] 'While the headlines screamed loudly about the race to
] win control of the Congress and huge money poured into
] those races that were close, most legislative races in
] fact were completely noncompetitive. Our Center for
] Voting and Democracy's pre-election projections of who
] would win and lose more than 75% of U.S. House races held
] up with an apparent perfect score -- the same model
] projected 929 of 930 winners accurately in 1996-2000.
] Within days we will issue our projections for the
] November 2004 elections (yes, that's right -- the
] elections two years from now) in some 350 House races
] with the same degree of confidence.
] We can confidently make these projections without knowing
] anything about the quality of the candidates and
] inequities in campaign finance because we use
] "winner-take-all" elections in districts that generally
] tilt clearly toward one party or the other. This lean is
] no accident, as state after state enacted incumbent
] protection plans in redistricting over the past year.
] With only a few exceptions, incumbents and party leaders
] gerrymandered districts to guarantee the reelection of
] incumbents, as well as the over-representation of
] whatever party controlled the redistricting process in
] their state. In California, the Democratic Party
] incumbents actually paid "protection money" in the amount
] of $20,000 apiece to have their legislative districts
] drawn to guarantee them a safe seat, an audacious example
] of political "insider trading." '

Center for Voting and Democracy

To experience the mental state of flow is to create ecstasy over actions, said Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, of Claremont Graduate University who spoke to an audience of 100 in Herter Hall yesterday afternoon

Csikszentmihalyi said he and his students conducted interviews of musicians, composers, writers, poets, and figure skaters to determine aspects of flow. Csikszentmihalyi described the seven aspects to how it feels to be in flow:

Being completely involved in what you are doing - focused, concentrated; a sense of ecstasy-of being outside everyday reality; great inner clarity - knowing what needs to be done, and how well we are doing; knowing that the activity is doable - that our skills are adequate to the task; a sense of serenity - no worries about oneself, and a feeling of growing beyond the boundaries of the ego; timelessness - thoroughly focused on the present, hours seem to pass by in minutes; intrinsic motivation - whatever produces flow becomes its own reward.

"The goal has to come from the inside, and nobody can tell you whether it was the right goal," Csikszentmihalyi said.

The Massachusetts Daily Collegian - Visiting psychology professor speaks on attaining the mental state of flow

So you wake up one day and realize your taste in music sucks. And obviously, that means you suck as well. You're tired, frustrated, hopelessly unhip, and you're very sick of your Winamp playlist. But wait...... before you pull that trigger, consider this.

You need hip hop and you need it fast.

For your sake, I've set up a "How to be a backpacker" kit that's so easy, virtually anybody can do it. Don't worry. You'll be in touch with the little b-boy inside of you in no time. After this kit, you'll be keeping it so real that only other backpackers will understand a word you spit. So what are we waiting for? Let's begin.

How To Be a Backpacker

"samhain is an open source file integrity and host-based intrusion detection system for Linux and Unix. It can run as a daemon process, and and thus can remember file changes - contrary to a tool that runs from cron, if a file is modified you will get only one report, while subsequent checks of that file will ignore the modification as it is already reported (unless the file is modified again). "

Well, I looked through a lot of open source HIDS and this is the first one I found that supports a client/server model. Also, it looks like the server will accept standard syslog packets as well.

Now, if I could only find a tool that would make the data useful...

Samahin HIDS & Centralized Logging System

If you have a pair of adidas, wear them proudly today.

[ This sucks. --Rek ]

Jam Master Jay Dies (from Run DMC)

Following the market’s lead, brokerage house Merrill Lynch Sunday lowered its revenue and earnings estimates for Check Point Software Technologies after the company issued a profit warning Friday.

...

Chairman and CEO Gil Shwed said in a conference call Thursday the company is having its worst year ever, and may not improve much in 2003. He said the company expects fourth-quarter earnings of 23 cents to 25 cents a share, and sales of $100 million to $108m. Analysts expected the company to earn 26 cents a share on $113m. in sales.

...

Check Point's bubble didn't pop violently like so many other tech companies, but their stock valuation's return to Earth is interesting to watch.

Check Point downgraded on Q4 forecast

I think this is a really interesting test, because I've heard many theories as to why people can't seem to tell people who are from various asian countries apart. I scored very highly with faces that were Japanese and very poorly with faces that were Korean or Chinese.

I've heard from various Thai and Chinese friends that they have similar difficulties with Caucasian people, even to the extent that one friend said we all looked white and hairy.

Anyhow, I'm interested in the data they collect.

ALL LOOK SAME

Finally, worried New Yorkers will be able to do all of their emergency-preparedness shopping at one store, when Safer America opens Thursday in Manhattan.

[ And don't forget to wear your rubber soled shoes to protect against lightning strikes, folks. --Rek ]

One-stop shopping for terror attack protection

"I talked to the own of Cafe Coco today, and we have come to an agreement concerning a barter - to work for food. He has several outdoor tables that are in disrepair, and are in need of new and more durable tops. So, I will be covering them with mosaic tile. It's a chance for me to be a little creative, as well as earn more of my keep. "

There are some interesting thoughts in here about the difficulty of working out of homelessness, panhandling, etc..

The Homeless Guy: Blog run by Nashville area homeless guy

Silent J

...

This one was too good not to meme :)

'...not so you could throw light switch raves!!!'