August 2006 Archives

When did libraries stop being quiet places to research and/or study? I've been to two in the last week and both had noise levels comparable to that of a coffee shop. Now don't get me wrong, I liked the fact that there were many people at the libraries visited. I see this as validation of the thriving nature of the community. However, allowing kids to run around or having full blown conversation for everyone around you to hear is a bit much.

There is nothing wrong with my Olympus Camedia C-3000 Zoom Digital Camera. But I have had it for over 4 years, and I think its time to trade up for something smaller and sleeker. Something that I can carry around everyday. However, after days of research, I can't decide which camera to purchase. I came close to purchasing both the Olympus mju 700 and EXILIM Card EX-S770 but didn't complete the transaction for either as I'm not completely convinced that they are the right camera for me. So for those of you out there that take lots of pictures and recently research and/or purchased a compact digital camera, I'd welcome your suggestions.

Despite the cheap tickets on offer with Ryanair from London to many popular European destinations, I have not flown with this airline because I have no desire to be herded like cattle. And from reading article below, it looks like I have yet another reason to not fly with this airline. It's bad enough that on the commute to and from work I have to listen to many self absorbed twats talk nonstop on their mobile phones, I can't imagine having to suffer such a faith on a 2/3 hour plane ride. So here's hoping that the other major airlines don't follow suit.

Ryanair to allow mobile calls 30,000ft up
London Times, August 30 2006, By Mark Frary
Passengers will soon be able to use their own mobile phones and BlackBerrys on board Ryanair flights.

In a deal announced today, the airline has said it will install technology developed by Geneva-based OnAir, a joint venture between aircraft manufacturer Airbus and aviation technology firm SITA, on its entire fleet of Boeing 737s starting from mid-2007. Some 50 aircraft are expected to have the system installed within six months of the launch.

Announcing the deal in typical fashion, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said: "Ryanair will soon enable passengers to use their mobile phones and electronic communications devices in the air, just as they do on the ground. That means they will be able to pass on the good news to workmates, friends and family that they are travelling on another on-time flight with Europe's most punctual airline."

However, one important barrier remains for OnAir to overcome - the technology has not yet been approved by the regulatory authorities, although the firm is confident this will happen.

One of the issues that regulators will be wrestling with is interference with ground-based mobile phone networks. OnAir's system is installed in the ceiling of the aircraft and detects a passenger's mobile phone within seconds of it being turned on. The system then instructs the mobile phone to switch to a low power mode within nanoseconds which means it should not interfere with ground networks.

Sometimes I think I moved to the city straight out of George Orwell's novel: Nineteen Eighty-Four. There are cameras all over London and based on report below, it looks like there are now spy bugs in the trash bins.

Germans plant bugs in our wheelie bins
By MARTIN DELGADO and HANNAH CLEAVER, The Mail on Sunday
Last updated at 22:55pm on 26th August 2006
Electronic spy 'bugs' have been secretly planted in hundreds of thousands of household wheelie bins.

The gadgets - mostly installed by companies based in Germany - transmit information about the contents of the bins to a central database which then keeps records on the waste disposal habits of each individual address.

Already some 500,000 bins in council districts across England have been fitted with the bugs - with nearly all areas expected to follow suit within the next couple of years.

Until now, the majority of bins have been altered without the knowledge of their owners. In many cases, councils which ordered the installation of the devices did not even debate the proposals publicly.

The official reason for the bugs is to 'improve efficiency' and settle disputes between neighbours over wheelie-bin ownership. But experts say the technology is actually intended to enable councils to impose fines on householders who exceed limits on the amount of non-recyclable waste they put out. New powers for councils to do this are expected to be introduced by the Government shortly.

Last year I went to the Notting Hill Carnival by myself. I had only been in London a few months, and none of the people I knew wanted to go. However, this year, things were much different. I actually went with a group almost 20 members strong. It was a bit challenging in a crowd of a half million for us to stick together, but we somehow managed not to loose too many people. That said, calling the first day (typically a Sunday) Children's Day is a bit of a joke. The floats are not as impressive as on the second day, and more importantly, there are just too many people, and most are there to have a good time. That means lots of drinking; so not the best environment for children. I myself only had 1 rum punch which left me buzzed well into the night. I know, lame huh? But that's me these days. I hardly ever drink alcoholic drinks. In any event, if you want to see the evidence of the good times had yesterday, check out my flickr pictures from the event.

For anyone curious about the books in my growing library, you can review my catalog at LibraryThing.

August has not yet ended, and Harrods launched its Christmas World department earlier this month. What the f@$K? I can't believe that many people are actually wanting to think about Christmas at this time of year.

Humor is often the best remedy when things get a bit intense re terrorist activities.

The British are feeling the pinch in relation to recent bombings and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved'. Soon though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross". Londoners have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorised from "Tiresome" to a "Bloody Nuisance". The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was during the great fire of 1666.

Also, the French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide". The only two higher levels in France are "Surrender" and "Collaborate". The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country's military capability.

It's not only the English and French that are on a heightened level of alert. Italy has increased the alert level from "shout loudly and excitedly" to "elaborate military posturing". Two more levels remain, "ineffective combat operations" and "change sides". The Germans also increased their alert state from "disdainful arrogance" to "dress in uniform and sing marching songs". They have two higher levels: "invade a neighbour" and "lose".

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual, and the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

For anyone offended or not finding the humor in this joke, you can blame my French colleague who forwarded it on. I have no idea where she got it from.

From previews, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip appears to be a more intense version of Sports Night. Thus, it’s good to see that I won't have to wait for the show to do well in the States before it’s shown here in the UK. According to Wikipedia, More4 has the rights to broadcast simultaneously in the UK. Yippee!!

It's sad, but I'm not really surprised that the wealthier a woman gets, the more likelihood that her marriage will end in divorce -- particularly if her wages catch up and surpass that of her husband.

The Sunday Times, August 20, 2006
Wealthy women set the pace in divorce stakes
Roger Dobson
ThE richer a woman becomes, the more likely she is to divorce her husband, new research has found. The findings suggest a marriage becomes destabilised not simply because a woman’s income has risen, but because her success starts to outstrip that of her husband.

According to the researchers, this may be because the balance of power shifts, making the woman less likely to accept being lumbered with most of the household chores and increasing the chances of rows.

Another reason may be that a woman’s greater earning power makes her more confident that it will be financially viable to leave her husband and pay a good divorce lawyer.

“Greater financial independence clearly makes the decision to divorce much simpler,” says the study by Randall Kesselring, an economics professor. “It also appears that a female’s economic success may, indeed, cause friction within the family.” Kesselring cites “fragile male egos” reacting negatively to women’s raised status as an additional source of tension.

Kesselring, professor of economics at Arkansas State University in the United States, reached his conclusions after examining the finances of 112,740 women, of whom 16,760 were divorced and 95,980 married.

In the year 2006, you would think that potential American presidential nominees would keep their racist thoughts to themselves. Apparently not!

The Sunday Times, London, August 20th 2006
Republican golden boy trips up on a single taboo word
Sarah Baxter, Washington
JUST as the spelling of “potatoe” on a visit to a school finished Dan Quayle’s career as US vice-president in 1992, so the obscure racial slur “macaca” may spell doom for George Allen, the Virginia senator who is a favourite among Republican party insiders to win the 2008 presidential nomination.

One ill-judged word can blow an entire campaign. Conservatives are wondering whether Allen uttered it last week when he rounded on a young political activist of Indian descent who was trailing him with a video camera on behalf of his Democratic opponent in this November’s Senate re- election race.

“This fellow here, over here with the yellow shirt, Macaca, or whatever his name is . . . He’s following us everywhere,” Allen said in front of an all-white crowd of Republican supporters. “Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia.”

The 20-year-old film-maker, S R Sidarth, who hails from Virginia, was no political naïf. As his grandparents pointed out proudly, his great-grandfather was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi. Nobody was quite sure what “macaca” meant but it was clear that Allen had stepped in it.

A macaque is a monkey and while the word can be used in French to describe somebody who is simply “monkeying around”, it is also an ethnic slur against north Africans. Allen claimed that he was making a playful reference to Sidarth’s “mohawk” hairstyle, but his candid camera tormentor had a full head of hair.

I hope that Spike Lee's documentary of what happened last year in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit will eventually be shown here in the UK. As I convincingly
argued while this tragic event unfolded, institutional racism, perhaps played a part -- but the bigger issue here is the widening divide between the rich and poor in America.

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

As the world watched in horror, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005. Like many who watched the unfolding drama on television news, director Spike Lee was shocked not only by the scale of the disaster, but by the slow, inept and disorganized response of the emergency and recovery effort. Lee was moved to document this modern American tragedy, a morality play witnessed by people all around the world. The result is WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE: A REQUIEM IN FOUR ACTS. The film is structured in four acts, each dealing with a different aspect of the events that preceded and followed Katrina's catastrophic passage through New Orleans. Acts I and II premiere Monday, August 21 at 9pm (ET/PT), followed by Acts III and IV on Tuesday, August 22 at 9pm. All four acts will be seen Tuesday, Aug. 29 (8:00 p.m.-midnight), the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

I am once again staring into the mirror and not sure who the person is staring back at me. It is particularly frustrating because I really don't over-eat. I don’t have bags of cookies or sweets in the food pantry. I just make really bad food choices. For example, instead of a nice salad, I'll want to have a burger with fries. I know this is just another excuse of sort, but its true and I’m feeling somewhat frustrated as I would really like to get rid of weight I've gained since moving to London. I was actually doing quiet well until April when I came down with acute-bronchitis. That put me out of commission from the gym for over a month. And it’s been hard to get back into the routine. I am taking regular Nordic walks throughout my local parks, but it’s clearly not enough. That said, I'm going to try and not beat myself up too much. I am a work in progress. However, with only four months to go before I'm on a beach in Montserrat, something must be done. And no, that does not mean another crazy diet. I'm sick of diets. I'm just going to start keeping a food journal so I can be more aware of what I'm putting into my body each day.

From diet.com

Your eating personality is Fruitless Feaster
The Fruitless Feaster enjoys a colorless, plain meat-and-potatoes type diet with the exception of the odd glass of juice or piece of fruit. Your main food choices are proteins, breads, pastas, desserts and, of course, fats. When you skip eating low-calorie, fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, you also miss out on their powerful cancer- and heart disease-fighting nutrients.

Your exercising personality is Couch Champion
Couch Champions, like so many of us, are most comfortable on the couch. You have never liked to sweat or feel the burn and don't really get why people enjoy going to the gym. Besides, all day long at work and at home, you're a productive person with a very active mind. Okay, so you know you could be in better physical shape than you are, but there's got to be a better way than having to get out the old gym bag!

Your coping personality is Emotional Eater
Emotional Eaters turn to food when they're stressed, anxious, lonely or depressed. Food is like a comforting friend who helps you feel better short-term but never really solves any of your problems. Are you ready for a new solution to help you both short- and long-term?

Almost three years ago, I posted an article from the Washington Post which highlighted the problem of men on the down-low in the black community. And now, it looks like the madness continues. As such, I continue to urge all men, -- black, white, whatever your racial background -- to really try and be honest with yourself and your chosen partners. In an age of AIDS and God knows what else, no woman should have to deal with such a secret from her partner.

Get Out of My Closet: Can you be white and "on the Down Low?"
By Benoit Denizet-Lewis
Slate, Posted Friday, Aug. 11, 2006, at 3:29 PM ET

Three years ago, I wrote a story about black men who have sex with men but don't identify as gay—or even, in many cases, as bisexual. Instead, they adopted the label Down Low and formed a vibrant but secretive subculture of DL parties, DL Internet chat rooms (Thugs4Thugs, DLBrothas), and DL sex cruising areas (parks, bathhouses). Some of the Down Low guys I met were married but had covert sex with men, while others who claimed the label only had sex with men but considered themselves much too masculine to be gay. Most equated gayness with effeminacy—and, to a lesser extent, whiteness. From their perspective, to be an effeminate black man (a "punk," a "faggot") is to not really be a black man at all.

The Down Low was a relatively new response to a very old behavior. Men of all races have long had secret sexual and romantic male relationships, complete with the usual accessories of a double life: lies, deception, and shame. But the Down Low was a uniquely African-American creation. If the closet is a stifling, lonely place for white guys who realize they're gay but aren't ready to admit it publicly, the Down Low is a VIP party for "masculine" black men who will never admit to being homosexual—because they don't see themselves that way. And while men on the DL certainly have their share of shame, among themselves it masquerades as bravado and sexual freedom: They're the ultimate pimps and players, man enough to do their girlfriend on Thursday and do their best friend, Mike, on Friday. And until 2003, most black women didn't have a clue.

But then I wrote my story, J.L. King published his memoir (On the Down Low), Oprah turned King's book into a best seller, and Law & Order devoted an episode to the subculture. The Down Low quickly ceased to be, well, on the down low. And now, in a sure sign of the DL's cultural currency, white boys—apparently unsatisfied with having co-opted hip-hop—are claiming to be on the "Down Low," too.

Had I lived in Nothing Hill, Chelsea, Soho or one of the other fabulous areas closer to London, I wouldn't have thought twice about heading out late on my birthday. But being in Wimbledon, one has to always think about getting home. Oh sure I've got options, but none are really desirable. Besides hopping on the last train from Waterloo which leaves at 12:30am, I can also catch a taxi (very expensive) or get on the night bus (really scary for a single gal). As such, when it comes time to moving, I really want to live closer to the action, and Nothing Hill would be a perfect location. However, as I am neither a super model or uber-wife in waiting, I need to come up with another plan for moving into one of those fabulous flats in the area. I could always try and hook up with a nice banker in the city, but as I want to marry for love and not money, I need to look for other options. Thus, I'm starting to seriously consider how I can turn an idea I have swirling in my head from dream to reality -- particularly since the rise of the Internet has made the barriers to entry for some new businesses so low. Oh sure, it would be hard work to get it off the ground, but not working for some giant faceless organization would also be so liberating.

I am finally starting to understand why so many white British born citizens are fleeing this country for places like New Zealand and Australia. Part of me initially thought they were running away from what makes London so great -- its multicultural diversity. However, I now realize that it goes deeper than that. I mean, who wants to live next to people who at their core don't share your same values or beliefs? Or worse yet, don't have a live and let live attitude? Surely not me! Granted it’s only a small number of Muslims, but the fact that they seem determined to destroy and reek havoc on our western way of life is just scary. As such, while I myself am not going to flee my new home city because of the increased terrorist activity, it has made me seriously reconsider whether or not I would want to bring up children here.

The Enemy Within
The Sunday Times, August 13, 2006 Few can have failed to shudder at the thought of a plot to blow up nine passenger planes and the intended mass murder of thousands of innocent people over the Atlantic. Whatever the outcome of the police investigation into a conspiracy that seems to have been stopped just in time, we should praise the alertness of Britain’s often criticised and overstretched intelligence services. Peter Clarke, deputy assistant commissioner at Scotland Yard, says at least three other serious plots by home-grown terrorists have been disrupted since last year’s July 7 attacks on the London Underground. The danger seems ever present.

It is now self-evident that there is an enemy within Britain who wants to destroy our way of life. Most of this relatively small group of fanatics are British-born Muslims who have been educated here and brought up within our tolerant democracy. Those looking for the outward signs that identify them as full of hatred would be hard-pressed to find them. Many seem all too ordinary, perhaps enthusiastic about football and cricket and living “normal” westernised existences in neat terraced houses. They work, study or run small businesses. Most show little indication that they have signed up to the distorted ideology of radical Islam, with its millennial ideology of bringing destruction to the corrupt West. As “sleepers”, they are perfect.

Why is Britain such a breeding ground for these young men, for that is what most of them are? Much can be ascribed to timidity on behalf of the authorities, wedded as they are to a multiculturalism that isolates many young men in ghettos and a reluctance to espouse British values through our schools and institutions. That appeasement was epitomised by the sanctuary offered to extremist Islamic groups in Britain — “Londonistan” — in the pathetic hope that it might offer some form of immunity from violence. The United States, with its intolerant attitude to those preaching hate, has been far more successful in integrating its Muslim citizens, offering them the ideals of patriotism and progress. Even France, which has a bigger Muslim population than Britain and has had its share of troubles with disaffected youth, has not seen the scale of Islamist treachery that we are experiencing here. MI5 believes up to 400,000 people in Britain are sympathetic to violent “jihad” around the world and that as many as 1,200 are involved in terrorist networks.

Thanks to everyone who left a birthday greeting below. I had a quiet but lovely day. I spend the morning lounging in bed, and after opening my gift to self from Tiffany's, I then headed out for a three hour Nordic walk through Wimbledon Common. This was then followed by a full body massage at the Wimbledon Esporta Club. But the best part of the day was the lengthy conversation I had with my "best guy friend." We talked about everything under the sun and it was pure mental masturbation. Plus it left with me on such a high that it almost made me forget about the fact, that despite drinking a Red Bull, I totally overslept (I was wicked tired after all that walking) and failed to get up in time to go into the city for drinks (I know -- pretty lame huh?). I suppose it was for the best, as I had plans back in the city earlier today and I almost overslept for those too. Goodness! Is this all a sign of my age? I never use to get this tired from physical activity.

I'm a year older today and overall I'm ok with that.

With the increased security at London airports, corporate travel has alerted us to the following:

All cabin baggage must be processed as hold baggage and carried in the hold of passenger aircraft departing UK airports.

Passengers may take through the airport security search point, in a single (ideally transparent) plastic carrier bag, only the following items. Nothing may be carried in pockets:

•pocket size wallets and pocket size purses plus contents (for example money, credit cards, identity cards etc (not handbags));
•travel documents essential for the journey (for example passports and travel tickets);
•prescription medicines and medical items sufficient and essential for the flight (eg, diabetic kit), except in liquid form unless verified as authentic.
•spectacles and sunglasses, without cases.
•contact lens holders, without bottles of solution.
•for those travelling with an infant: baby food, milk (the contents of each bottle must be tasted by the accompanying passenger) and sanitary items sufficient and essential for the flight (nappies, wipes, creams and nappy disposal bags).
•female sanitary items sufficient and essential for the flight, if unboxed (eg tampons, pads, towels and wipes).
•tissues (unboxed) and/or handkerchiefs
•keys (but no electrical key fobs)

All passengers must be hand searched, and their footwear and all the items they are carrying must be x-ray screened.

Pushchairs and walking aids must be x-ray screened, and only airport-provided wheelchairs may pass through the screening point.

In addition to the above, all passengers boarding flights to the USA and all the items they are carrying, including those acquired after the central screening point, must be subjected to secondary search at the boarding gate. Any liquids discovered must be removed from the passenger.

So basically, leave all your valuables at home. And for women, God forbid you should have your period while flying. I mean really, who wants to go through airport security with that stuff (i.e. sanitary napkins or tampons, etc.) in a transparent plastic bag? Definitely not me!

A couple weeks ago I had read about the new threat level system, but I hadn't really paid too much attention. That said, it looks like the terror plot announced last night by the Home Office has moved London up to the highest level.

The threat levels are:

Critical - an attack is expected imminently
Severe - an attack is highly likely
Substantial - an attack is a strong possibility
Moderate - an attack is possible but not likely
Low - an attack is unlikely

So serious is the threat, that according to our corporate travel folks:

London Heathrow airport is now closed to all incoming flights that are not already in the air until further notice. Passengers due to travel today have been advised not to travel today unless absolutely necessary.

In addition, several airlines are cancelling flights, including British Airways, Lufthansa, Iberia, Air France and KLM.

Goodness, maybe its a good thing I didn't fly off to some exotic local, to celebrate my upcoming birthday. Had I gone, I'd more than likely be flying around this time period.

Having to constantly worry about potential terrorist plots, makes flying less and less attractive.

UK airports on high alert as terrorist plot uncovered
Mark Oliver and agencies , Thursday August 10, 2006, Guardian Unlimited

A major terror plot to kill hundreds of people by detonating explosives in the cabins of passenger aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean was disrupted overnight, the home secretary, John Reid, said today.
It is believed that the plan was to cause near simultaneous explosions on around three planes from the UK travelling to the US using explosives smuggled onboard inside hand luggage.

Police have arrested around 18 people in the London and Thames Valley areas. They are described as "British-born" and were held as part of an operation which has been ongoing for several months.

I can't stop looking at this video of cat, named Frank and Louie. With two faces, he has a freakish but adorable look. So I know Choo-Choo would be just as captivated.

According to Financial Times article below, MySpace is adding more than 250,000 new users a day and will have 100 Million members by the end of the week. What the f**k? I just don't understand the big draw. Neither does Ms. Shasta who wrote about this very same subject last week. Maybe it is because we already had our own blogs long before blogs became so mainstream, but I just don't get the cultural phenomenon that is MySpace.

MySpace teams up with Google
By Aline van Duyn in New York and Richard Waters in San,Francisco
Financial Times, Published: August 8 2006

MySpace, the fast-growing "social networking" site, has teamed up with search giant Google in a multi-year search and advertising deal.

It confirms the emergence of Rupert Murdoch's internet operations as a significant new force on the web.

The rapid growth of MySpace, which is adding more than 250,000 new users a day, has turned it into one of the most attractive allies for search engines, which are seeking new online audiences for their search-related advertising.

The internet site, bought by News Corp last year for $580m (£304m) and expected to reach 100m registered users this week, will get a guaranteed $900m from Google by 2010 under the deal, which both companies said could be the start of a broader alliance.

"In one fell swoop we have paid off two-thirds of our internet investments," said Peter Chernin, News Corp's president and chief operating officer, who negotiated the deal. "We have gotten a 70 per cent premium on our MySpace investment and are now playing with house money."

The deal comes as rival US media group Viacom is considering a bid for Bebo - another social networking site which is the UK's second largest - after its failure to beat News Corp in the race for MySpace last year.

Google beat Microsoft in striking the MySpace deal. Last year, the two fought for a link with AOL, eventually won by Google after the search company agreed to invest $1bn in the business.

Google used guaranteed minimum payments early on to win over online partners to carry its advertising, a move that some insiders worried would risk bankrupting the company.

But those deals paid off as keyword advertising boomed, leaving Google with a network of third-party sites that generated $1bn in the most recent quarter, or 40 per cent of its revenues.

The rapid growth of social networking sites such as MySpace and sites dedicated to user-generated content such as YouTube has threatened to tip the balance of power on the internet away from traditional portals and search engines. It is also changing the media business, and traditional media groups are trying to enter these new areas.

Mr Murdoch has been the most aggressive with around $1.5bn of internet acquisitions.

Users of these sites increasingly want to make and change the content they watch, to get feedback about it and share it with others.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006

After reading story below, I have to thank my lucky stars that I use Google and not AOL to search for information via the Internet. Even still, I might have to reconsider my decision to keep my AOL account.

AOL's Big Privacy Blunder
ISP stuns its users and bloggers by making sensitive query data available to the general public by Jason Hahn (woowhee)

In an inexplicably foolish and potentially devastating move, America Online (AOL) released massive amounts of private data to the whole world. Sometime on Sunday it was discovered that AOL made 20 million search queries made by 650,000 of its users, along with additional information related to these queries, available to the public for download on one of its pages, which has since been taken down.

Though news sources have been virtually mute on the event so far, blogs have been quickly picking up on the news and reacting strongly. The word "boycott" has been associated with AOL in many of these posts.

The private data contains searches from these 650,000 AOL users over the course of three months (March through May) in 2006. It also includes indications of whether or not a user actually clicked on a search result, what the result was, and what rank the result held on the search results page.

Michael Arrington, the man behind the popular blog TechCrunch, says

"AOL has released very private data about its users without their permission. While the AOL username has been changed to a random ID number, the ability to analyze all searches by a single user will often lead people to easily determine who the user is, and what they are up to. The data includes personal names, addresses, social security numbers and everything else someone might type into a search box."

He elaborates on the potential consequences of this data being made available to the public by saying,
"The most serious problem is the fact that many people often search on their own name, or those of their friends and family, to see what information is available about them on the net. Combine these ego searches with porn queries and you have a serious embarrassment. Combine them with 'buy ecstasy' and you have evidence of a crime. Combine it with an address, social security number, etc., and you have an identity theft waiting to happen. The possibilities are endless."

The reason behind this seemingly absentminded move seems to be that AOL was making this information available to researchers in order to provide them with data that would give them the opportunity to be cited as the source, though there are clearly smarter ways to go about this. Before downloading the files containing the sensitive information, "Please reference the following publication when using this collection" was the request made by AOL to the downloader.

For those of you back in the States that have BBC America on your cable network, you have got to check out Little Britian. This sketch comedy show, is off the hook funny -- Eddie Murphy Saturday Night Live funny!

Little Britian Matt Lucas and David Walliams take viewers on a unique tour of the UK, from the rolling hills of England to the Scottish highlands and green valleys of Wales. Little Britain delights in all that is mad, bad, quirky, and generally eccentric about the people and places of Britain.

A few of my favorite characters include:

Daffyd: Committed 'homosexualist' Daffyd lives in the Welsh town of Llanddewi Brefi. Proud to be gay, Daffyd flaunts his sexuality in a variety of rubber outfits, to the villagers' complete indifference. He refuses to accept he's not the only 'gayer' in the village, and is outraged when fellow gays trespass on his patch.

Lou & Andy: In Herby City live Andy and his carer Lou. Lou selflessly dedicates his life to looking after wheelchair-bound Andy and Andy selfishly dedicates his life to making things as difficult as possible for Lou. What Lou doesn't know is that there's nothing wrong with Andy's legs, and whenever he turns his back, Andy's off out of his chair and gambolling about like a fat, balding, semi-naked spring lamb.

Marjorie Dawes: Marjorie Dawes is the terrifying leader of weight loss support group Fatfighters. Every week, she mercilessly belittles and humiliates the group for being so, well, fat, while all the time oblivious to her own size, and desperately trying to conceal her compulsive consumption of biscuits, crisps and any other junk she can get her hands on.

Vicky Pollard: Vicky Pollard is your common-or-garden teenage delinquent, the sort you can see hanging around any number of off licences in Britain, trying to persuade people going inside to buy them 10 fags and a bottle of White Lightening. Whether nicking stuff from the supermarket or swapping her baby for a Westlife CD, Vicky reacts to any accusation with indignant outrage, while filling you in on 'this fing wot you know nuffin about'.

Sebastian & Michael: Sebastian is the Prime Minister's aide, and loves him deeply. Clingy, bitchy and insanely jealous, Sebastian wants nothing more than to have the Prime Minister all to himself. The Prime Minister only just tolerates Sebastian's erratic behaviour, but is largely oblivious to his aide's obsession - even when Sebastian is forcibly slow-dancing with him to Careless Whisper.

Funny stuff I tell you! Real funny stuff!

I've been thinking about canceling my AOL account which I've had since back in the days when they charged by the minute -- particularly since I use a local broadband provider to connect to the Internet. But I've begrudging continued to pay so that I wouldn't have to give my email address or IM handle. But it looks like I'll soon no longer have to pay for that privilege. Particularly since come this fall, AOL will stop charging folks to use their service.

Dear AOL Member,

I want to let you know about some exciting changes happening at AOL. Our service has always been an all-in-one solution for our members, consisting of:
Connectivity - a way of connecting to the Internet (through a dial-up or high-speed connection), and

Content and Services - bringing you useful tools and features like email, security and an entertaining online experience once you're connected.
Today we are announcing that AOL's software, email, and other compelling AOL features will be free to everyone who has an Internet connection -- including your Address Book, Screen Name, the Buddy List® feature and more. AOL will continue to provide a dial-up connection for you, and we will continue to offer several reliable and affordable options for getting online.

For the first time since turning 30, I am not dreading my upcoming birthday. In years past, each new birthday would lead me to think about all my personal and professional failings. But not this year! I suppose it has something to do with me being in one of the greatest cities in the world. More importantly, I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm finally internalizing and acknowledging that I have accomplished quite a bit in my life so far. In addition, I've got a plan for the future so as long as I execute accordingly, other life goals will be accomplished in due. It also doesn't hurt that in the past week, three people have shaved off at least a decade when guessing my age. For example, last Friday while purchasing the movie Secretary at Woolworths, the sales clerk wanted me to show proof that I was over 18 years old. In her words, “I have a really young face.” All of this lead to fits of laughter and totally made my day -- really week!