Selection Pressure

It took less time for those latest posts to attract comment spam than for the page to be refreshed! Awkward though it is, 'word verification' is now turned on for comments.

Apology

Sorry, there's a bit of a gap happening here. Life's getting a bit packed. Or, maybe not much more packed, but we're trying to do some things that are "important" in Real Life instead of trying to escape the worries by posting here. Or at least try to force ourselves to do something in meatworld & bureaucracyland.

Interregnum

erm
Hi guys, (anyone there?)

Sorry for the gap. Life gets like that sometimes. Dunno if either of us will be able to add much for a while.

Barring major disasters, I'll sit down some quiet time and put up a bunch of stuff I've put aside that I hope will still be interesting then. It may just end up as a big info-dump without much commentary or linking prosody.

First they came for ...

Here's Your Room
Posted by Ogged on 12.21.03

www.unfogged.com/archives/ week_2003_12_21.html
I've tried to say it before a dozen ways, but it's really not very complicated: all that has to happen for a society to start on its way to totalitarianism is for most of the people to decide that they value their lives more than their freedom. Put that way, it's not even difficult to imagine it happening.

A man detained in Britain without charge or trial for two years on the basis of secret evidence he can neither know about nor challenge has told of his despair at his treatment under anti-terrorist legislation.

Exactly two years after he was arrested at his family home in the early hours and taken to Belmarsh high-security prison, Mahmoud Abu Rideh is the first of 14 detainees held on suspicion of terrorism to speak out publicly, through a letter sent to the Guardian.

Secret' detainee tells of jail despair
www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1110882,00.html
Sarah Boseley
Saturday December 20, 2003
The Guardian
A man detained in Britain without charge or trial for two years on the basis of secret evidence he can neither know about nor challenge has told of his despair at his treatment under anti-terrorist legislation
Part of the letter:

   "The British security services arrested me at 5.30 in the morning. They broke the door while I am sleeping and scared my children - I have five children between the ages of three years and nine years." He was taken straight to Belmarsh prison in south-east London, with no access to a lawyer.

   "At 7 o'clock in the morning they told me that you are going to stay all your life in Belmarsh. There is a unit inside it, it is like a prison in the prison. They put me alone in a small room where you face bad treatment and racism and humiliation and biting and swearing.

   "They prevented us from going to Friday prayers and every 24 hours there is only one hour walk in front of the cells and half an hour walking inside a cage. You do not see sun. You cannot tell whether it is night or day. Every thing is dark."

It's dark alright. The total failure by George Bush and Tony Blair to even attempt to make a case for not restricting liberty--which action would have been actual leadership--has been thoroughly craven and myopic. I think both men believe that, as executives charged with safeguarding their lands and peoples, they're taking minimally restrictive but necessary steps. But in a society of laws, in which precedent is honored (and those amount to the same thing), there is no "just for now." Given how much of the US administration's legal strategy has hung on ex parte Quirin (based on a very strange case of German saboteurs in 1942), it should be clear and bright that "pendulum" explanations of diminishing rights in "wartime" are tranquilizing fictions: keep pushing the pendulum and at some point, it won't swing back.

The bizarre sanguinity of so many people on this point seems explainable only as a matter of faith: this is America, we won't lose our rights. To this I can only say, think for a minute about how you would act if the outcome didn't seem so certain and ask just why you're so sure that it is certain.

Forbes conference in Sydney; Quick bunchalinks

Nigel Kennedy will be back in Sydney next January
http://www.sydneysymphony.com/event_detail.asp?s=304 Nige Fri 27 Jan 8PM, Mon 30 Jan 8PM
VIVALDI Concertos for Violin and Strings as featured on the Vivaldi II album and others including Summer from The Four Seasons.

Why is the Forbes Global CEO Conference happening in Sydney instead of Forbes?

www.ga.gov.au/bin/gazd01?rec=50704: Geoscience Australia entry for Forbes
FORBES
STATE: NSW
CUSTODIAN: NSW
POSTCODE: 2871
FEATURE CODE: LOCB (Towns & Localities)
STATUS: Official
LATITUDE: 33º 22' S [Decimal Degrees -33.382º]
LONGITUDE: 148º 00' E [Decimal Degrees 148.001º]
EASTING: 593000 [UTM zone 55, GDA 94]
NORTHING: 6306000
FEATURE NUMBER: NSW19089
100K MAP No.: 8431
More on Forbes
www.westserv.net.au/~fbsinfo/page30.html
forbes.visitnsw.com.au/
home.westserv.net.au/~fsclib/guide/things_to_do.pdf [PDF]
forbes.local-e.nsw.gov.au

Interesting new way of compressing data:
www.smh.com.au/news/next/compressions-back-in-a-blaze-of-glory/2005/08/29/1125167585855.html

jwz.livejournal.com/529460.html
connects to The anti-sit archives www.usemenow.com/web-log/archives/the_antisit

The Visible Human Project®

www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible
Overview
The Visible Human Project® is an outgrowth of the NLM's 1986 Long-Range Plan. It is the creation of complete, anatomically detailed, three-dimensional representations of the normal male and female human bodies. Acquisition of transverse CT, MR and cryosection images of representative male and female cadavers has been completed. The male was sectioned at one millimeter intervals, the female at one-third of a millimeter intervals.
The long-term goal of the Visible Human Project® is to produce a system of knowledge structures that will transparently link visual knowledge forms to symbolic knowledge formats such as the names of body parts.

Links to Applications for viewing images

www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/applications.html

Projects Based on the Visible Human Data Set

www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/animations.html
www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/products.html

Mirror sites
vhd-mms.cilea.it (Milan, Italy)
vhp.ntu.edu.sg (Singapore - Nanyan Tech Uni School of Biological Sciences)
www.umin.ac.jp/vhp ( Tokyo, Japan, University Medical Information Network (UMIN) www.umin.ac.jp/eng )
www.vhp.gla.ac.uk/intro.html Glasgow University - this is currently not working. Keep checking.
These are some links at Glasgow Uni that are working:
Medical Teaching Sites (list of links)
www.gla.ac.uk/faculties/medicine/teaching/MedCALlist.htm
Medical & Anatomy Images
www.genetics.gla.ac.uk/neil/neuroimg_1.html
World Wide Web and other Internet sites concerning human neuroanatomy and neuropathology images, basic neuroscience images and methods, home pages of medical imaging centers, medical illustration and medical illustrator sites, indexes of medical imaging resources, and neuroanatomy atlases of animals are included in the pages of this section.

Talk about the weather. No religion & politics

The 21st annual Sydney City to Surf Fun Run (~60k entrants) was on this morning (along with a Gay Marriage March and a Science Pride event for the start of Science Week -- the team of married gay scientists running in their veils, labcoats & pink shoes was a cheering sight*), so our chilly weather kept them from overheating. This is some kind of comfort, I suppose, as I huddle in my sheepskin slippers & warmest nightclothes tonight.

Last week I sent these to an American acquaintance, in case the pix might help cool her down (I wonder if that's part of the Penguin popularity?): Freak snow blankets southern Australia; The big chill is set to continue; Snow falls in Melbourne -- For some reason there's a picture of snow in Canberra** on top of a story about Melbourne (**Fresh snow cover on the Brindabella Mountains behind Canberra and Parliament House Photo: Andrew Taylor)
Winter Wonderland -- photo taken near Oberon, next to Blayney, where I saw snow in December!! while trying to sleep on the old overnight Sydney-Broken Hill train. Snow over Victoria -- has some nice photos

Reader Photo Galleries
Victorian Snowscapes (NOTE: This is a tree-fern NOT a fir-tree); Surprise snowfalls
Four seasons in one day (August 11, 2005), by Shirley Stackhouse
"Some places have proper seasons; we have weather. Last winter seemed colder than usual - remember frosts on the frangipani? Then there was that cold spell in January.
"In Sydney, we had a cold spell in early autumn, plus some good rain. Then conditions went back to warm and sunny. Confused plants, such as roses, thought we had had winter and it was spring and kept growing. Spring will still come in September, but don't pack your blankets away."
[*non-core report]

Art of Flesh and Stone

pavement art
www.rense.com/general67/street.htm

I strongly advise sensitive persons and cat-lovers to AVOID the 'carcass' section of this.
Capricorn
www.customcreaturetaxidermy.com/ fantasy/fantasy.html
(see other pages for strange & sometimes disturbing stuff.)

www.hanzismatter.com -- a blog that keeps track of the misuse of Chinese characters in, well mostly tattoos -- sort of the opposite of Engrish.com.

There is a certain joy in knowing what the characters in someone's lovely tattoo actually mean ...

Harry Potter Personality Quiz (Myers-Briggs: INTJ)

Which Harry Potter character has the same personality type as you?

This test is based on the principles of the Myers-Briggs Personality Typing system. I made up the questions myself but they're similar to (and influenced by) the questions you'd find on any other Myers-Briggs-based test.


Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

Results: piratemonkeysinc.com/result.php

Explanation of the Results:

This type of personality test uses four indexes of personality and the combination of the four is your personality type. The first index relates to how you interact with other people and can be Extroverted (E), meaning you're more outgoing or Introverted (I), meaning you keep more to yourself. The second relates to how you make decisions; whether you're Intuitive (N), getting answers from within, or you rely on Sensing (S) information from your surroundings, using your five senses. The third relates to whether you're more emotional and Feeling (F) or rational and Thinking (T). The fourth relates to whether you prefer things to be organized, meaning you're Judging (J), or you prefer things to be more unbound, meaning you're Perceiving (P).
For more information about real, scientific personality typing, visit the Kiersey Temperament and Character Website keirsey.com.

piratemonkeys-HarryPotter_quiz-miniSnape
Originally uploaded by Epacris.

A picture to accompany the character description. One person's image, different to the film's.
Original artwork and site design © Gillian Rhett 2005.

Superweed

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | GM crops created superweed, say scientists
www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/ Story/0,2763,1535428,00.html
Modified rape crosses with wild plant to create tough pesticide-resistant strain
Paul Brown, environment correspondent
Monday July 25, 2005
The Guardian
[Extracts from the article - I recommend a full read, there are some good links on end of the page too.]

Modified genes from crops in a GM crop trial have transferred into local wild plants, creating a form of herbicide-resistant 'superweed', the Guardian can reveal.
It was found during a follow up to the government's three-year trials of GM crops which ended two years ago.

The new form of charlock was growing among many others in a field which had been used to grow GM rape. When scientists treated it with lethal herbicide it showed no ill-effects.
Unlike the results of the original trials, which were the subject of large-scale press briefings from scientists, the discovery of hybrid plants that could cause a serious problem to farmers has not been announced.

The scientists also collected seeds from other weeds in the oilseed rape field and grew them in the laboratory. They found that two wild turnips were herbicide resistant.
Dr Brian Johnson, who is head of the biotechnology advisory unit and head of the land management technologies group at English Nature, the government nature advisers, said: "Unlike the researchers I am not surprised by this. If you apply herbicide to plants which is lethal, eventually a resistant survivor will turn up."

The glufosinate-ammonium herbicide used in this case put "huge selective pressure likely to cause rapid evolution of resistance".

To assess the potential of herbicide-resistant weeds as a danger to crops, a French researcher placed a single triazine-resistant weed, known as fat hen, in maize fields where atrazine was being used to control weeds. After four years the plants had multiplied to an average of 103,000 plants,

Since charlock seeds can remain in the soil for 20 to 30 years before they germinate, once GM plants have produced seeds it would be almost impossible to eliminate them.

The findings mirror the Canadian experience with GM crops, which has seen farmers and the environment plagued with severe problems.
The new plants were dubbed superweeds because they proved resistant to three herbicides while the crops they were growing among had been genetically engineered to be resistant to only one.

To stop their farm crops being overwhelmed with superweeds, farmers had to resort to using older, much stronger varieties of "dirty" herbicide long since outlawed

Farmers in Canada and Argentina growing GM soya beans have large problems with herbicide-resistant weeds. Experiments in Germany have shown sugar beets genetically modified to resist one herbicide accidentally acquired the genes to resist another - so called "gene stacking", which has also been observed in oilseed rape grown in Canada.

Telegraph | News | GM superweed discovered
(Filed: 25/07/2005)

The first genetically modified superweed has been discovered in the UK according to Government research.

The plant, which is resistant to some types of weed killer, is the result of GM oilseed rape cross-breeding with a common weed in farm scale trials.

Some Grisly History

Julie L. ::: July 31, 2005, 02:29 PM:

There was an article in The New Yorker which had a photo of a dead Iraqi whom the troops had nicknamed "Catlips" because before his body was discovered, his mouth had been eaten by feral cats. The picture, which only showed him from the neck up, showed indeed his lips had been chewed off. However, his nose, eyelids, ears, and other parts that might be considered soft and chompy had remained intact.

Jonathan Shaw ::: July 31, 2005, 10:46 PM

Perhaps not entirely relevant, but a herd of killer whales, in the first part of last century, helped the human whalers at Twofold Bay in New South Wales by herding humpbacks into range of the harpoons. The only reward they seemed to want was the lips of the humpbacks after they had been killed--the humans were welcome to all the rest.

Apart from the lips, the orcas liked to take the tongue of whalers' kills. The town of Eden, ~500k south of Sydney on the Far South Coast of New South Wales, is on Twofold Bay. It's the last big settlement before the Victorian border if you're travelling the coastal route Sydney-Melbourne. Whaling and sealing were a very early substantial industry around Australia, and survived into the 20th Century. Some whale jawbones displayed around Sydney Harbour have only been removed in the last couple of decades.

The story of the "Killers of Eden" has been put into at least a couple of books, Killers of Eden: The Killer Whales of Twofold Bay, by Tom Mead. and Killers in Eden, by Danielle Clode.
Here are the local Eden Community Access Centre History of Eden page, and one for the Eden Killer Whale Museum.

And some stories from the ABC Site:
Ockahm's Razor: Killers in Eden Broadcast Sunday 3 November 2002, with Robyn Williams; Whales, Fish & Sealions Andrew Trites on the Science Show, Saturday 29 May 2004; Eden Killers Radio National Breakfast, 8:24am - Tuesday 30 July 2002, with Danielle Clode

Flint-knapping: Haven't heard it called that before

Before you go to the links, check the picture out. Funny how some things catch people's fancy <g> see, for instance, news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/ sci/tech/4713323.stm - also noted at Pharyngula (July 25, 2005) and Pagan Prattle: www.prattle.net/ archives/001871.html, and probably quite a few other places.

Catseyes

Catseyes - Siamese Cat in Jordan Zoo
Uploaded from Yahoo! UK & Ireland News to flickr.com by Epacris.

Creek Running North: Remember that old saw

Creek Running North:
July 27, 2005
Remember that old saw

Contra Costa Times columns, June 2001 - Faithful Old Tool on Cutting Edge
There's just something about a Japanese pruning saw. Or several things. For instance, the saws cut on the pull stroke, rather than the push stroke. This is an important difference when you're pruning a tree from the inside, 20 feet up, precariously balanced as the wind picks up; pulling allows you to maintain your center of gravity. A pruning sensei might put it this way:

balance and power come from drawing inward.
Pushing outward is weakness;
a fall onto the agave follows.

Roadside Attractions: Whale's Head - Newfoundland

LARGE CANADIAN ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS - Whale's Head (Newfoundland)
From the site "The World of Roadside Attractions"

The Haggis Cambrian Period?

Since 1997, when my partner & I were shocked & amused to find garlic haggis balls in a caff on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, there has been an evolutionary explosion, apparently. (Recipes here include 'creamy clap shot'.) The influence goes in both directions, as mostly happens. There is a report of a "Pakora Bar, at Sandgate (Ayr)" with "many different types of pakora e.g. haggis pakora, smoked sausage pakora, pork chop pakora", and a black pudding pakora in Paisley.

I draw this poetic tribute, from an online site for local North Scotland communities, to your attention ...
ADDRESS TO THE HAGGIS PAKORA
– by Lorna M. Angus
     Fair fa' yer honest sonsie face
     Great chieftain of the curried race ...

Another is on the second page at [PDF]

Good Considerations of Social Conflicts on "Marriage"

Same-Sex Marriage & The Efficient Society: Perfection vs. Efficiency
crawlacrosstheocean.blogspot.com/2005/06/ same-sex-marriage-efficient-society.html
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Note: This post is a continuation from the earlier post at crawlacrosstheocean.blogspot.com/2005/06/ much-ablog-about-nothing.html

Too simple to die - or too smart to live?

Is this killer too simple to die - or too smart to live?
www.timesonline.co.uk/ article/0,,11069-1708036,00.html
America
July 26, 2005
From Tim Reid in Washington

The jury must determine if Daryl Atkins is mentally retarded, or whether his IQ has increased enough in recent years to allow the state of Virginia to put him to death.
Atkins, 27, on death row for a murder in 1996, was named in a landmark Supreme Court ruling three years ago that declared it unconstitutional to execute those who were mentally retarded.
But the intellectual stimulation that Atkins has received since his conviction, after hours spent with his defence team, is believed to have raised his IQ above 70, the cut-off point for being classified as retarded in Virginia, which makes him eligible to die. Atkins, a school drop-out, scored 59 in an IQ test in 1998 but has recorded 74 and 76 in more recent tests.
Evan Nelson, who tested Atkins in 1998 and 2004, wrote in a report last year that “his constant contact with the many lawyers that worked on his case” gave him more intellectual stimulation in prison than he received during childhood.
Atkins’s case is not clear cut. A key prosecution argument will be that he has never been retarded. Under Virginia law, mental retardation must be determined before the age of 18. Atkins’s IQ was never tested until he passed the age of 18.

The execution exam
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1070-1707225,00.html
The Sunday Times Magazine
March 06, 2005
Investigation by Leni and Peter Gillman

For 23 years on death row, Howard Neal has protested his innocence. He has a mental age of eight but has learnt to read and write in prison. Now he must take an IQ test. If he solves a series of simple puzzles, he dies
... Neal has been on death row for 23 years. He was convicted of kidnap and murder in 1982 and sentenced to die in the Mississippi gas chamber.
... Neal inhabits a cell 6ft square. He is allowed out for four hours' exercise a week. In summer, temperatures soar above 100F (37.7C). The death-row suits are made of nylon and are unbearably hot, but there is no air conditioning or a fan, and no access to cold water. The light is left on 24 hours a day and the cell is infested with mosquitoes. Once, family visitors could stay all day; then visits were restricted to an hour. Neal's mother stopped coming; he last saw her in 1992.

All this for a crime that Neal insists he did not commit. His trial can only be described as a travesty. The evidence against him was desperately thin, consisting of one unsupported confession and a single, shaky witness sighting. Although a federal court found that Neal was unfairly sentenced to death, it refused to give him a reprieve.
... Now a new battle looms. Neal has an IQ of 54 and a mental age of eight, classifying him in the US as mentally retarded
... If he scores well, his reward will be a journey to Unit 32's execution chamber. But even if Neal falls below the 70 watershed, he may not be spared. In two cases, Mississippi has accepted the psychologists' verdict. In others, it has gone on the offensive. Prosecutors have attacked the validity of the tests and have accused prisoners of deliberately failing.
... In its rawness, its catalogue of family cruelty and abuse, his story resembles something out of those talismanic Mississippi writers Tennessee Williams or William Faulkner. It can be related from details in the court records, and from Neal's letters, written in short, repetitive sentences, after a fellow prisoner taught him to read and write.
...
... The psychologist noted that he asked if she thought he was mentally retarded. She asked what he thought that meant, and he replied: "It means you're a bad person, a nobody."

Neal, the psychologist related, had been proud to show her that he could read and write. He was also "highly motivated" to do well on the tests, and appeared not to know that his life could depend on the outcome. He was disappointed when she told him it was time to stop, and asked her to let him finish it.

Oops, sorry, won't do. We can't just shrug our shoulders over this shooting
www.timesonline.co.uk/ article/0,,1070-1707225,00.html
Opinion - Tim Hames
July 25, 2005

THE POLICE, according to a Sunday newspaper yesterday, fear a “backlash in the Muslim community” after the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent Brazilian electrician, at Stockwell Tube station on Friday. What the police should fear is a backlash from the entire civilised community. Yet there is no evidence that either the politicians or the public will provide it. The theme has been that this was a tragic “mistake”, but one which was unavoidable, even inevitable, in the current climate...

Same-Sex Marriage & The Efficient Society: Perfection vs. Efficiency
crawlacrosstheocean.blogspot.com/2005/06/ same-sex-marriage-efficient-society.html
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Note: This post is a continuation from the earlier post at crawlacrosstheocean.blogspot.com/2005/06/ much-ablog-about-nothing.html

michaelp's Photos: Berkeley Botanical Gardens

michaelp's photos of Berkeley Botanical Gardens
www.michaelp.org/photos/ berkeley_botanical_gardens These are mainly cacti & other succulents. (via Particles) Check out his other photos online starting from www.michaelp.org/photos/index.html

Sounds: Boxing Day Earthquake; Crazy Frogspawn; Singing Dunes

Recording of Deadly Indonesian Earthquake
Robert Roy Britt, LiveScience.com Fri Jul 22, 2:45 PM ET
www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/ 050722_earthquake_sound.htm
Sound from last December's huge tsunami-causing earthquake was picked up by underwater microphones designed to listen for nuclear explosions.

Scientists this week released an audio file of the frighteningly long-lasting cracks and splits along the Sumatra-Andaman Fault in the Indian Ocean. The recording of the quake starts out silent. A low hiss begins and the intensity builds gradually [in] a rumbling crescendo. Then it tails off but, frighteningly, builds again in waves as Earth continues to tremble.

The audio file here ( www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/ 050722_earthquake_sound.html) is sped up 10 times to make it easier to hear.

The recorded data was provided in March to scientists by the International Monitoring System of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. An analysis of the data is detailed in the July/August edition of the journal Seismological Research Letters.

Maya Tolstoy of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and her colleague, DelWayne Bohnenstiehl, converted the data to make the new audio file - MP3 file at this link: www.earth.columbia.edu/news/ 2005/images/tsun_eq.mp3

In other sound-related news, on Monday 25th July, 2005, Gut Records will release a U.K. album of Crazy Frog mixes, Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits, featuring new mixes of old hits including Technotronic's Pump Up the Jam. This may spawn a new cohort of ringtones to charm and beguile the populace

For a more pleasant aural experience, check out The Mystery of Desert Music: www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/ 050111_singing_dunes.html

Googly Moon?

Did anyone notice if this month's full moon looks bigger than usual? I read that "the distance between the Earth and its only natural satellite was the closest until 2007, at about 357,290 km (223,306 miles)". I have suspicions that if the situation was similar in 1969, that's why the moon landing (see below) happened around the date it did.
Pretty Picture The full moon rises behind the ancient temple of Poseidon, in Sounio about 73 kilometers (45 miles) south-east of Athens, on Thursday, July 21, 2005. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

He might have been Monty

Sad news that James Montgomery Doohan died on Wednesday 20th July, 2005 at his home in Redmond, Washington state (USA). He was 85 and had been battling Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, and, most recently, pneumonia.

Born on March 3, 1920, in Vancouver (Canada), he most famously played Montgomery "Scotty" Scott on the original Trek TV series and several films, He asked that his ashes, like Gene Roddenberry's, be sent into space.

There's quite a few different obituaries online that fill in different parts of his life & times, which naturally include more than the relatively small part he's known for.

James Doohan, Scotty in 'Star Trek,' dies at 85
www.kentucky.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/12183257.htm
Miami Herald Posted on Thu, Jul. 21, 2005
BY DENNIS MCLELLAN

Actor James Doohan -- the engineer Scotty in 'Star Trek' -- has died at 85. Doohan, who became forever linked with the words 'Beam me up, Scotty,' asked that his ashes be blasted into space.
Los Angeles Times Service

Star Trek's "Scotty", James Doohan, Beams Up For Good (1920-2005)
www.the-trades.com/column.php?columnid=3383
By Paul Schultz
The Trades, Published: July 22, 2005

Known to millions of science fiction fans as feisty engineer Montgomery Scott on the original Star Trek television series (1966-1969), James Doohan died at his home in Redmond, Washington on July 20th.

Farewell, Scotty
By Joal Ryan Fri Jul 22, 7:42 PM ET

James Doohan, who sweated it out in the engine room of the USS Enterprise as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott on the original Trek TV series and, indeed, found himself beamed all over the world via reruns, videos and DVDs, died Wednesday at his home in Washington state. He was 85 and had been battling Alzheimer's disease and, most recently, pneumonia.

Per Doohan's request, said longtime agent Steve Stevens Sr., the sci-fi star will be cremated and his ashes launched into space by the same Houston-based aerospace company that shot the remains of Gene Roddenberry into orbit following the Star Trek creator's 1991 death. Stevens said he didn't know precisely when Doohan's outer space memorial would occur. "As soon as the next flight goes up," he said.

From the 1950s on, Doohan performed on thousands of radio shows, and hundreds of TV shows. While he did his share of Bonanzas and other prime-time Westerns, it was science fiction, in the form of a 1953 Canadian series called Space Command, that brought him his first regular series work.

Mooning Google?

The Launch of Google Moon
blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/050720-093635
Google[is] releasing Google Moon ( http://moon.google.com ).

That's right space fans, you're now able to use the same technology that you'll find at Google Maps ( maps.google.com ) and Google Earth ( earth.google.com ) to wander around the Moon.

One small step for Google...

On July 20, 1969, man first landed on the Moon. A few decades later, we're pleased to cut you in on the action. Google Moon is an extension of Google Maps and Google Earth that, courtesy of NASA imagery (thanks, guys!), enables you to surf the Moon's surface and check out the exact spots that the Apollo astronauts made their landings.

Is Google Moon a result of your Copernicus initiative?

Glad you asked, and yes, the development of our lunar hosting and research center continues apace. We usually don't announce future products in advance, but in this case, yes, we can confirm that on July 20th, 2069, in honor of the 100th anniversary of mankind's first manned lunar landing, Google will fully integrate Google Local search capabilities into Google Moon, which will allow our users to quickly find lunar business addresses, numbers and hours of operation, among other valuable forms of Moon-oriented local information.

Welcome to Google Moon

moon.google.com: In honor of the first manned Moon landing, which took place on July 20, 1969, we’ve added some NASA imagery to the Google Maps interface to help you pay your own visit to our celestial neighbor. Happy lunar surfing.

On a related note...Want to learn more about the flight of Apollo 11? You'll find some great material (images, timelines, etc.) at nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/ lunar/apollo11info.html and nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/ lunar/apollo11.html. Video clips of the flight at spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/video/ apollo/apollo11/html/launch.html).

Want to learn more about the astronauts? Ask Jeeves has Smart Search results available for Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.
It seems no-one remembers what "green cheese" really is.

Pix: New London Bombings 21st July, 2005; iPod ads; Cat Blogging

ADAMTIME MOBLOG - Adam Randall
Panic, police shutting roads (London, 21st Jul 2005) - moblog.co.uk/view.php?id=80714

A phone-video (Quicktime) of police clearing a street in London
moblog.co.uk/blogs/2970/ vids/moblog_e7c1578f1dbf1.3gp

(And the 'moblog' of a fairly cluey bloke who calls himself Dave) moblog.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=344

randomimagewall : Dave
http://moblog.co.uk/imagewall.php?user=373

Adam - could you contact me if you're happy to license these for wikinews please?
en.wikinews.org/wiki/ London_Underground_evacuation_after_%27Incidents%27

Cult of Mac
by Leander Kahney
Wednesday, 22 June 2005
IPod Ads on Flickr
wiredblogs.tripod.com/cultofmac/ index.blog?entry_id=1141712
The world's greatest photo website -- www.flickr.com -- is home to lots of fine shots of iPod billboards.

Nicer things
Domo Proudly Supports Cat-Blogging
5th Jun 2005 10:26 (from Katyblog by doodle)

When You Wake the Black Man from Boston, Nicholas Scratch Will Surely Come to Call

liz_marcs: When You Wake the Black Man from Boston, Nicholas Scratch Will Surely Come to Call: www.livejournal.com/users/liz_marcs/106314.html

On July 12, 2003, Sen. Santorum cried out and pointed an accusing finger at the Black Man from Boston, falling into the trap that has resulted in destroyed lives, reputations, and the end of great political movements, especially religiously fueled ones.

For you see, when you cry out on the Black Man from Boston, you wake Nicholas Scratch, and he will surely come to call on you.

I am tempted to ask the good Republican Senator from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Are you entirely sure you want to get the estimable Mr. Scratch's attention?

Vinferno (Part 1)

Bonny Doon Vineyard :: Vinferno Part 1

Wow. Parody is definitely a large part of human creativity - in a good sense, not necessarily poking fun, but using someone else's work to inspire you.

Stuff On My Cat

Stuff On My Cat: "Do you like to put stuff on your cat while it snoozes? So do we, send us a picture with you and your cats name to stuffonmycat@gmail.com. If your submission meets our 'rigorous' standards in the fields of quality and awesomeness we will put it up for all to see
www.stuffonmycat.com

Boing Boing: Photos related to London bombings, blog coverage, Wikipedia

Boing Boing: Photos related to London bombings, blog coverage, Wikipedia -- UPDATED: Thursday, July 7, 2005
Photos related to London bombings, blog coverage, Wikipedia -- UPDATED
645AM, L.A.: Tags on Flickr that return images related to today's deadly bombings -- three in the London underground and one a bus -- include bombs, bomb, blast, terrorism, and London. Pools include The London Bomb Blasts Pool, and London Explosions Pool. (Thanks, Jake Appelbaum)

The Guardian's blog has good, ongoing coverage. Link: ( blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2005/07/07/ explosions_plunge_london_into_chaos.html).
(Thanks, Flora).

Other collaborative blogs covering the event include Londonist ( www.londonist.com/archives/ 2005/07/tube_network_do.php), and the London Metblog ( london.metblogs.com/).

Here is a highly informative Wikipedia 'current event' page, which includes links to news sources, blogs, a timeline of events, and translation of the claim for responsibility posted on the Jihadist website Al-Qal'ah: Link ( en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/2005_London_transport_explosions)
News networks in the UK are soliciting text messages and cameraphone images, videos from viewers. CNN just aired the first footage they obtained from inside a struck tube carriage; the video was shot on an eyewitness' cameraphone.

A Question for British Readers

German forces formally surrendered over 6 - 8 May 1945, marked by VE Day on May 8th, while the Japanese surrender followed on 15 August 1945 (exactly 396 years after the arrival of Francis Xavier), called VJ Day. It was signed on September 2nd on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

There was quite a lot of fuss in May over the victory of the Allies in Germany. Why is the UK having another round of commemorations & celebrations in JULY? Is it just that the weather is more likely to be better then than at the time of the actual ending of World War II in August? Do they intend to have something to remember the atomic bombings of Nagasaki (M Butterfly's city) and Hiroshima, and the Japanese surrender, or is it following the grand British tradition of celebrating things -- like the monarch's birthday -- on days they didn't happen? As far as I can tell this isn't halfway between

The battle on Okinawa (~150,000 deaths) happened after the surrender of Germany, so did the final re-taking of the Philippines, some of the Tokyo raids, fighting in Borneo, etc, etc, and obviously the two atomic attacks. About 40 millions (twice the current population of Australia) had died by VE Day, but there were many deaths more before the end of the war.

[A document of unconditional German surrender was signed at General Dwight Eisenhower's headquarters in Reims on 7 May, but victory was celebrated on 8 May. The northern forces represented by Admiral Freideburg and General Jodl, surrendered to Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, near Lubeck, a day earlier. These show Keitel and Zhukov in Berlin at the Russian HQ.]

Online Library of Selected Images -- Department of the Navy -- Naval Historical Centre www.history.navy.mil/branches/org11-2.htm

This photo may be by Lee Miller.
A general of the Volkssturm lies dead on the floor of city hall, Leipzig, Germany.
www.archives.gov/research_room/research_topics/ world_war_2_photos/images/ww2_187.jpg
He committed suicide rather than face U.S. Army troops who captured the city on April 19, 1945.

Australian Climate and Weather Atlas

Front page of the Climate and Weather Atlas of Australia: http://home.iprimus.com.au/ozthunder/oz/front.html (formerly members.ozemail.com.au/~michaelt/front.html) this is a private but pretty good site. It includes a part called `Weather Features', which has sections on Bushfires, Monsoon, Snow in Australia, Thunderstorms in Australia, Tropical Cyclones & Dangerous and Destructive Seas.