] Among other problems, Berkowitz found that CIA analysts
] must bounce between multiple, isolated systems to gather
] information, including separate systems on each desk for
] accessing the CIA's classified network and using the
] public Internet.
]
] DI agents have no easy way to share classified
] information with authorized intelligence personnel
] outside of the CIA or access information stored in other
] classified information networks within the government,
] such as those at the U.S. Department of Defense.
]
] "The result is that DI analysts work in an IT environment
] that is largely isolated from the outside world. If they
] need to do work that is classified in any way, there is
] virtually no alternative other than to use the CIA's own,
] restricted system," the report said.
]
] Contrary to popular depictions of CIA agents using
] cutting-edge information-gathering technology, Berkowitz
] found that DI analysts lack access to even the most
] common information searching technology, such as
] Web-based search engines, for conducting intelligence
] analysis, relying largely on a 1970s-era database called
] CIRAS, for Corporate Information Retrieval and Storage.

Central Intelligence Agency. Does that name really apply anymore?

PCWorld.com - Study: CIA Behind the Times in IT

] In findings that should add to the national debate over
] rising obesity rates in the U.S., Duke University Medical
] Center researchers have demonstrated that physical
] inactivity leads to a significant increase in potentially
] dangerous visceral fat, while high amounts of exercise
] can lead to significant decreases in such fat over a
] fairly short time period.
]
] The researchers also found that while lower amounts of
] exercise prevented the significant accumulation of
] visceral fat seen in the controls, it did not lead to the
] improvements seen in participants with higher levels of
] exercise.
]
] Controlling visceral fat is important, the researchers
] say, because increased levels have been associated with
] insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease and other
] metabolic syndromes. Visceral fat is located around the
] organs inside the belly and is deeper in the body than
] subcutaneous fat, which lies under the skin.

C'mon people, get up, get moving.

ScienceDaily News Release: Physical Inactivity Rapidly Increases Visceral Fat; Exercise Can Reverse Accumulation

Jordi LaForge sez "Help!"

] In a plea for the life of "Reading Rainbow," host LeVar
] Burton returned to a familiar setting: the stage where he
] picked up the PBS show's seventh Emmy Award for best
] children's television series.
]
] "If you are a wealthy philanthropist out there, I'm not
] that difficult to find," said Burton, the show's
] executive producer and host since it began in 1983.
]
] He's still waiting. And "Reading Rainbow," which has
] counterintuitively used television to introduce children
] to a world of books, may only have a few months to live.
]
] "Reading Rainbow" has several strikes against it in the
] battle for funding. For starters, it has no access to
] merchandise licensing deals, an increasingly important
] part of PBS' funding scheme for children's shows. There
] are no "Reading Rainbow" action figures to sell, no
] "Reading Rainbow" jammies to keep kids warm at night.
]
] The series is also 20 years old when many corporate
] benefactors prefer being involved with something new. And
] the show's narrow audience -- children 6 to 8 who are
] just learning to read -- doesn't give sponsors the broad
] exposure they're seeking, said Amy Jordan, senior
] researcher on children and the media at the University of
] Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center.

'Reading Rainbow' fights for survival - May. 29, 2003

] Microsoft pulled a security improvement for its Windows
] XP operating system after it apparently crippled many of
] the Internet connections of the roughly 600,000 users who
] installed it. According to this Associated Press report,
] the patch ('recommended' update 818043) was posted on the
] Windows-Update service last Friday, but didn't quite get
] along with Symantec products. The patch was intended to
] modify the way IPSec encryption was utilized by machines
] behind firewalls, as well as to improve the support of
] virtual private network VPN clients behind network
] address translation (NAT) hardware.

So what else is new?

broadband » News » MS Recalls Troublesome Patch - Windows XP Update pulls internet plug for many

] A simple test could one day help police to catch
] psychopathic potential serial killers.
]
] Psychologists in Wales have adapted an existing
] psychological test to identify people with psychopathic
] tendencies.
]
] The 10 minute test is based on the Implicit Association
] Test, developed in the United States, and used to reveal
] people's deepest thoughts and feelings.
]
] Psychopaths may be capable of committing violent or
] antisocial acts but rarely demonstrate any remorse or
] guilt.
]
] They are often highly skilled at lying, can be charming
] and are adept at faking the emotions they lack.
]
] For this reason, many psychopathic serial killers can go
] on murdering without detection for years.
]
] Serial killers Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer and Harold
] Shipman have each been branded psychopaths.

A good test to give a potential signficant other?

BBC NEWS | Health | Ten minute test could spot killers

] All those hours spent playing video games may not be
] wasted time after all: A new study suggests action-packed
] video games like "Grand Theft Auto III" and
] "Counter-Strike" may sharpen your mind.
]
] Researchers at the University of Rochester found that
] young adults who regularly played video games full of
] high-speed car chases and blazing gun battles showed
] better visual skills than those who did not. For example,
] they kept better track of objects appearing
] simultaneously and processed fast-changing visual
] information more efficiently.
]
] To rule out the possibility that visually adept people
] are simply drawn to video games, the researchers
] conducted a second experiment. They found that people who
] do not normally play video games but were trained to play
] them developed enhanced visual perception.

See mom? Video games are GOOD for you!

Laughing Boy

Study: Playing video games not so mindless

] XV THE DEVIL
]
] THE CARD: Grace Jones is a firey Devil. If she were not
] so desirable, could she be so frightening?

This one is moving my weird shit-o-meter near the red...

the eighties tarot

] Visualizing huge numbers can be very difficult. People
] regularly talk about millions of miles, billions of
] bytes, or trillions of dollars, yet it's still hard to
] grasp just how much a "billion" really is. The MegaPenny
] Project aims to help by taking one small everyday item,
] the U.S. penny, and building on that to answer the
] question: "What would a billion (or a trillion) pennies
] look like?"

The MegaPenny Project

] When June Medford came up with the idea to use tiny weeds
] as weapons in the war against terrorism, she figured most
] people would call it a joke. But the federal government
] didn't laugh.
]
] Now, armed with a half million-dollar grant from the
] Pentagon, the Colorado State University plant biologist
] is trying to genetically engineer Arabidopsis plants to
] change color rapidly if they sense a biological or
] chemical agent.
]
] If her plan works, the technology could be used to turn
] forest evergreens, backyard shrubs or even pond algae
] into sentinels for scientists. One day, everyone in
] America might be able to use a cheap houseplant as an
] early-warning system. It could be the proverbial canary
] in a coal mine for the post-Sept. 11 age.

Bugs, weeds, houseplants could join the war on terror

] At least 100 dead fish were seen yesterday floating in
] the Oyster Creek by the nuclear power plant here, a
] veteran fisherman reported.
]
] Plant investigators saw four dead fish by the Route 9
] bridge that crosses the creek and another near the
] plant's property line, but officials here said the plant
] did not cause them to die.
]
] "We've checked all of our systems and we've done
] nothing," said Ernest J. Harkness, site vice president at
] the Oyster Creek plant.

] The plant was shut down since Tuesday following an
] electrical malfunction. Power generation should resume
] within the next two days, Harkness said.
]
] In December, the largest fine ever assessed on a New
] Jersey nuclear power plant for causing a fish kill --
] $372,912 -- was levied by the state Department of
] Environmental Protection against Oyster Creek.

Oh yeah.. The plant is _never_ killing the fish. Not this time, not earlier this year, not every six months this happens.

This time it was only a few hundred (or the offical number of "four"), last time it was thousands. Does this mean they are getting better?

The workers are still striking too..

Asbury Park Press | Official: Plant did not kill any fish