Category: News

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Tomorrow’s Weather [bigertbergstrom.com] is a 8 storeys high (~37m) data sculpture which extends 2 arches made up of over 60 molecular globes, forming a double helix. The globes change color depending on tomorrow’s weather forecast so that the interior landscape of structured lights take form as a “premonition of tomorrow”. Tomorrow’s Weather combines modern technology with one of nature’s most basic expressions, the weather, so that its elaborate visual expression changes forever, capturing the volatile nature of climate and the future.

Reminds me of The Source, Electric Moons and Plastic Trade. Via Seed Media Group Blog.

Vietnam has been forced to devalue its currency, the dong, for the third time since June 2008.

The country’s pegged exchange rate will shift to 17,961 dong per dollar vs. 17,034 previously. The Vietnamese central bank will also hiking interest rates to 8% from 7% in an attempt to control inflation.

Vietnam’s situation is the opposite of the undervalued pegged currency China is lucky to have. Defending an overvalued pegged currency, the dong, is tough business since it drains dollar reserves rather than builds them.  According to the Wall Street Journal, Vietnam’s dollar reserves have fallen to $16.5 billion from $22 billion at the start of the year.

The dong has been under substantial pressure all year due to Vietnam’s rapidly expanding trade deficit, which hit $8.7 billion during the first ten months of 2009. Inflation has also been picking up, hitting 4.35% in November.

Yet it appears that gold arbitrage may have been the straw that finally broke this currency’s back:

NYT: The immediate reason for the dong’s weakness, traders say, is that demand for dollars has risen because the spread between gold prices in Vietnam and in foreign markets has widened. Vietnam lifted an 18-month old ban on gold imports Nov. 12 in a bid to curb panic buying that had sent the dong plummeting.

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See Also:

• ‘Google’ Brand Toilet Paper Found In Vietnam (PHOTOS) (GOOG)
• Vietnam Goes Crazy For Gold, While Broke Westerners Liquidate Their Holdings
• US-China Currency Dispute Forces Last-Minute Change To APEC Announcement

Yahoo doesn’t really know whether it is a search company or not, but it’s definitely not giving up entirely on this front. With all the focus on the interface and the way the search engine presents the answers, Yahoo has been steadily introducing new features and updates. Now the company has introduced an upgraded Search Assist feature across most of its proprieties with the notable exception of the main search engine. The tool will now show more than just search suggestions, it will offer information or custom actions inside Search Assist depending on the query.

“Today we are rolling out several new Search Assist features for the Web search boxes at the top of nearly every property on Yahoo!, including Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Sports, and Yahoo! Finance. These new features can take you directly to the information you need, whether it is real-time stock quotes or movie trailers. You can also get enhanced search suggestions and easily navigate to the Yahoo! property that fits your needs the most,” Linda Wang, senior product manager for Yahoo Search and Drew Geishecker, director of product management at Yahoo Network Services, wrote.

The new inline information is available for several types of searches like movies, sports, travel destinations, or stock price. Looking up a place you’d want to visit will bring up i… (read more)

In Microsoft SQL there are three ways to set your recovery model. Each method has their own pluses and minus. Each of them have their own reason for using them.

The three recovery models are Full, Bulk-Logged and Simple. The first one, Full, is set by default in SQL 2005. According to SQL-Recovery.com, Full recovery model is:

This is your best guarantee for full data recovery. The SQL Server fully logs all operations, so every row inserted through a bulk copy program (bcp) or BULK INSERT operation is written in its entirety to the transaction log. When data files are lost because of media failure the transaction log can be backed up.

Bulk Logged:

This model allows for recovery in case of media failure and gives you the best performance using the least log space for certain bulk operations, including BULK INSERT, bcp, CREATE INDEX, WRITETEXT, and UPDATETEXT.

Simple:

It allows for the fastest bulk operations and the simplest backup-and-restore strategy. Under this model, SQL Server truncates the transaction log at regular intervals, removing committed transactions. Only full database backups and differential backups are allowed.

Changing the recovery model is as simple as right clicking on the database in SQL 2005 management Studio, Clicking on Properties, Clicking on Options, and selecting your recovery model from the drop down menu. This can be tedious though if you have multiple databases. Some web servers have 50 plus databases. Do you want to manually change each one? I didn’t think so!

Below is a simple T-SQL script you can run to change all of your databases to the the recovery model of choice!

USE master

GO

— Declare a variable to store the value [database name] returned by FETCH.

DECLARE @dbname sysname, @cmd varchar(1000)

— Declare a cursor to iterate through the list of databases

DECLARE db_recovery_cursor CURSOR FOR

SELECT name from sysdatabases

— Open the cursor

OPEN db_recovery_cursor

— Perform the first fetch and store the value in a variable.

FETCH NEXT FROM db_recovery_cursor INTO @dbname

— loop through cursor until no more records fetched

WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0

BEGIN

IF (SELECT DATABASEPROPERTYEX(@dbname,’RECOVERY’)) <> ‘<RECOVERYMODEL>’ and @dbName <> ‘tempdb’ BEGIN

— create the alter database command for each database

SET @cmd = ‘ALTER DATABASE "’ + @dbname + ‘" SET RECOVERY <RECOVERYMODEL>’

— alter each dataabase setting the recovery model to <RECOVERYMODEL>

EXEC(@cmd)

PRINT @dbname

end

FETCH NEXT FROM db_recovery_cursor INTO @dbname

END

— close the cursor and deallocate memory used by cursor

CLOSE db_recovery_cursor

DEALLOCATE db_recovery_cursor

NOTE: Replace <RECOVERYMODEL> with your model of choice (I.E. SIMPLE, BULK-LOGGED, FULL)

What recovery model do you use on your servers in your environment? Why? Hit us up in the comments!

Google would love a world where everyone is online all the time. In fact, it’s basing all of its strategies on this. We’re not quite there yet, so, in the meantime, it’s working on making its services available when offline. Gmail makes it possible to work offline with a Google Gears version of the service that has been available since earlier this year. But it’s not a complete stand-in for the regular version and one of the most requested features has been the ability to send offline attachments, something Google has finally introduced.

“One of the most requested features for Offline Gmail has been the ability to include attachments in messages composed while offline. Starting today, attachments work just the way you would expect them to whether you are online or offline (with the exception that when you’re offline you won’t be able to include inline images). Just add the attachment and send your message,” Andy Palay, software engineer at Google, wrote.

First things first, if you want to send offline attachments, you need to enable offline access in Gmail. Before you can enable the Labs feature, you need to have Google Gears installed for your browser, which you can get here. Gears is built into Google Chrome, so you can skip this step if you use this browser. Then, go to the Labs tab in the Gmai… (read more)

Guests Diana Falzone, Carrie Keagan, Jim Norton, John Bolton and Dr. Michael Baden discuss why smoking is bad for your computer.

Add this to your queue
Added: Wed Nov 25 06:45:05 UTC 2009
Air date: Tue Nov 24 00:00:00 UTC 2009
Duration: 43:41

 Guerrilla Games will celebrate the fifth year anniversary of their highly successful Killzone franchise this November 26 by temporarily slashing…

LUSH Handmade Cosmetics prides themselves on selling “naked” products. 65% of their products are sold without packaging, making them more environmentally friendly. Furthermore, Lush is against animal testing, as you would expect.

Our Core Beliefs
We believe in making effective products from fresh, organic* fruit and vegetables, the finest essential oils and safe synthetics.

We invent our own products and fragrances. We make them fresh by hand using little or no preservative or packaging, using only vegetarian ingredients, and tell you when they were made.

We believe in buying ingredients only from companies that do not commission tests on animals and in testing our products on humans.

We believe in happy people making happy soap, putting our faces on our products and making our mums proud.

We believe in long candlelit baths, sharing showers, massage, filling the world with perfume and in the right to make mistakes, lose everything and start again.

We believe our products are good value, that we should make a profit and that the customer is always right.

* We also believe words like fresh and organic have honest meaning beyond marketing.

I’ve tried out two LUSH products:

Breath of Fresh Air Toner by LUSH: This is a nice skin toner that “tones without tightness”. It’s not my all time favorite toner, but I do like it. Perhaps it is the hint of patchouli that reminds me of my Dead tour days. I like that this product uses sea water as an ingredient.

Vanilla in the Mist Body Soap by LUSH: I’m a big vanilla fan, and I love this soap. It actually uses real vanilla pods to create a wonderful scent. Lush is also “the only cosmetics company in the world using a palm-free soap base, but we’re happy to share the formula with other cosmetics companies (we’ve already done so) so they can make the switch away from palm!”

Disclosure: We were sent the above described products to test in order to write this review. No advance assurances were given as to whether the review would be positive or negative.

6 p.m. “Today We Have the Power” produced by Christopher Timm, at University of Washington, Johnson Hall. Click here for more information.

7 p.m. “Nov 30, 2009: Ten Years to the Day that Seattle Shut Down the WTO”. Eric Holtz-Gimenez, Executive Director of Food First-Institute Food and Development Policy, Author of ‘Food Rebellions: Crisis and the Hunger for Justice’-at the University of WA, Gould Hall, on the corner of NE 40th St. and 15th Ave NE-Admission free of charge

5:45 p.m. – 7:45 p.m.  N30: 10 year anniversary – The BATTLE in SEATTLE. Commemorate the 10 year anniversary of the “Battle in Seattle” Through International Solidarity, Foods, Arts, Multi-media and being involved in the struggle….After 10 years…Now What? Beacon Hill Library 2821 Beacon Ave, Seattle , WA, Sponsored by: Philippine US-Solidarity, No to WTO / People’s Assembly, International League of Peoples’ Struggle, Bailout the People Movement-Seattleand BAYAN-USA.  For info, email: [email protected]

8 p.m. “The Whole World Was Watching,” a new half hour program on KCTS Channel 9 Seattle produced by John de Graaf

Thirteen yards and two minutes away from Big Game immortality, Stanford looked poised to beat the Golden Bears in a thrilling 35-34 victory at a filled-to-capacity Stanford Stadium. But Cal linebacker Mike Mohamed had other plans.

The Bears junior stepped in front of an Andrew Luck pass on second down with just a minute and a half remaining, sending the Cal fan section into a fury and leaving the majority of the 50,000 fans in attendance shellshocked. Mohamed’s play allowed the Bears to return home with the Axe as they defeated the Cardinal in thrilling fashion, 34-28.

“It wasn’t a good enough throw,” said a disappointed Luck after the game. “I wish I had that one back. I could have done a lot of different things.”

“We’ve heard a lot of talk about, ‘Oh, they’re going to go to the Rose Bowl,’  Mohamed told media after the game. “We felt like they were overlooking us a little bit. For us to come out and to prove all these guys wrong, it feels good.”

The tough loss overshadowed another stalwart performance from senior running back Toby Gerhart, who rushed for 136 yards and four touchdowns. His 29-yard reception to get the Cardinal down to the 13-yard line was Heisman-esque, as he bulldozed at least three or four Cal defenders through what appeared to be sheer will.

The story of the game wasn’t Gerhart’s performance, however, but that of backup Bears running back Shane Vereen. Replacing the injured Jahvid Best for the second game in a row, Vereen and the Cal offensive controlled the majority of Saturday’s game–the sophomore rushed for 193 yards and three touchdowns on an astounding 42 carries.

“I didn’t even realize he had 42 [carries],” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. “He’s a great kid. The way he’s performed the past two weeks has been awesome.”
Vereen got plenty of help from his teammates, too. Coming into the game as a significant underdog, the Bears played one of their best games of the year in shutting down Stanford’s heralded freshman quarterback: Luck probably had his worst game of the year, completing just 10-of-30 passes for 157 yards and committing that crucial interception. Cal quarterback Kevin Riley, who has received criticism from fans and media alike at times this season, gave a solid showing with 235 yards on 17-of-31 passing.

Though Cal did dominate the game statistically, the Cardinal jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first half after two Gerhart touchdowns in the first quarter. The first electrified Stanford Stadium, as the running back broke a 61-yard run. The Bears’ defense tightened up from that point on though, containing Gerhart for the rest of the game and stifling Luck all day. Stanford went into halftime with a 14-10 lead, but the second half was all Bears, and the Cardinal found itself down 31-21 with less than ten minutes to go in the game.

Another Gerhart touchdown made it 31-28, and the Cardinal defense held Cal to a field goal after the Bears had great field position after a failed Stanford fourth-down attempt.  With 2:42 on the clock, Stanford would start the game’s final and decisive drive on its own 42-yard line after the Bears squib-kicked to prevent a return from the ever-dangerous Chris Owusu.

The 42-yard line seemed to be a perfect starting point for a storybook ending at Stanford Stadium Saturday, but it was not to be as the Bears captured the Axe for the second year in a row.

Guests Barret Swatek, Tucker Carlson, Rick Folbaum, Senator Leahy and J.P. Hasson discuss the winning ad for health care reform!

Add this to your queue
Added: Wed Nov 25 05:48:05 UTC 2009
Air date: Fri Nov 20 00:00:00 UTC 2009
Duration: 43:44

Dave talks to a woman having trouble getting her husband to take Dave’s plan seriously, and a man who is drowning in debt and still wants to tithe and wants to know what Dave thinks about it.

Add this to your queue
Added: Wed Nov 25 05:48:05 UTC 2009
Air date: Mon Nov 23 00:00:00 UTC 2009
Duration: 49:51

The NY Times has an article about the rise of online “web series” shows that are suddenly popular, noting that many brands are creating such things as a way to produce interesting content online while getting some attention for their brand. It’s yet another realization that advertising is content and content is advertising. The key point, that many say they realize (and hopefully they live up to it) is that none of this works if the content itself sucks. So they’re working on these shows with a focus on making them good and enjoyable to watch first, and including the sponsorship as a secondary part of the effort. I’m sure there may be some backlash over this idea, but it actually makes quite a lot of sense. It gets more good content out there, and helps brands get themselves noticed and remembered not for intrusive and annoying advertising, but for sponsoring something cool.

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Michelle (comment #62), get out your box of tissues because your very own copy of Buckley’s Story is on it’s way to you! We hope you enjoy this beautiful tale of just how much animals can touch our lives.

Thanks to Ingrid King for sharing her story!

Apparently the right wing crazies are up in arms again about the fact that it happens to be a Muslim holiday – Eid al-Adha. In fact Muslims have been having holidays for the past 1430 years so perhaps it’s not that big of a deal if a store like say, Best Buy, wants to acknowledge the fact.

As it turns out, this is probably the first time a retailer has sent out such Islamic holy day greetings, according to CAIR (Council on Islamic Relations). And what happened?

Vitriolic spewing by hateful narrow-minded people who have no respect for others, such as this Best Buy forum demonstrates. Why is it either Christmas or Eid. Either Hannukah or holiday? This article at Right Pundits pretty much sums up their thinking. In my opinion, exploit them all! On one hand people complain about the commercialization of [fill in holiday here] and on the other, everyone wants a piece of the action. Go ahead, sell your soul. Let companies and corporations exploit your holy day for profit and consumerist values. Of course, they should also have sent out Happy Thanksgiving ones. And maybe they did, it’s unclear. I know I haven’t seen any Eid flyers but I’ve seen so many “Thanksgiving Sale” ads that it’s hard to keep track of whether I’m supposed to wake up at 4 am or 5 am to get the big sale. What?! Do “they” really want me to get up that early to shop?! Anyway, happy Thanksgiving to all Americans, happy Eid to all Muslims and happy whatever to whomever you are and want recognition 🙂

* Thanks to John Biggs at Crunch Gear for the picture of the ad

Japan, Asia | Unusual Monuments

Measuring around 600 feet high, this unusual tower is located at the Church of Perfect Liberty headquarters in Tondabayashi. The tower stands as monument to all the perished souls of war throughout all time. Within the tower is a shrine in which all known names of the lives claimed in human conflict have been recorded on microfilm and stored in a golden container.

The structure was originally designed using clay by the church’s late second founder. Built in 1970, the newly discovered technique of ‘shotcrete’ was employed in the creation of the tower, formed by spraying concrete on to a wire netting.

Once a year, the Church of Perfect Liberty headquarters is the site of one of the world’s largest fireworks show. Every July 6th, the members celebrate the passing of their first founder with what they call the “PL Art of Fireworks”. Unlike most fireworks shows which fire around 5,000 shells, the PL show consists of around 25,000 shells fired. During the finale about 7,000 shells are shot off in unison, nearly lighting the entire sky.

Square Enix has announced that Avalanche Studios’ highly anticipated action sequel, Just Cause 2, will finally hit the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC on March …

Wired has an article about a court dismissing a lawsuit by a guy who claimed the government was spying on him. The claims sound pretty much like your run-of-the-mill tinfoil-hat-wearing paranoid, so it’s no surprise that the government tossed out the lawsuit. But, as David Kravets points out in the article, what if the government actually did put someone under 24-hour surveillance. Would there be any way to prove it? Since the government won’t admit to things like who’s on the no-fly list and still supports warrantless wiretaps, it could very easily make anyone who really is under surveillance out to be a nutcase tinfoil-hat wearing lunatic. It seems quite unlikely that was true in this case (or in most cases of such claims), but it does seem bizarre that if you really were in such a situation, proving it would be almost impossible as well.

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Alerted in part by your letters and calls, Senators have begun to express concern over the secrecy and content of ACTA, while the MPAA, RIAA and other established groups rush to reassure them that ACTA — while of course they know nothing of its actual content — will be good for business and that “transparency is a distraction”. Once again, it seems like one incumbent subset of the tech, content, and communications sector is banging the drum for ACTA while claiming to speak for creators, consumers, and everyone else affected in those large and increasingly diverse industries.

Meanwhile, from within the negotiations, it seems that the US proposals for an Internet chapter did not receive instant assent from other countries. Inside US Trade (for-pay article here) reports that the negotiators may not have successfully settled on a text for the Internet chapter of ACTA:

At the Nov. 4 to 6 negotiating round of the Anticounterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), ACTA partners reviewed the United States proposal for an Internet chapter but did not agree to adopt the language, sources said.

If pressure from the Senate successfully reveals the provisional ACTA text, what should you expect to see? Public Knowledge’s Sherwin Siy has an excellent piece on how dry diplomatic language can hide major IP changes, while Glynn Moody expands on the ratchet effect that occurs when countries decide to “harmonize” enforcement, but refuse to internationalize fair use or copyright exceptions and limitations.

The contrast between those two processes is evident in a current US Copyright Office Consultation on a proposed WIPO Treaty for the Reading Disabled, when the same groups that declared that it would be just fine that ACTA “codify best practices for enforcement” opposed attempts to codify the world’s system for the protection of the public interest, such as for copyright exceptions for the blind, visually impaired and those with reading disabilities.

In the U.S. Copyright Office’s WIPO treaty consultation, they are claiming that such a harmonization of standard copyright limitations would “begin to dismantle the existing global treaty structure of copyright law, through the adoption of an international instrument at odds with existing, longstanding and well-settled norms.” It makes one wonder: would rightsholders be as flippant about the transparency “distraction” if it was the Treaty for the Blind and Visually Impaired that was an executive instrument being negotiated in secret, and not ACTA?