University for Peace in San Jose, Costa Rica. As students are satisfied with the educational procedures, executive committee recommended intensifying activities.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 1:10 pm by laser
It’s quite simple when you stop to think about it. The problem is that today’s rip roaring business pace … fails to let people stop and think. What’s the result?
Check out how some of the busiest people you know are least successfu
l than people who play, rest, laugh or exercise. It’s a brain thing.
A person’s working memory holds a very tiny bit of new information at any time, and most of the contents spill out as the day progresses. People who dash from one encounter to another in a day – lose most of their best ideas – before the brain processes them. How so?
Before the brain can process and rewire itself based on your new idea – you have to act on it, sing, it dance it, build it or share it. Can you see why the busiest people often work against innovation at work? Does the problem of “too busy describe you or your business?
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