] When you join omidyar.net, you start with a feedback bank
] of 10 points. Your feedback bank can be given away, one
] point at a time, as either positive feedback or negative
] feedback to any member, workspace or discussion.
]
] As you use omidyar.net, your feedback bank will increase,
] based on how you use omidyar.net, and what you do. You
] basically get more "credit" in your feedback bank the
] more you contribute. If you simply "lurk," which means
] you don't ever post a comment or start a discussion,
] etc., your feedback bank will grow far more slowly. If
] you are an active discussion participant, and you
] contribute to a group's workspace, your feedback bank
] will grow more quickly. In fact, even the act of giving
] feedback will help your feedback bank grow. If someone
] gives you positive feedback, both your score and your
] feedback bank will increase by one.

Looks interesting..

Omidyar Network

Hangs on your keychain and turns off virtually any television!

TV-B-Gone From Cornfield Electronics

] What do you want to do with your life?

It appears most want to start a company that lasts longer then two years and drink eight glasses of water a day.

43 Things

] NewsKnowledge and The Hive Group have joined forces to
] bring you News Maps, visual maps of the NewsIsFree
] headline database. News Maps allow you to quickly scan
] dozens of news articles and instantly understand what's
] being reported all over the world.
]
] Each square in the News Map is an article. You can obtain
] additional detail on each article by moving your mouse
] over it. You can read an article by clicking on it.
]
] The Hive Group's Honeycomb algorithm organizes news
] headlines by source. Size and Color information indicate
] article age and popularity (described below). You can
] easily filter and rearrange you results to view articles
] that meet certain criteria, or that contain certain text.

Very cool!

NewsIsFree: NewsMaps - in collaboration with The Hive Group

Someone predicts that Microsoft will invent MemeStreams in 2008 and then it will be replaced by Google/Amazon in 2010. Very news centric in nature (as is MemeStreams), it ignores that much of the mass media consists of entertainment like movies and TV aside from mentioning Tivo. That's fine, I enjoy a good tale of the future, and this one points at in very obvious direction that most are oblivious of. Apparently some of the most significant technological innovations of the future will be branding, at least that's what I'm thinking after staring at company logos for eight minutes while being told a story.

"In 2005 people realized MemeStreams had already been there since 2001, it just didn't have the resources of Google or MSN. Wired wrote a news article, but the world continued talking about RSS feeds and BitTorrent."

EPIC 2014

Mike the Usurper wrote:
] Well as someone who knows their guns (for no real reason), the
] SKS is the chinese designation for the AK-47. It's cheap,
] it's reliable, and no hunter I've EVER heard of uses the damn
] thing. It's noisy (yep, that works great with deer who bolt
] at a the sound of a snail farting 400 yards away) not very
] accurate at range. What it is good as is throwing up a ton of
] lead. Traditionally, they have something like a 20-30 round
] banana clip, and can unload the whole thing in a few seconds,
] although it's semi-automatic, not full auto. It's designed to
] kill people, not deer.

The 30 round clip is illegal in the states. When people use a SKS for hunting they use the 10 round clip in the configuration where the weapon loads from the top.. At least they should.

You are accurate in your description of the firearm. It would not be my first pick for a hunting rifle. It is an offensive weapon. Almost all semi-autos leave a little to be desired in terms of accuracy at range, the exceptions being more modern assault rifles. A good example of that would be a Bushmaster like the DC snipers used in their killing spree. It would be a better hunting rifle then an SKS, but I'm sure that's not what anyone wants to hear. Bolt action rifles are usually the preferred hunting rifle since its the first shot that counts, and they are not as heavy. A bolt action rifle was used to kill JFK. Their rate of fire, while much slower then a semi-auto, is still up to the speed required by the DC snipers to carry out their attacks. I think a bolt action rifle was also used by Charles Whitman in the Texas clock-tower shootings.

Regardless of firearm design, it is only usage that matters. Irresponsible people like this cause rights to be taken away. This idiot clearly had no respect for human life. This lack of respect did not come from the gun. As a responsible firearm owner, I want to see this guy spend the rest of his life in jail. Every time something like this happens, it reflects badly on gun owners. It would be nice to see him made an example of, and not the firearm, but I know that is not going to happen that way.

This article isn't bad. The way these things are usually handled, I expect to be seeing a picture of the firearm, not the suspect.

RE: ABC News: 5 Killed, 3 Hurt in Wis. Hunting Dispute

] Then Bush either realized he was missing something, or he
] heard the commotion. The president, who is rarely alone,
] even in his own house, turned and walked back to the
] front door unaccompanied, facing the backs of a sea of
] dark suits. Bush, with his right hand, reached over the
] suits and pointed insistently at Trotta. At first the
] officials, with their backs to him and their heads in the
] rumble, did not realize it was the president intervening.
] Bush then braced himself against someone and lunged to
] retrieve the agent, who was still arguing with the
] Chileans. The shocked Chilean officials then released
] Trotta.
]
] Trotta walked in behind Bush, who looked enormously
] pleased with himself. He was wearing the expression that
] some critics call a smirk, and his eyebrows shot up as if
] to wink at bystanders.

Never lose track of your shadow, cowboy.

This article makes it seem like Chile was a very good host for APEC.

Spats Over Security Roil Summit in Chile (washingtonpost.com)

Heres a bunch of fun reading if you have a lot of free time! US Military field manuals. They recently published this one:

] FMI 3-07.22. Counterinsurgency Operations 1 October 2004
] (3 MB PDF file)

This book covers new tactics being employed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Other interesting books include:

] # FM 24-18. Tactical Single-Channel Radio Communications
] Techniques. 30 September 1987.
] # FM 24-33. Communications Techniques: Electronic
] Counter-Countermeasures. 17 July 1990.
] # (C)FM 32-20 Electronic Warfare (EW) (U)
] # (C)FM 32-30 Electronic Warfare, Tactics of Defense
] # FM 33-1 Psychological Operations August 1979
] # FM 34-1, Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Operations
] 27 September 1994. [superseded by FM 2-0]

Army Intelligence and Security Doctrine

Decius wrote:
] You are about to be punched in the stomach. That sinking
] feeling is your heart wondering which direction the swing is
] going to come from.

I choose to paraphrase. "That sinking feeling in your stomach is your heart deciding which direction the swing is coming from."

I've been playing games of pool all night deciding which way the election will go. Stripes have been the Democrats, Solids have been the Republicans. You will hear the results tomorrow.

RE: Fear

] Osama bin Laden speaks in this image made from an
] undated video broadcast on Friday, Oct. 29,
] 2004 by Arab television station Al-Jazeera. In the
] statement, bin Laden directly admitted for the first time
] that he carried out the Sept. 11 attacks, and said 'the
] best way to avoid another Manhattan' was to stop
] threatening Muslims' security. Al-Jazeera, based in
] Qatar, did not say how it had received the tape. (AP
] Photo/AlJazeera via APTN)

Handy for those of you who need something new for your dart board... Or maybe something to stick in your office's mens room urinal.

New Bin Laden video