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DNS Stuff: DNS tools, WHOIS, tracert, ping, and other network tools.

This is absolutely the driest humor I have ever come across. Two parts, slightly dated to winter of last year but spot on humor. Don't miss the analysis of the instabilities inherent in The Shire's pipe-weed based economy in Part 1.

] Chomsky: Is there any kind of idea that men should live
] in peace with the Orcs?
]
]
] Zinn: Think of the scenes in the prologue with all the
] arrows hitting these thousands of Orcs. We're supposed to
] think that this is a good thing.
]
]
] Chomsky: I think this is a tragedy, this story. Because
] it's about two cultures. And poor leadership. It's a
] human tragedy, and an Orcish tragedy.

Unused Audio Commentary By Howard Zinn & Noam Chomsky, Recorded Summer, 2002, for The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Extended Edition) DVD, Part Two

] Brains are best
]
] Reassuringly, both sexes seem to understand that
] beauty is fleeting and brains last longer. Just under 79
] percent of men -- and 72 percent of women -- said
] they would rather their mate have a high IQ than a
] perfect body.

Mensans of the world Untie!

Sex and body image survey

] Aircraft designer Burt Rutan unveiled Friday a
] fully-built launch system that, if flights outside the
] atmosphere prove successful, would be the first private
] manned space program. Both the spacecraft, called
] SpaceShipOne, and its launch platform, a futuristic jet
] known as the White Knight, were developed and built in
] secret and have already begun tests at lower altitudes.

Oh my gosh! I want to fly into space!!

Private manned space plane unveiled

] bill that Congress recently passed setting up a national
] alert system for child abductions includes provisions
] that have created an uproar among federal judges and
] legal scholars because they limit judicial discretion in
] sentencing criminals.

This is seriously bad news!

Crime Bill Would Curb Judges' Powers

] cientists who study AIDS and other sexually transmitted
] diseases say they have been warned by federal health
] officials that their research may come under unusual
] scrutiny by the Department of Health and Human Services
] or by members of Congress, because the topics are
] politically controversial.

Yuck!

Certain Words Can Trip Up AIDS Grants, Scientists Say

] Washington - House Judiciary Chairman F. James
] Sensenbrenner Jr. said Thursday that he would fight any
] effort now to make permanent many of the expanded police
] powers enacted after the Sept. 11 attacks as part of the
] USA Patriot Act.

Some good news from Washington.

JS Online: Sensenbrenner says he'll enforce sunset of police powers

] Since 1992, the Thomas Jefferson Center for the
] Protection of Free Expression has celebrated the birth
] and ideals of its namesake by calling attention to those
] who in the past year forgot or disregarded Mr.
] Jefferson's admonition that freedom of speech "cannot be
] limited without being lost."
]
]
] Announced on or near April 13 -- the anniversary of the
] birth of Thomas Jefferson -- the Jefferson Muzzles are
] awarded as a means to draw national attention to
] abridgments of free speech and press and, at the same
] time, foster an appreciation for those tenets of the
] First Amendment. Because the importance and value of free
] expression extend far beyond the First Amendment's limit
] on government censorship, acts of private censorship are
] not spared consideration for the dubious honor of
] receiving a Muzzle.
]
]
] Unfortunately, each year the finalists for the Jefferson
] Muzzles have emerged from an alarmingly large group of
] candidates. For each recipient, a dozen could have been
] substituted. Further, an examination of previous
] Jefferson Muzzle recipients reveals that the disregard of
] First Amendment principles is not the byproduct of a
] particular political outlook but rather that threats to
] free expression come from all over the political
] spectrum.

The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression

] Given that acquiring and maintaining MCSE certification
] is no easy feat, the perception that the marketplace is
] flooded with these qualified professionals could be
] false. "It is a good credential to have," says John
] Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
]
] In the past, becoming a Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT)
] Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) carried with it
] considerable cachet. The top benefit, according to the
] software giant, is "industry recognition of your
] knowledge and proficiency with Microsoft products and
] technologies." Given that it's a Windows, Windows,
] Windows, Windows world, a certificate holder ought to
] have a leg up on some very lucrative situations.
]
] But with more than 200,000 IT professionals certified as
] MCSEs on Microsoft Windows 2000 alone (many more are
] certified to work on Windows NT 4.0 as well), there is
] growing frustration over the limited opportunities for
] these specialists in today's contracted marketplace.
]
] "I believe there is a misperception among certification
] candidates and career changers [who] think that
] certification is a guarantee%2

No kidding! I've been saying as much since Diploma Mill graduates with MCSE certifications and no practical "fix up this network" skills started crossing my desk.

IT Alert: MCSE Certification Glut

] A new sense of the shifting Internet population
] The online population is fluid and shifting. While 42% of
] Americans say they don’t use the Internet, many of them either
] have been Internet users at one time or have a once-removed
] relationship with the Internet through family or household
] members. This report focuses on several new findings about those
] who say they do not use the Internet

Highly recommended reading for an unbiased look at Who (Doesn't) Use the Internet

Pew Internet & American Life Project