Some of these bacteria produce methane that accumulates in "gas hydrates" — a super concentrated methane ice that contains more carbon than all conventional fossil fuels and, therefore, a potentially enormous energy source. However, we know little about gas hydrates as they melt during recovery due to the fall in pressure.

There is some crap in here about the Bermuda Triangle that I strongly urgue you to ignore. The real story here is bacteria that produce methane hydrates. I was not aware of this. This means that if technology for extracting natural gas from methane hydrates is realized, natural gas will be a long term sustainable energy solution. Thats awesome. The DOE wants to be able to produce commerical natural gas from methane hydrates by 2015.

Biological Solution to Natural Gas Scarcity

ATLANTA, Georgia (June 17th, 2005) - The Board of Directors of the Industrial Memetics Institute strongly condemns allegations made earlier this month by Amnesty International that its software development operations in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba are "the gulag of our times."

Industrial Memetics President and Chief Executive Officer, Tom Cross, said "The comparison is completely unreasonable. Russian Gulags were places in which thousands were worked to death in the oppressive Siberian winter. Our people in Cuba are well fed, gainfully employed, and air conditioned! A job at Industrial Memetics is a fine and valuable life endeavor. If circumstances where different these people might have wasted away in shanty towns in Rio de Janeiro or been forced to sell themselves in the AIDS infested sex markets of South Africa." He added that "people who think critically about Industrial Memetics hate America."

Industrial Memetics Chief Technology Officer, Nick Levay, said "The recent claims that one of our managers flushed a Koran down the toilet are completely unsubstantiated. Why would there be a Koran in an Industrial Memetics office?! We don't allow any religious artifacts to enter the building. Acknowledgment of religion is completely forbidden at the Industrial Memetics Institute."

Industrial Memetics Secretary of Defense Billy Hoffman said, "Our competitors are trained to make outrageous claims about our workplace practices. These claims should be ignored. They are obviously part of their overall strategy to slow the pace of innovation and flood the market with inferior products."

The Industrial Memetics Institute is committed to its goal of producing the finest technology and services money can buy. Industrial Memetics stands by its work place environment as being "a hell of a lot better then a Russian Gulag." (TM)

ABOUT THE INDUSTRIAL MEMETICS INSTITUTE

The Industrial Memetics Institute is a leading distributor of adult entertainment via electronic platforms. The Company delivers the most extensive lineup of quality programming over the broadest range of electronic means, including cable, satellite, Broadband and video-on-demand.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections made by management. The Company intends for the forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements. Words such as "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "plans", "believes", "seeks", "estimates", or variations of such words are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, Mr. Cross's ability to create even more value for our shareholders, and the outcome of any contingencies. All forward-looking statements made in this press release are made as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in this news release whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. The forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth or implied by any forward-looking statements.

For more information please visit our website at www.industrialmemetics.com.

The U.S. Department of Justice is quietly shopping around the explosive idea of requiring Internet service providers to retain records of their customers' online activities.

Your ISP as Net watchdog | CNET News.com

Kevin Hale of Particletree wrote an interesting essay about the importance of RSS and speculates that the success of social bookmarking sites like MemeStreams have got Google worried about the reputation agent becoming the new search.

Slashdot | The Importance of RSS

"Ever wonder how Google's site ranking works? Wonder no more. Google recently filed United States Patent Application 20050071741 on March 31, 2005."

The engineer in me wants to run out and read this patent right now.

The realist in me knows that if I have implemented a technology covered by this patent and I know it, I have to disclose it and pay a royality, so I'm better off not reading it... Not knowing.

The cynic in me thinks that the fact that lawyers advise engineers to never, ever read patents is another brick in the mound of evidence that our IP laws are not serving their original purpose.

Slashdot | Google's Site Ranking Secrets

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the 22nd amendment to the Constitution.

Clinton apparently made some recent statement about running again... I think term limits are a good idea.

Democrats want to repeal the 22nd Amendment.

Lawmakers voted Wednesday to block the Justice Department and the FBI from using the Patriot Act to peek at library records and bookstore sales slips.The House voted 238-187 despite a veto threat from Bush to block the part of the anti-terrorism law that allows the government to investigate the reading habits of terror suspects.

This is interesting.

House Votes to Limit Patriot Act Rules

The War of the Worlds (October 30, 1938)

Big collection of Mercury Theatre productions in MP3 format, including the famous War of the Worlds broadcast. For all your sampling and iPod needs.

Copyright on old radio shows is an extremely hazy area. Nobody seems to know who owns the rights to these broadcasts, and a good argument could be made that they're public domain...

The Mercury Theatre on the Net

I've begun work at wikipedia on "pandemic preparedness." I believe that pandemic preparedness needs to be done socially as well as through health services.

With regard to the recent tsunami, Wikipedia played an important role only after the tsunami had struck. Now, we have the opportunity see some community preparation before a pandemic.

For what is worth, there is a blog on avian flu, so there is some ongoing preparation. I wonder whether ProMED-mail subscribers, with their wide and deep expertise, can help guide that process and make it the best possible undertaking. In times of panic, I believe it will help to have some "blogging champions" all over the world working on this issue.

New internet technologies fight bird flu

In prior cases, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had broadly construed California's right of publicity law. The term "likeness" was held to encompass a robot which caricatured Vanna White's features. (The robot wore a blonde wig, and was turning letters on what looked like a "Wheel of Fortune" set). Although the free speech principles of the United States Constitution would allow parody of Vanna White, Samsung Electronics wasn't just doing a parody for amusement or entertainment. It was using the Vanna-robot to sell Samsung products.

Samsung lost. I think this is a terrible decision. There is a line here, but Samsung didn't cross it.

Wendt v. Host International@Everything2.com