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Please don't click this link if you don't want a good chuckle
http://www.boners.com/grub/381229.html
Broadband comes to dog's rescue
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2181078.stm
Henri is recovering from his operation
Broadband has proved to be a lifesaver for an unusual four-legged customer.
Medivet Veterinary Group, which has 27 surgeries across London, recently got ADSL high-speed internet from BT.
It found that the technology proved invaluable when one patient, a dog called Henri Connor, needed an operation on a fractured elbow after he was trodden on by a horse.
"The vet was in the middle of a complex operation and needed specialist help from a vet in another practice," explained Medivet's Director Arnold Levy.
Henri: Little to say about ADSL
"It was more useful to take digital pictures of each stage of the operation and send them down the network to the specialist," he said.
"This gave the specialist detailed information that would have been impossible to describe on the phone," he said.
As a result, the operation on Henri was a complete success.
Fur factor
The surgery now plans to install webcams in all its operating theatres so that difficult operations can be monitored in real-time throughout the group.
It is not the first time the fur factor has proved a big hit for broadband.
Frank the cat became an overnight celebrity when a website monitoring his progress after a road accident went online earlier this year.
Millions of visitors logged on to check how Frank was doing.
Frank is now fully recovered but a chatroom, dedicated to the moggy, is still uniting cat lovers around the world.
With NVEI we can save more dogs!! Right Fam? Arf, Arf!
FIRE THEM ALL !!!!
I think it was the last major Baseball strike when rafts and boat loads of Cubans hit the beach in Fla.
I didn't understand why they didn't let the Cubans play some quality Baseball before they sent them back.
I would defiantly pay full price to see that!
While they were saying, "Gee, where do we find ball players to take the place of the strikers?", it was raining Cubans.
Go figure lol
Oh my, this is the kind of Email that gets sent around the Northeast LOL
A List of Things that Northerners Think, But Rarely Say. People from the
North have secret thoughts they don't share with the rest of the United
States of America. And with good reason. We just don't like "y'all" that
much.
By Curt Grumble
1. "Northerner" really means "Northeasterner."
2. And by "Northeasterner," we really mean people from Massachusetts,
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
3. Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire or Rhode Island are nothing more than
tiny,under-populated states packed with hicks. We have a strict "don't
ask, don't tell" policy when it comes to what they do.
4. Rhode Island is Massachusetts' "little brother", always trying to
outdo its larger sibling. Note to the rest of the United States: Rhode
Islanders have the really thick accents.
5. We don't care about the Civil War. At all. We don't ever think about
it, unless you bring it up. It's like the South is some bitter
ex-girlfriend whining about a breakup from 100 years ago.
6. If pressed on the matter, we shrug and think, "We won." Then we move
on.
7. It scares us that the South actually feels like it should have won. I
mean, if it won, then slavery is still around. Why aren't Southerners
happy they lost? Okay, I suppose we're all sorry about Sherman. But
still, without him, you'd have even more hick towns. You should thank us
already and let it go. We're over it.
8. That said, we know the South has prettier girls. But ours are more
promiscuous.
9. California is the only state that's in the "West." Everything else is
"near California." And Oregon and Washington seem like the same place,
but Idaho? We don't know what Idaho does, besides potatoes.
10. The real "South" is Alabama, the Carolinas and Georgia. Those states
scare us deeply. Sort of like when the opening theme to "Unsolved
Mysteries" kicks in. Same feeling.
11. Tennessee and Kentucky might as well be the same state for all we
care. Don't they both have a Memphis?
12. Texas isn't part of the United States. It's just "Texas," land where
everyone looks like Boss Hog. That's all we feel we need to know,
honestly. Big hats. Boots. Oil. Cheerleaders.
13. A long drive is two hours. A short drive is 15 minutes. Anything
over 4 hours requires a plane ticket. Period.
14. Midwestern is a synonym for "naive."
15. California is a synonym for "shallow." Los Angeles is where shallow
people become famous. Hollywood is where the famous, shallow people get
arrested for shoplifting or overdose in bars.
16. Florida is where old New Yorkers go to die. Las Vegas is where they
feed.
17. And while we're here, Las Vegas is considered a Northern city, but
Nevada is not part of the North. It's just like how you eat the banana
and chuck the peel.
18. Southerners, just by the very sound of the accent, are always less
intelligent. It's not our fault that they sound like Jolly Ranchers are
stuck in their mouths. Fix that, get rid of the Confederate flag and
maybe we'll take you seriously in something other than college football.
19. It's funny to watch people in the South drive in snow. They always
panic.
20. Tornados and earthquakes aren't real. Are they? C'mon!
21. We have no idea why we'd ever go to Arkansas, New Mexico, Iowa,
Idaho,Nebraska, Oklahoma, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas,
Utah, Missouri and West Virginia. Nor do we have any urge to. We don't
know anything that's there, aside from college teams we root against.
22. Sitcoms in New York City = funny.
23. Sitcoms set elsewhere = less funny.
24. What's in the Southwest? We're kinda curious.
25. There is no fundamental difference between South Dakota and North
Dakota, or even South Carolina and North Carolina. Couldn't they come up
with more original names at some point?
26. But Virginia and West Virginia? It's like George and Lenny in Of
Mice and Men. Big scary difference.
27. Hawaii or Alaska aren't "real" states. They're like junior college
transfer states. Washington D.C. is as far south as we feel we need to
go.
28. Minnesota is a really strange place, ain't it? Prince, Gov. Jesse
Ventura, Randy Moss. Frightening.
29. The Miss America pageant is rigged so that Massachusetts sends the
ugliest girl in the history of the female gender. The last one looked
like Ted Danson. Yes, really.
30. If a sport can be held at a country fair, then it's not a sport.
Competitive cheerleading? Professional auto racing? Bull riding?
Northern sports are played in arenas, centers, gardens and the
occasional field.
31. We were never impressed by the Houston Astrodome.
32. Tanning isn't something that just happens, you know. It's a hobby.
We need to work hard to get sunburns that require hospitalization.
33. The rest of the country has strange fast-food places and universally
crappy pizza. Do they screw up the pizza on purpose because we show up?
34. Chicago is really part of the North, not the Midwest. We traded
Pittsburgh and the rest of western Pennsylvania for it. Good deal when
Pittsburgh was a steel town.
35. We can't label the Midwest on the map, but we know it when we see
it. Mostly because it has freckles and a bowl cut. If it's female, it
has on the tight sweater.
36. There's really no reason to see the rest of the country when
everyone's always coming here. We'll see them when they show up in
Philadelphia, Boston or New York.
Are Saudi and Iraq best friends now?--Funny article
Only years ago, the worst of enemies. Begging for mercy and pleading for the US to come and stop the terror that would face their country, Saudi Arabia called our good president (although republican--still a good president) Bush to help play army bad guys in Baghdad. So what do we do? Ok, risk some of our own precious american lives and help a friend in need. A friend in need indeed. Whatever, A friend in need is no
friend indeed, the real motto should be A friend in need just sucks and needs counseling. Just like Iraq and Saudi need serious counseling now. Well, I'll tell you what--if Saddam thinks he even has a chance, he didn't learn the first time. And why he has been able to live after that war and all of his threats, I'll never know. This reporter says--Baghdad? BAG THAT! Although war is not a good answer in my opinion, when you ask a stupid
question, you'll get an answer to remember, and the next time Saudi or Iraq are in turmoil and plead for our troops to surrender, the answer will just be KABOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
PMS I found this one for you....
Texan Learns To Rue Remark
`Rifle' Mention At Airport To Cost Him
August 3, 2002
By PAUL MARKS, Courant Staff Writer
Eighty-year-old Fred Hubbell, tired and cranky after facing a gantlet of searches at Bradley International Airport, made a sarcastic remark about a rifle that he quickly came to regret.
Suddenly he found himself in handcuffs - with a firsthand sense of what the Transportation Security Administration means by "zero tolerance."
It was a new experience for the retired engineer and World War II veteran. He got to stroll through the crowded concourse Thursday escorted by a state trooper while onlookers wondered if he was some kind of terrorist.
He had a mug shot taken. He was fingerprinted. He spent about 20 minutes in a locked holding cell, as his worried wife waited outside. He was read his Miranda rights and offered the chance to phone a lawyer, which he declined.
What Hubbell said, by his recollection, was innocent enough.
Near the end of the second full-scale pat-down he and his wife, Grayce, had undergone by Transportation Security Administration guards, just steps from boarding a 7:30 a.m. flight they had almost missed, he saw the screener poking into his wallet.
Having been a first lieutenant in the Army and owner of his own metal-plating business for 25 years, Hubbell said he is used to speaking his mind. Sometimes, he admitted, it has got him in hot water.
"I said, `What do you expect to find in there, a rifle?'" he said. When the trooper asked me, `Do you think that was an appropriate remark?' I said, `I do.'" That's when Hubbell was taken into custody by Trooper Wayne Foster.
Dana Cosgrove, head of the federal security force that moved into Bradley last week, sees it differently.
"What he said [regarding the wallet] was, `You better look at it real good; there may be a rifle in there.' And all that the people around him in the waiting room heard was the word `rifle.'"
Anxiety levels after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are high enough at airports, Cosgrove said, which is why cracks about guns, bombs or terrorism are cause for arrest. The airport's public address system issues regular reminders in both English and Spanish.
"I want to be sure that when people step on that plane they're 100 percent comfortable," Cosgrove said.
The exact words Hubbell said and how he said them are immaterial now. A Stratford native now living in Texas, he was on his way home after visiting a boyhood friend in Madison. The last thing he wants, he said, is a trip back to Connecticut to contest the charge.
Issued a citation for "creating a public disturbance," Hubbell said he will settle the matter by mailing a check to state Superior Court to cover the $78 fine plus court costs.
"I was a bad boy, and I know that," he said during a telephone interview Friday, "and I shouldn't have said what I said, especially under the circumstances that we're living under today."
But his misstep - which, of course, caused him and his wife to miss their Dallas-bound plane and got them home several hours later than expected - is an object lesson on what the Transportation Security Administration means by "zero tolerance." Hubbell actually got off easy: Most such arrests result in misdemeanor "breach of peace" charges, which require a court appearance.
State police Sgt. Paul Vance said the lesser charge was used for Hubbell because no threat was made, and "it wasn't a situation where a person became obnoxious or irate."
Hubbell had a similar impression of the way he was treated by the state police. Foster was firm but not accusatory, he said, and the two spent considerable time discussing the incident. "It was really quite a friendly affair," Hubbell said, "except for the fact that I have to pay 78 bucks."
Scientists reveal the secret of cuddles
19:00 28 July 02
NewScientist.com news service
Scientists have discovered why being cuddled feels so good - human skin has a special network of nerves that stimulate a pleasurable response to stroking.
The revelation came after doctors realised that a woman with no sense of touch still felt a "pleasant" sensation when her skin was caressed.
Normal touch is transmitted to the brain through a network of fast-conducting nerves, called myelinated fibres, which carry signals at 60 metres per second. But there is a second slow-conducting nerve network of unmyelinated fibres, called C-tactile (CT), the role of which was unknown. The CT network carries signals at just one metre per second.
"It must be used for unconscious aspects of touch because it is so slow," says Håkan Olausson, who led the study at the Department of Clinical Neurophysiology at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden. "It seems the CT network conveys emotions, or a sense of self."
"This study definitely helps our understanding of how touch systems work," says Brian Fiske, assistant editor at Nature Neuroscience. "The researchers were very fortunate to have found a patient who had lost the main touch receptors but still had the slow CT fibres."
Below the nose
Scientists have known for some time that myelinated nerve fibres transmit information about touch, such as its strength and position. But the function of CT fibres was a mystery. This was because it is impossible to distinguish the CT fibre signals from those of the continuously activated fast myelinated fibre.
The patient examined by the Swedish researchers had a disorder that left her with no myelinated touch fibres in her body below the level of her nose. But her CT fibres remained intact.
Olausson stroked the patient's arm and hand with a paintbrush. Although she could not feel touch, tickle or vibration, the patient said she experienced a "pleasant" pressure when her arm was caressed with a paintbrush.
MRI scans of her brain revealed that the stroking activated insular region of the cerebral cortex associated with emotional response.
Hairy skin
The researchers concluded that the CT system may be of important for emotional, hormonal and behavioural responses to tactile stimulation.
"They are the opposite to pain fibres and give the message that the touch is non- harmful," Olausson told New Scientist. "Stimulation of CT fibres is probably linked to the release of pleasure hormones, like oxytocin. Studies have shown that if you stroke infants, their levels of oxytocin increase."
Further research by the Swedish team suggests that CT fibres are only present in hairy skin - the patient showed no response to the palm of her hand being stroked.
Olausson speculates that because the hand is used for so many critical tasks, it needs to be very sensitive to touch and therefore has a greater density of faster- conducting nerves.
Email from John Howell,
Q.Did NVEI ever look into Government grants to help fund the "Last mile solution"?
Thank you
AL
A. Yes, We found that the stipulations required had the potential to interfere with keeping our proprietary technology secret. It was a risk we were not
willing to take.
Security officers at Los Angeles Airport have confiscated a gun in a security scare - from a plastic toy soldier.
The two-inch weapon belonged to a GI Joe toy - similar to an Action Man.
A British tourist told how over-zealous security staff confiscated the two-inch-long plastic rifle from a GI Joe toy soldier she was taking home as a gift for her grandson.
Judy Powell, 55, bought the doll in Las Vegas as a gift for George, seven, and packed it in her hand luggage.
Stunned
But when she passed the bag through an X-ray machine at Los Angeles International Airport, security staff spotted the tiny replica Armalite rifle.
Mrs Powell, from Walton on the Hill, Surrey, said: "I was simply stunned when I realised they were serious."
Security "examined the toy as if it was going to shoot them and looked at the rifle", she said.
They then told her that if she wanted GI Joe to keep his rifle, she would have to check in again and put the toy in her suitcase so it could go in the aircraft's hold.
Lunacy
Eventually, she agreed. Mrs Powell added: "I was really angry to start with because of the absurdity of the situation. But then I saw the funny side of it and thought this was simple lunacy."
A spokesman for Los Angeles International Airport said: "We have instructions to confiscate anything that looks like a weapon or a replica.
"If GI Joe was carrying a replica then it had to be taken from him."
Check this out, Diesel/Electric motorcycle
http://www.e-cycle.com/powersports/hybrid.htm
Hello from the Black dog internet cafe in Martha's Vineyard!!!!
I hear that Flea from the "Red hot chili peppers" is also in Liquid :)
I wouldn't be surprised to see a Liquid movie preview at the showing of Blue Crush.
Heyu Ben, here is a pic that one of the bashers sent with the application form...
http://www.boners.com/grub/381134.html
WASHINGTON (July 25) - Congress gave final approval on Thursday to a sweeping overhaul of the rules governing corporate America, sending the bill to President Bush who has said he will sign it into law.
Spurred on by weak stock markets, voter anger and approaching congressional elections, lawmakers overwhelmingly agreed to the crackdown on corporate abuses aimed at restoring investor faith in U.S. financial markets.
Final action came as the Senate voted unanimously for the measure that imposes tough oversight on accountants and sharply increases penalties for fraud, following a 423-3 House of Representatives vote earlier in the day.
The bill creates a new oversight board for the accounting industry, until now a largely self-regulated profession that has been implicated in a series of corporate collapses ranging from Enron Corp. to WorldCom Inc.
Maximum jail time for executives who commit mail or wire fraud is quadrupled to 20 years under the bill, which also creates a new crime of securities fraud with a maximum sentence of 25 years.
Bush, on a trip to North Carolina, hailed the legislation and said he looked forward to signing it into law. "Today's passage by Congress of corporate accounting reforms is a victory for America's shareholders and employees," he said.
OPPOSITION MELTS AWAY
The measure, largely written by Maryland Democratic Sen. Paul Sarbanes, once had many critics but opposition melted away in recent days as the stock market continued to struggle and polls said voters were concerned.
Only three lawmakers in the House voted against it, and the main critic in the Senate, Texas Republican Sen. Phil Gramm, decided at the last minute to vote for it, saying the measure was at least better than the status quo. His vote made the Senate tally 99-0.
Gramm said the bill went too far and would lead to more lawsuits against U.S. companies, but added: "The American people expect Congress to respond to a problem ... I cannot argue that this bill should not pass."
Afterward Sarbanes said the measure was "the first large and important step in restoring integrity to our capital markets and providing a boost to investor confidence, so we can turn around this erosion that's been taking place in terms of people's faith in the workings of the economic system."
On Wall Street Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average retained nearly all of Wednesday's whopping 6.4 percent gain but technology stocks fell 3.9 on a bleak outlook for computer chip makers.
MORE MONEY FOR THE SEC
The corporate reform bill also contains more money for the market-regulating Securities and Exchange Commission. The agency is directed to use fines to help defrauded investors.
House and Senate negotiators had produced Thursday's legislation by reconciling competing bills in talks that began last Friday.
Rep. Mike Oxley, the author of the more modest reform bill that the House approved in April, proposed major changes in the Sarbanes bill, but Democrats strongly resisted.
The final product preserved most of the stricter auditing oversight sought by the Democrat-led Senate but with the stiffer penalties passed by the Republican-controlled House.
Lawmakers are now hoping the combination of stiff new laws against corporate malfeasance, plus tough enforcement, will convince voters they are serious about cracking down on corporate cheats.
"The prospect of doing time, real time, will serve as an effective deterrent to wrongdoing in the corporate suite," Oxley declared, adding that "we saw a little bit of that yesterday" with the arrest of three members of the family that founded bankrupt cable operator Adelphia Communications Corp. .
Corporate reform, which looked set to be watered down two months ago, was propelled to the top of the political agenda by the enormity of WorldCom's $3.85 billion mishandling of its books and weeks of declines in the stock market.
Lawmakers said the vote was historic. Rep. Richard Baker, a Louisiana Republican, said the measure had "more significance of change than any congressional action since the 1933 and 1934 securities acts" that established the SEC during the Great Depression.
But one reform that did not make it into the measure was a provision addressing the accounting treatment of stock options. Many experts say they should be listed as expenses to make company balance sheets more accurate.
Senate Majority Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, promised to call a vote before year's end on a proposal directing the new accounting board to examine the stock options issue.
ACCOUNTING BOARD
The legislation calls for a new five-member accounting board with the power to fine and discipline auditors and ban the ones who break the rules from ever auditing publicly-traded companies again.
The bill also limits the consulting services that accounting firms can offer audit clients.
While the new board would be independent, it would be overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the two entities will coordinate their investigations.
The bill requires chief executive and chief financial officers to certify that their financial statements are accurate, under threat of up to 20 years jail for willful violations and up to $5 million in fines.
The SEC has already asked the CEOs and CFOs of nearly 1,000 large companies to certify their financial results by Aug. 14.
The bill bans insider loans to executives of the type that President Bush as a businessman received years ago but now condemns. Loans now outstanding were exempted.
Corporate whistle-blowers could seek court protection under the bill which also establishes the first-ever criminal penalties for retaliation against whistle-blowers .
It also makes shredding documents in federal investigations a crime, even if a subpoena has not yet arrived, and it extends the statute of limitations in investor lawsuits from three to five years.
Plugging Into Ordinary Outlets to Share Broadband Access
By MICHEL MARRIOTT
With broadband Internet access, familiarity can breed contempt when there is only one speedy ramp to the Web. What if the computer needs to be moved to another room, or someone else under the same roof wants to share access?
Phonex Broadband, a company based in Midvale, Utah, has a simple solution: a plug-and-play networking device called NeverWire 14. A pair of the devices, which are a bit larger than computer speakers, act as a bridge between a broadband connection and any other computer in a home or small office.
The devices require no software or additional cables. Using a networking standard called Powerline, NeverWire 14 uses a building's electrical wiring to power its devices as well as piggyback broadband signals.
One device is connected to a cable or D.S.L. modem and plugged into an electrical outlet. A second is connected to a computer and then plugged into any other outlet, creating a network. As many as 16 NeverWire devices can be used on a single Powerline network.
NeverWire 14 devices, scheduled to reach stores this week, cost $129 each and can be used with Macintosh and Windows-based personal computers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/25/technology/circuits/25GEE3.html?ex=1028260800&en=d27cb7ae4493c....
Hi,
Pretty scary this. How would you like to be able to get your (and anyone else's) driver's license over the net? What ever happened to the right to privacy? Check it out for yourself.
Click here: http://www.license.shorturl.com/
Jar, you copied and pasted that from the OPEC web site? lol
His kids or yours are next.
It takes a small man to do what he did.
I guess he had to defend him self against that meat eating predator.
I have no idea what went through the kids' minds when they saw that.
Shame on him!
Man Gets Probation in Kitten's Death
.c The Associated Press
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A pet store worker who stomped a kitten to death in front of young children waiting to buy it has been sentenced to probation and ordered to undergo anger management counseling.
Timothy M. Paules Jr., 23, of Colebrookdale Township, was sentenced to two years of probation for killing the kitten on Oct. 6 while he was working at Zimmer's Pets in Gilbertsville.
Paules was convicted of cruelty to animals last month. He has also been ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and serve 100 hours of community service. Judge Joseph A. Smyth also ruled that Paules could no longer work with animals.
``I don't think incarceration is necessary,' Smyth told Paules. ``You have a history of emotional problems. I think this is a wake-up call.'
During the trial, Paules said that he killed the cat because it bit his finger and scratched his face.
Dennis Miller said recently, regarding the judges who declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional:
"So, Your Honor, the Pledge is unconstitutional because it says 'Under God'. Guess that means when you were sworn in with your hand on a Bible, and at the end of your oath repeated, 'So Help Me God' that makes your job unconstitutional, therefore you have no job, which means your ruling doesn't mean $hit."
Are they Kidding?? LOL SkyTower...an interesting concept for a "last mile" solution...
Boy, it gives, "the web is down" or "my connection crashed" a new meaning. It crashed so bad it took out two homes and started a forest fire. LOL
You thought those cell phone towers were eye sores, now they will be flying over your head. They tried to make the cell towers look natural and look like birds' nests, why not paint and feather the planes to look birds, while they are at it maybe they can land the birds in the nests LOL.
AT&T Broadband is facing a patent-infringement lawsuit over its 'LightWire' advanced fiber-coaxial technology.
Rye, N.Y.-based C-Cation Inc. claimed that the MSO infringed on its patent when it developed its architecture to push fiber closer to the user for voice, video and data services.
Dubbed LightWire, AT&T Broadband's network scheme created mini-fiber nodes that extended closer to subscriber homes. The MSO tested the scheme in Salt Lake City in 1999, but it has not debuted it elsewhere since then.
C-Cation, meanwhile, has developed a last-mile hybrid fiber-coaxial technology that creates electronic 'cells,' which aggregate signals at a centralized unit within local for transmission to customers.
The company claimed that AT&T’s LightWire and its newer 'Oxiom' network architectures infringe on its patent by creating localized hubs, carving out distinct frequencies for two-way signals and gathering two-way signals at a single point within these hubs for distribution to the greater network.
When contacted, C-Cation CEO Alexander Cheng said he would refrain from comment on advice of the company’s attorneys.
AT&T Broadband spokeswoman Tracy Baumgartner said the cabler has received a copy of the complaint filing, and it is evaluating it.
Oh Ya! love that pic!
how do you post a jpeg on this?
Gee Ken, that sounds like my brother in law's company
Universal Display Corporation has only begun to imagine what our OLED technology can create in the way of products for our world and our future. The technology has the potential to not only improve existing products, but also to create exciting, new product possibilities, for example:
Low-power, bright, colorful cell phones
Full color, high-resolution, personal communicators
Wrist-mounted, featherweight, rugged PDAs
Wearable, form-fitting, electronic displays
Full-color, high resolution, portable Internet devices and palm size computers
High-contrast automotive instrument and windshield displays
Heads-up instrumentation for aircraft and automobiles
Automobile light systems without bulbs
Flexible, lightweight, thin, durable, and highly efficient laptop screens
Roll-up, electronic, daily-refreshable newspaper
Ultra-lightweight, wall-size television monitor
Office windows, walls and partitions that double as computer screens
Color-changing lighting panels and light walls for home and office
Low-cost organic lasers
Computer-controlled, electronic shelf pricing for supermarkets and retail stores
Smart goggles/helmets for scuba divers, motorcycle riders
Medical test equipment
Wide area, full-motion video camcorders
Global positioning systems (GPS)
Integrated computer displaying eyewear
Rugged military portable communication devices
http://www.universaldisplay.com/concepts.php
IN COLD BLOOD: Socialite slain in rest-stop attack
by Jessica Heslam and Dave Wedge
Friday, July 19, 2002
An ex-convict who prosecutors were trying to lock up as a sexually dangerous person forced a Hub socialite into a Burger King bathroom yesterday and savagely stabbed her to death as she desperately fought for her life, authorities said.
``Alexandra Zapp was an innocent woman who found herself in close proximity to a cold-blooded killer,' prosecutor Frank Middleton said of Paul J. Leahy, a Burger King cook who confessed he had ``lost it' when a cop found him in the blood-drenched restroom.
Leahy, a 39-year-old registered sex offender who served 13 years in prison for raping a woman at knifepoint, was held without bail yesterday at his murder arraignment in Brockton District Court.
Prosecutors were in the process of trying to have Leahy put away as a habitual sexual offender under the state's sexually dangerous person law. An August hearing was pending, but Leahy likely would have been cleared due to a recent Supreme Judicial Court ruling that gives more rights to offenders, officials said.
Zapp, a prominent fund-raiser for local charities, was born in Portland, Ore., and lived in the South End before a recent move to Newport, R.I. An avid sailor, she was planning on going to New Zealand in the fall to work at the America's Cup sailing event.
As the balding and tattoo-covered sexual predator stared at the floor, the horrific details of the slaying were revealed in court.
The 30-year-old Zapp was driving home to Newport, R.I, about 4:15 a.m. when she stopped to use the bathroom at the Burger King rest stop on Route 24 near the junction of Interstate 495 in Bridgewater.
``She did what any other person has done a million times over - stop at a well-lit rest area, go into a public place and use the bathroom. It cost her her life because this man was working 50 feet away,' Middleton said.
Leahy, who worked the overnight shift, spotted Zapp walking toward the ladies room carrying her wallet and ``got the idea that he might rob her,' said Middleton, who quoted from a statement the suspect made to police.
He then went through a locked door that cuts off the restroom area from the restaurant and stood outside the ladies room, waiting with his 4-inch folding knife by his side. When Zapp opened the door, she saw him standing with the blade and screamed.
Leahy pounced, pushing her back into the bathroom, and a ``massive struggle' ensued. As she desperately fought her attacker, he repeatedly plunged the knife into her neck and chest, authorities said.
Zapp frantically headbutted and bit him and at least twice nearly made it out the door before Leahy grabbed her from behind, muffling her screams.
At one point, the blood-covered Zapp begged him to spare her life during a face-to-face conversation, Leahy told police.
Leahy asked Zapp, ``What's wrong with you. I was only trying to get some money,' Middleton said.
``Miss Zapp, in a very last-ditch, desperate effort to save herself, tried to convince this killer to let her go. She tried to convince him by saying `Why don't you go outside and say you tried to rescue me?' ' Middleton said.
But Leahy said no one would believe him.
Zapp then bolted for the door one last time before the knife-wielding Leahy ended the bloodbath by delivering the fatal wounds, Middleton said.
Authorities said Zapp suffered 4 or 5 ``vicious stab wounds' to the neck and two to the chest.
``He told police Alexandra Zapp stopped struggling, stopped screaming, stopped kicking and just stared at him,' Middleton said.
Leahy then dragged her bloodied body across the bathroom floor and dumped her on a toilet before picking up her wallet and pocketing her car keys.
Meanwhile, state police Lt. Stephen O'Reilly, who had stopped to use the men's room on his way home from a detail, heard the stifled screams and two thuds followed by running water. He drew his gun after seeing fresh blood on the floor and door.
``He opened that door and stopped this cold-blooded killer from getting away,' Middleton said.
When O'Reilly opened the door to the blood-covered bathroom and saw Zapp's two legs sticking out from under a stall, he yelled ``What's going on?'
``I lost it. I lost it,' Leahy replied.
While Massachusetts doesn't have the death penalty, a source close to the case said prosecutors will look at the federal statute to see if the slaying could fit the criteria.
``This is one of those cases that's an example of a death penalty case,' the source said. ``You've got a guy whose just a violent, vicious guy, who's stalking these women. These are the cases where prison just isn't enough.'
Leahy has a four-page criminal record and served 13 years in state prison for raping a 21-year-old woman at knifepoint in a Brockton pizza shop in 1984. The same year, he was convicted of wielding a knife while assaulting a 13-year-old girl in Brockton.
``He is a danger to any and all women within his reach. He snuffed out this young woman's life without a second thought. He showed her no mercy,' Middleton said.
A petition to have Leahy locked up for being a sexually dangerous person was filed by prosecutors last October - a month before he was released from jail for drunken-driving and soliciting sex from a 13-year-old Bridgewater girl in 2000. The petition was thrown out in January, despite the fact a doctor ruled he would likely re-offend, Plymouth District Attorney Tim Cruz said.
Prosecutors refiled the petition in March and in April, a judge ruled in their favor, setting an August hearing date. But, Cruz admitted, recent changes in the sexually dangerous person (SDP) law would have made it difficult to put Leahy back in state custody, despite his disturbing record.
Under the law, prosecutors can seek a civil commitment for sex offenders if they can prove the convict is likely to strike again and needs treatment. But a ruling earlier this month by the state Supreme Judicial Court narrowed the law's scope.
A source close to the case told the Herald that Leahy lied on his Burger King job application about being a convicted felon and that the company apparently did not do a criminal background check.
``They didn't do anything about looking into his background,' the source said. ``Here's a guy working with the public, late hours with a criminal record . . . it's a recipe for disaster.'
Miami-based Burger King issued a statement decrying the killing as ``a heinous crime' but declined further comment.
WHY DID THIS HAPPEN???????
They should throw that Moussaoui off the Sears tower.
Throw him in a bag soaked in gas and light it on fire, drop his ass like a pumpkin off a barn roof. Then at the bottom we'll beat him senseless with a soft sock.
USA Baby, Ya!
In the wake of the Exxon/Mobil deal and the AOL/Time Warner implode, I
>wanted to make a few close friends aware of the next expected mergers so
>you can get in on the ground floor and make some BIG bucks. Watch for these
>consolidations in late 2002 and make yourself a bundle. > > > > > 1. Hale
>Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush and > W.R.Grace Co. will
>merge and become Hale, Mary, Fuller, Grace. > > 2. Polygram Records, Warner
>Bros. and Zesta Crackers join forces and become...Polly, Warner Cracker. >
> > 3. 3M will merge with Goodyear and issue forth as MMMGood. > > 4. Zippo
>Mfg., Audi Motor Car, Dofasco and Dakota Mining will merge to become, of
>course, ZipAudiDoDa. > > 5. Federal Express is expected to join its major
>competitor, UPS, and consolidate as FedUP. > > 6. Fairchild Electronics and
>Honeywell Computers will become Fairwell Honeychild. > > 7. Grey Poupon and
>Docker Pants are expected to become Poupon Pants. > > 8. Knotts Berry Farm
>and the Nat'l Org. of Women will become Knott > NOW! > > 9. "Stop and Shop"
>with "A&P". They will call themselves, for > everyones relief, " Stop and
>P." > > That's all I have right now. Invest wisely"
Pengy, You da Man!!! Keep up the good work :) EOM
Now I know why they call me a genius......
Natural Selection
>
>A herd of buffalo can move only as fast as the slowest buffalo...
>
>When the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the
>back that are killed first...
>
>This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the
>general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the
>regular killing of the weakest members...
>
>In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the
>slowest brain cells...
>
>Excessive intake of alcohol, we all know, kills brain cells, but
>naturally it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first...
>
>In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain
>cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine...
>
>That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers.
After the Gulf war, the Middle East Pumped up our maket to 12,000 from 3,000 back in 1990. Months before Sept 11th the Middle East pulled their money out of our maket and raised the oil prices, then tried to distroy Wall Stret on Sept 11th,All for revenge for the Gulf War and being on their Holy Land.
That's what I think.
I posted this June 2001 on Raging Bull. I thought some thing was wrong then.
By: IownsomeNVEI $$$
02 Jun 2001, 04:21 PM EDT Msg. 54942 of 85959
WHAT IS THAT LOUD, HORRIBLE SUCKING SOUND?
Im not that hot with writing but I just wanted to share this idea that popped in to my head.
As you know we've had a hot market for a few years and then it just tanked.
Iv been in the market since the Dow was 3300 and at that time a run to 4000 I thought was amazing. A few years down the road here comes 12,000, well close.
I was wondering where all this money was coming from. Would it be hard for a few foreign countries to Inflate our market and then pull out causing what we are dealing with now?
There are companies going bankrupt, all the people I know that are in the market say their stocks dropped and they sold and lost money. Do you know anyone or a company that's in the green? Where did the money go?
Did they invest in our markets, pulled out and ran with the money back to their countries?
That and in conjunction with high oil prices to ruin the US economy?
This is just an idea that I had.
What do you guys think? Could it happen?
Your comments are welcome,Im sure Ill learn something :)
Thank you
God Bless America!
AL
Spell check my A$$, your DRUNK!!!!! LOL WOOOOOOOOOOO WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!
Pushing Video over IP Networks -- Still a Pipe Dream?
Phone companies haven’t gone very far in their efforts to pipe video to consumers. But there are still signs of life in this sector, particularly in the Asia-Pacific market. [Article ID: 3529]
More Patent Fights Around the Edges of ITV
While the big battles in the ITV patent wars wage on, two smaller battles meet with stepped-up action. [Article ID: 3530]
Other Broadband Developments
SA slashes Mexican plant payroll,
GlobespanVirata moves to block unfriendly takeover,
PacBell faces record fine for false DSL billings.
[Article ID: 3531]
Xerox Says It Will Restate Earnings
Copmpany Says It Will Lower Earnings by $2 Billion, Report Says Amount Closer to $6 Billion
Get Quote, Company Info: XRX
.c The Associated Press
NEW YORK (June 28) - A recent Xerox Corp. audit determined that the company improperly recorded more revenue in the past five years than federal regulators had estimated when they reached an April settlement with the company, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
The Securities and Exchange Commission estimated in April that the company improperly listed $3 billion from 1997 through 2000.
But the paper cited unnamed people familiar with a new audit that also looked at 2001 and found that the total amount of improperly recorded revenue over that period could be more than $6 billion.
Asked about the report Friday, Xerox spokeswoman Christa Carone said the restated revenue ''will be around $2 billion, actually it's less than $2 billion, which represents two percent of our total revenue over that period.''
''This is an issue that deals with changes in time and allocation of revenue, not fictitious actions, accounting or phony revenue. It is revenue moving from one period to the next,'' she said.
The paper said Xerox, which ordered the new audit because of the settlement, was likely to file restated financial results for the five years as early as Friday. They are due by Monday.
The new audit was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, which took over as Xerox's auditor after it fired KPMG LLP.
A Pricewaterhouse spokesman declined comment, and KPMG officials have said they stand by their work. KPMG faces civil lawsuits related to its Xerox work.
In April, the SEC said accounting improprieties increased pretax Xerox profits by $1.5 billion from 1997 through 2000.
Without admitting or denying wrongdoing, the copier company settled with the SEC by paying a $10 million civil penalty, the largest levied against a company for financial-reporting violations.
AP-NY-06-28-02 0744EDT
Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional
SAN FRANCISCO (June 26) - Stunning politicians on both the left and right, a federal appeals court declared for the first time Wednesday that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is unconstitutional because of the words ''under God'' inserted by Congress in 1954.
The ruling, if allowed to stand, would mean schoolchildren could no longer recite the pledge, at least in the nine Western states covered by the court.
Critics of the decision were flabbergasted and warned that it calls into question the use of ''In God We Trust'' on the nation's currency, the public singing of patriotic songs like ''God Bless America,'' even the use of the phrase ''So help me when God'' when judges are sworn into office.
In a 2-1 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the phrase ''one nation under God'' amounts to a government endorsement of religion in violation of the separation of church and state.
Leading schoolchildren in a pledge that says the United States is ''one nation under God'' is as objectionable as making them say ''we are a nation 'under Jesus,' a nation 'under Vishnu,' a nation 'under Zeus,' or a nation 'under no god,' because none of these professions can be neutral with respect to religion,'' Circuit Judge Alfred T. Goodwin wrote.
In Canada, where President Bush was taking part in an economic summit, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said: ''The president's reaction was that this ruling is ridiculous.''
''The Supreme Court itself begins each of its sessions with the phrase 'God save the United States and this honorable court,''' Fleischer said. ''The Declaration of Independence refers to God or to the Creator four different times. Congress begins each session of the Congress each day with a prayer, and of course our currency says, 'In God We Trust. The view of the White House is that this was a wrong decision and the Department Justice is now evaluating how to seek redress.''
The ruling was also attacked on Capitol Hill, with Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle, D-S.D., calling it ''just nuts.''
The government had argued that the religious content of ''one nation under God'' is minimal. But the appeals court said that an atheist or a holder of certain non-Judeo-Christian beliefs could see it as an endorsement of monotheism.
The 9th Circuit covers Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state. Those are the only states directly affected by the ruling.
However, the ruling does not take effect for several months, to allow further appeals. The government can ask the court to reconsider, or take its case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Congress inserted ''under God'' at the height of the Cold War after a campaign by the Knights of Columbus, religious leaders and others who wanted to distinguish the United States from what they regarded as godless communism.
The case was brought by Michael A. Newdow, a Sacramento atheist who objected because his second-grade daughter was required to recite the pledge at the Elk Grove school district. A federal judge had dismissed his lawsuit.
Newdow, a doctor who holds a law degree and represented himself, called the pledge a ''religious idea that certain people don't agree with.''
The appeals court said that when President Eisenhower signed the legislation inserting ''under God'' after the words ''one nation,'' he declared: ''Millions of our schoolchildren will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty.''
The appeals court noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has said students cannot be compelled to recite the pledge. But even when the pledge is voluntary, ''the school district is nonetheless conveying a message of state endorsement of a religious belief when it requires public school teachers to recite, and lead the recitation of, the current form of the pledge.''
The ruling was issued by Goodwin, who was appointed by President Nixocn, and Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt, a Carter appointee.
In a dissent, Circuit Judge Ferdinand F. Fernandez, appointed by the first President Bush, warned that under his colleagues' theory of the Constitution, ''we will soon find ourselves prohibited from using our album of patriotic songs in many public settings.''
'''God Bless America' and 'America the Beautiful' will be gone for sure,'' he said, ''and while use of the first and second stanzas of the 'Star-Spangled Banner' will still be permissible, we will be precluded from straying into the third.''
Fernandez said the same faulty logic would apply to ''In God We Trust'' on the nation's currency.
Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., was one of many lawmakers who immediately reacted in anger and shock to the ruling.
''Our Founding Fathers must be spinning in their graves. This is the worst kind of political correctness run amok,'' Bond said. ''What's next? Will the courts now strip 'so help me God' from the pledge taken from new presidents?''
Harvard scholar Laurence Tribe predicted that the U.S. Supreme Court will certainly reverse the decision unless the 9th Circuit reverses itself. ''I would bet an awful lot on that,'' Tribe said.
The 9th Circuit is the nation's most overturned appellate court - partly because it is the largest, but also because it tends to make liberal, activist opinions, and because the cases it hears - on a range of issues from environmental laws to property rights to civil rights - tend to challenge the status quo.
The nation's high court has never squarely addressed the issue, Tribe said. The court has said schools can require teachers to lead the pledge but ruled students cannot be punished for refusing to recite it.
In other school-related religious cases, the high court has said that schools cannot post the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.
And in March, a federal appeals court ruled that Ohio's motto, ''With God, all things are possible,'' is constitutional and is not an endorsement of Christianity even though it quotes the words of Jesus.
AP-NY-06-26-02 1751EDT
Something that maybe linked to Liquid
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0207/q_n_a.html
WorldCom Inc.'s $3.8 billion in disguised expenses.
JACKSON, Miss. (June 26) -An investigation by WorldCom Inc.'s board of directors uncovered nearly $3.8 billion in disguised expenses, the company said Tuesday, revealing what appears to be among the largest cases ever of accounting fraud.
WorldCom's chief financial officer, Scott Sullivan, who is also a director, has been fired, the company said, and senior vice president and controller David Myers resigned.
More than $3 billion of expenses in 2001 and $797 million for the first quarter of 2002 were wrongly listed on company books as capital expenses, the company said, and thus not reflected in its earnings results. It will restate earnings for all of 2001 and the first quarter of 2002.
When spending is listed as a capital expense, a company can delay applying it against earnings and spread its effect over many years, thus keeping its profits on paper higher. Standard accounting rules are relatively clear about what kind of purchases, for instance office equipment, can be listed as capital expenses and which must be listed as operating expenses and deducted immediately from profits.
``Our senior management team is shocked by these discoveries,'' John Sidgmore, who was appointed WorldCom's chief executive officer on April 29, said. ``We are committed to operating WorldCom in accordance with the highest ethical standards.''
Sidgmore said WorldCom has notified the Securities and Exchange Commission about the disguised expenses, as well as its lenders, and hired an attorney to conduct an independent investigation.
In a statement released late Tuesday night, the SEC said WorldCom's disclosures ``confirm that accounting improprieties of unprecedented magnitude have been committed in the public markets.''
The agency said it has ordered WorldCom to file ``under oath, a detailed report of the circumstances and specifics'' of the accounting problems.
Sidgmore replaced former president and CEO Bernie Ebbers, who resigned amid questions about the company's growth and its finances.
The revelation adds WorldCom to a growing list of companies struck by accounting scandals, led by Enron Corp., Tyco International Ltd. and Adelphia Communications, that have shaken public faith in business and Wall Street and created a flood of shareholder lawsuits.
WorldCom grew from a small long-distance company into a telecommunications force through more than 60 acquisitions in the past 15 years. The rapid-fire growth was stopped dead in its tracks in 2000 when federal and European regulators blocked WorldCom's proposed $129 billion merger with Sprint Corp., citing competition concerns.
The company also said it would lay off 17,000 workers beginning Friday. Those cuts would be primarily composed of discontinued operations, attrition and contractor terminations, the company said.
WorldCom, the nation's second biggest long-distance provider, said it notified its auditors, KPMG LLP, and asked it to conduct a comprehensive audit of the company's financial statements for 2001 and 2002.
The company said it notified Arthur Andersen LLP, which had audited the company's financial statements for 2001 and for first quarter of 2002.
Andersen said its work for WorldCom was in compliance with SEC standards.
``It is of great concern that important information about line costs was withheld from Andersen auditors by the chief financial officer of WorldCom. The WorldCom CFO did not tell Andersen about the line cost transfers nor did he consult with Andersen about the accounting treatment,'' the company said.
Andersen said it told WorldCom that the company's 2001 financial statement ``should not be relied upon.''
The news could be a body blow to WorldCom, which is reeling from a low stock price, a crumbling telecoms market and an ongoing SEC investigation.
Rick Black, analyst for Blaylock & Partners, L.P. in New York, said he wants to know if former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers knew about the accounting practice.
``The people who were running the company prior to this should know what's going on. That's the most logical assumption,'' Black said. ``If the CFO knows, the next question people are going to ask is what did Bernie Ebbers know and of course they're going to ask what did the board know.''
Black said bankruptcy could be the only alternative for WorldCom.
``For a company with $30 billion in debt, that has a sector deteriorating from competition...it's not looking good,'' he said.
Shares of Clinton-based WorldCom dropped sharply in after hours trading, falling 57 cents to 26 cents a share, down 68 percent from its closing price of 83 cents.
Shares of WorldCom this year traded as high as $15 in January but have free fallen since over concerns about the company's $32 billion in debt, slowing revenues and the SEC investigation.
In March, the SEC requested documents detailing pretax charges associated with domestic and international wholesale accounts that were no longer deemed collectible.
The SEC investigation also focused on disputed customer bills and sales commissions, loans by WorldCom to officers and directors, customer service contracts and organizational charts and personnel records for former employees.
Drawing scrutiny and investor displeasure were the $408 million in loans WorldCom gave to former chief executive Bernie Ebbers, who resigned in April.
In March, two WorldCom stockholders sued the company's board over $375 million in loans that the company has made to Ebbers. Ebbers has said he has enough personal assets to cover the loans.
Bond ratings agencies Moody's Investors Service, Standard & Poor's and Fitch all cut their long-term credit ratings on WorldCom's debt several times this year.
Shares of WorldCom on Monday closed down 25 percent after Salomon Smith Barney analyst Jack Grubman, long seen as a WorldCom supporter, downgraded his outlook on the company.
06/26/02 00:45 EDT
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.