Pa. town pays $75,000 in pole dancing settlement

A Pittsburgh suburb will pay $75,000 to end a federal lawsuit with a woman whom they initially barred from opening a pole dancing studio.

In October, Adams Township officials allowed Stephanie Babines to open her studio. On Friday, officials agreed to pay Babines $75,000 to cover damages and attorney’s fees and end the lawsuit she filed against them in August.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the suit on behalf of Babines saying her rights were violated when the town refused to give her an occupancy permit for her dance studio.

Town officials had argued that “Oh my You’re GORGEOUS” was a sexually oriented business that violated zoning rules. Babines is fully clothed in her pole dancing, power lap dancing and strip tease lessons.

via The Sentinel Online : News : State : Pa. town pays $75,000 in pole dancing settlement.

How long until pole dancing is accepted as an Olympic sport?

Organic computing takes a step closer

Computer processors may soon have one fundamental aspect in common with their owners – a structure composed largely of carbon, rather than silicon.

Graphene, carbon arranged in atom-thick sheets, is already known to be an excellent conductor, but electronics requires the ability to insulate too, as well as electrical properties in between those two extremes.

Now research has shown that the material can be easily modified to act as an insulator, paving the way for efficient all-carbon electronics (see our feature What happens when silicon can shrink no more?).

The semiconductor industry exploits the “whole periodic table” to manufacture its components, says Konstantin Novoselov at the University of Manchester, UK. “But what if a single material is modified so that it covers the entire spectrum needed for electronics?” Graphene could be that material, he says.

Using a single material could simplify construction and allow near-seamless interconnections between conductors and semiconductors – currently as much of a headache for the chip manufacturers as the need to constantly shrink transistors. …

via Organic computing takes a step closer – tech – 29 January 2009 – New Scientist.

NASA agent spills UFO beans

A VETERAN NASA agent who says he processed the real X-Files has come clean with the inside story on the Roswell aliens.

Joseph Richard Gutheinz Jr, a practising criminal lawyer and decorated former NASA special agent, spoke out in defence of UFO hacker Gary Mckinnon last week. Having also spent the last four years on the Texas Criminal Justice Advisory Committee on Medical and Mental Impairments, he felt qualified to call on the US government to cease its unfair hounding of the UFO hacker. But Gutheinz, it turns out, is himself a poster-boy for UFO conspiracists, just like McKinnon: he is famous for telling a mysterious tale of dead Roswell aliens being kept in Building 265 at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre where he used to work in Houston, and of a sinister government cover up. Gutheinz led a team of agents in NASA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

They worked from a secret bunker with grass and trees covering it. It had cypher doors leading to secluded rooms furnished with nothing but a desk, a lamp and a single telephone. Beyond the steel doors to the outside world, astronauts were training for Space Shuttle missions. “It was kind of a spooky building. People always wondered what went on there,” Gutheinz told The Inquirer. “Except for Mission Control, it was the most highly secured building at Johnson Space Centre.” The OIG agents were so secret that even NASA wasn’t allowed to know what they were investigating. “The joke at NASA OIG is that whoever was the producer of the X-Files picked the wrong agency, because nobody calls the FBI. They don’t trust the FBI.

What they do if they think they’ve been abducted or something like that, they used to call the criminal investigators at NASA, which is the Office of the Inspector General. “As a senior special agent I used to get these calls on a regular basis where somebody says I’ve been abducted, I’ve got a chip in my brain, there’s somebody following me around,” he said. “It’s one of the things that interested me about the Gary McKinnon story because here’s a guy who really thinks there’s UFOs, who’s going the extra step to prove it. I understood that, because I had dealt with so many of those individuals in the past,” Gutheinz added. The most prominent of those people was Jerry Alan Whittredge, who impersonated an astronaut and thought he was a CIA assassin.

He blagged his way into Mission Control, was given Space Shuttle specifications and permission to fly jets. “That was a lot of the people that we used to get calls from,” said Gutheinz. OIG agents were involved in the seven-agency investigation that caught Gary McKinnon snooping around their systems for evidence of captured UFO technology. Typically, the OIG roots out internal fraud at NASA. That’s why they have to be secret. What they don’t do is interrogate aliens.

The truth “Just so you know, so we are totally clear,” said Gutheinz. “You can dig all over the place – there is no ET at NASA.” … – theinquirer

Blindsight: Seeing by the Blind

I recall from dissecting a sheep’s brain once in a neuroanatomy class that there is a separate pathway from the eyes that goes to the place which allows you to avoid obstacles. I suspect this pathway is involved in juggling too.

…Known as selective bilateral occipital damage, TN’s unusual injury made him the subject of much interest while recovering at a hospital in Geneva. Researchers began examining him and discovered that despite his blindness, he had maintained the ability to detect emotion on a person’s face. He responded appropriately — with emotions such as joy, fear, and anger — to a variety of facial expressions. Observed activity in his amygdala — the part of the brain responsible for processing emotions — confirmed the curious results.

To further test the extent of TN’s abilities, researchers from Tilburg University in the Netherlands devised a simple yet decisive experiment: an obstacle course. They arranged boxes, chairs, and various other objects down a long hallway. The team then asked TN to navigate the course without any sort of assistance. TN was skeptical, as he required the aid of a cane and a guide to get around. But eventually, he decided to participate. Researchers recorded the result in their recent paper: “Astonishingly,” the report reads, “he negotiated [the course] perfectly and never once collided with any obstacle, as witnessed by several colleagues who applauded spontaneously when he completed the course.”

TN’s rare condition is known as blindsight. Because his stroke damaged only his visual cortex, his eyes remain functional and as a result can still gather information from his environment. He simply lacks the visual cortex to process and interpret it. Sight has changed for TN from a conscious to a largely subconscious experience. He no longer has a definitive picture of his surroundings, but he has retained an innate awareness of his position in the world. He is, to some degree, able to see without being aware that he is seeing.

The researchers explained that TN’s success indicates that “humans can sustain sophisticated visuo-spacial skills in the absence of perceptual awareness.” Similar abilities have been observed in monkeys, but TN’s is the first study of these abilities in humans. According to Beatrice de Gelder, a neuroscientist from Harvard and Tilburg, who helped conduct the study, “we see what humans can do, even with no awareness of seeing or any intentional avoidance of obstacles. It shows us the importance of these evolutionarily ancient visual paths.” … – seedmag

The Power of Light: Moving Macroscopic Amounts of Matter

Since 1970, scientists have been working with “optical tweezers” – lasers that move microscopic amounts of matter using forces originating from the light matter interaction. Now, for the first time, researchers have demonstrated that light-induced forces can move macroscopic amounts of matter, as well.

The German team, led by Jens Günster of the CiC Ceramic Institute Clausthal GmbH in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, in collaboration with researchers from the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt, Institute of Composite Structures and Adaptive Systems in Braunschweig, Germany, has recently published the achievement in a recent issue of Applied Physics Letters. The scientists described a phenomenon not yet observed: Under intense light irradiation, molten silicon powder particles (about 40 micrometers in diameter) can form macroscopic structures up to 7 mm high.

“We regard the fact that laser light can directly apply forces to a dielectric liquid on a macroscopic level as a finding of great significance,” Günster told PhysOrg.com. Those applied forces are direct, yet don’t require any physical contact with the liquid.

In experiments, the researchers used a CO2 laser to melt a pile of pure silicon powder, which has a melting temperature of 1713°C (3115°F). At its highest power output of 12 kW, the laser could melt the silicon powder almost instantaneously. However, the researchers lowered the power output to 9.6 kW to avoid excessive evaporation of the silicon. After a few minutes, most of the silicon melted into a liquid pool about 7 mm deep. Yet, before the melting, some of the partially molten silicon particles peeled off the surface, starting at the point of highest laser intensity. The matter curled into 7-mm-high protrusions parallel to the silicon’s horizontal surface, forming against gravity and surface tension, and even surviving the liquid state. When the scientists turned the laser off, the solid structures were preserved.

To explain this novel light-matter interaction, the researchers developed a model in which light-induced forces couple to the molten silica. They explain that, in order for light to move macroscopic amounts of matter and form surface protrusions, the material must have a low surface tension. The scientists performed the same experiment with silicon powder compacts (in which the powder particles are adhesively linked to each other by van der Waals forces, providing greater mechanical strength). But when heating the powder compacts with the laser, the researchers found that surface protrusions did not form, which is likely due to the powder compacts’ greater surface tension. …

via The Power of Light: Moving Macroscopic Amounts of Matter.

Protesters rally in Mexico City

Thousands of people in Mexico City have protested against what they say is the inadequate response by the government to growing economic problems in Mexico.

The protesters – most of them from rural areas – were angry at President Felipe Calderon’s recent move to freeze the price of petrol but not diesel.

They said the costs of running farm machinery had become prohibitive.

The country’s economy has also been hit by a fall in the amount of money sent home by Mexicans living abroad.

Remittances that Mexicans living abroad – mainly in the United States – have fallen for the first time since records began in 1995, the BBC’s Stephen Gibbs in Mexico City says.

After oil, the money is the country’s second largest source of foreign income, our correspondent says, although it represents less than 3% of Mexico’s GDP.

via BBC NEWS | Americas | Protesters rally in Mexico City.

Over 90% Emails Are Spam & Malware

Getting spam email in your inbox is everyone’s daily headache. What we did not realize till now is the magnitude of the problem. Panda Security analyzed over 430 million email messages in 2008 and the results were scary.

Out of all the email messages analyzed, 89.88% turned out to be spam and 1.11% were infected with some type of malware. In the last three months of the year, 301,000 zombie computers were activated and used for distributing spam

“For companies, spam is more than just a nuisance: It consumes bandwidth, wastes employees’ time and can even cause system malfunctions. In the end, it all results in a loss of productivity,” Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs.

Much of this spam was circulated by the extensive network of zombie computers controlled by cyber-crooks. A zombie is a computer infected by a bot, a type of malware allowing cyber criminals to control infected systems. Frequently, these computers are used as a network to drive malicious actions such as the sending of spam. Just in the last three months of the year, 301,000 zombie computers were being put into action every day.Sexual enhancements, pharmacy are among favorite subjects

With respect to the different types of spam in circulation, 32.25% of spam in 2008 was related to pharmaceutical products with sexual performance enhancers accounting for 20.5%.

Spam relating to the economic situation also grew significantly throughout 2008. False job offers and fraudulent diplomas accounted for 2.75% of all junk mail in the year, while messages promoting mortgages and fake loans were responsible for 4.75%.

Spam promoting fake brand products was responsible for 16.75% of the total. This last category nevertheless, dropped from 21% in the first half of the year to 12.5% in the last six months.

Source: CXOToday

via Techtree.com India > News > Internet > Over 90% Emails Are Spam & Malware.

Treat spammers as cyber terrorists and clean them up. The FBI could do that, I think, if they were directed to.

Jason Mraz: Saturday Night Live Videos

Here are some videos of our friend Jason on SNL last night. Here are some low-fi captures:

You are using the Firefox browser with the Video DownloadHelper add on that lets you download videos, right?

NBC might get most posted videos pulled down.  They don’t seem to have their own posted. Here are some uncensored reviews of the SNL show itself.

I wrote and sang a song with a cheerleader at my high school graduation and got in the local newspaper, but even there I was no Jason Mraz: He WAS a cheerleader.

There are many vids of various quality on Photobucket, but I haven’t found SNL yet. Some good stuff, however, like this version of  Geek in the Pink where you can actually hear all the lyrics clearly.

Jason Mraz

Jason Mraz is a popular Virginia-born pop singer-songwriter, whose debut single “The Remedy (I Won’t Worry)” became a hit in 2002. That song, along with his second single, “I’ll Do Anything” helped push the album to platinum status by 2004.

Fast Facts

1. Full name: Jason Thomas Mraz
2. Born: June 23, 1977
3. Birthplace: Mechanicsville, VA
4. Career: 1999 – present
5. Studio Albums: 3
6. San Diego Music Awards: 3
7. Dated Tristan Prettyman
8. Supports bootlegging of his shows
9. Was a cheerleader in high school¹
10. Musical Guest for SNL on January 31, 2009

Seven Years Healing Cavities Without Dentists

Don’t get me wrong. A dentist can save your life.  I’m not advocating avoiding dentists. I’m just pointing out that you can heal (all?) dental cavities without a dentist. I’ve healed nine diagnosed cavities which two different dentists said needed fillings.

I just had a full set of dental x-rays and an exploratory exam and I have no cavities. I was expecting some.  Something I did between December 4, 2007 and January 31, 2009 made four cavities vanish. This time I tried Oravive when I had sensitivity in addition to a good diet. I was unable to get NovaMin without the other ingredients in the Oravive toothpaste, so I used it sparingly.

This is the second time involving four different dentists that I have verified this phenomena of healing four of five cavities on my own.  In 2001-2002 I had a similar experience where I started with 10 cavities and healed five cavities after doing some research and following my recommendations here.

How to Get an Independent Opinion

Part of this experiment in self dental care involves some “forgetfulness” on my part. What I mean is, I suspect due to my personal experiences that if one dentist says you have a cavity and a new dentist finds out the previous dentist said this, then you still have the cavity with the new dentist, no matter what the x-rays say, no matter what the exam shows.  In this most recent case, they lost my dental records from 2007 and I forgot to tell them that I had some diagnosed unfilled cavities from my last visit (same office, same x-ray machine, different dentist). Based on a past letter from a dentist, I believe they are concerned that they will be sued for unnecessary drilling, filling and billing.  In the 2001-2002 case, I went to a new dentist in another town and said I had not been to a dentist in years and couldn’t remember the last one. Forgetfulness has gotten me unbiased checkups of my current condition.

For various concrete reasons relating to my own case, I do not believe either dentist was “making up cavities”. I really had them, and really healed them. Remineralization occurred over many months due to diet and anti-bacterial efforts on my part. (See my article.)

Disclaimer: If a cavity is deep, black or painful or if you have any problems with your gums, see a dentist. An infection in your teeth can get into your blood, damage your heart, and kill you. Get regular check ups and find a dentist who uses digital x-rays. They are much sharper and use much less radiation.

Warning: Ozone Creating Air Purifiers, Don’t Do it. Plants: Yes.

I got an ozone producing air purifier to fight cigarette smoke. After a bit more research (see below), I’m taking it back. I’m going to go with plants instead. (see below). They work and produce real oxygen. I picked up my first Dracaena tonight.

Is breathing ozone air from air purifiers good or bad for your health?

Well, that depends on who you’re listening to. If you listen to the ozone air purifier salesman, he’ll claim that breathing ozone air from air purifiers is “good” and safe.

However, if you listen to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Consumer Reports, the answer is definitely “bad!” As far as the experts are concerned, breathing ozone air from air purifiers is harmful to human health. Here’s why.

Ozone is an irritant and breathing it in can worsen asthma and cause coughing, wheezing and chest pains. It also deadens your sense of smell, raises your sensitivity to pollen and mold and may even be responsible for permanent lung damage.

In fact, Consumer Reports, the EPA, Canada and some U.S. states have issued warnings against ozone from air purifiers. For example, California warns, “People should avoid using indoor air cleaning devices that produce ozone.”

Ozone is a highly effective killer that oxidizes whatever it comes into contact with. Sure, ozone kills bacteria and mold, but it’s also the same molecule responsible for the free radicals that can cause heart disease, cancer and premature aging.

Now, I’m not saying that breathing ozone air from air purifiers will kill you, but ozone is definitely not something you want to voluntarily breathe into your lungs. There’s just too much evidence against it.

However, ozone generator marketers say their machines are approved by the government. That’s simply not true. Air purifiers fall into a bureaucratic crack where there are no regulations. According to the EPA, a registration number on the packaging “does NOT imply EPA endorsement or suggest in any way that the EPA has found the product to be either safe or effective.”

Another sales pitch is that you can keep an ozone air purifier on low and only turn it up until you smell a “fresh laundry odor.” But as you breathe it in, you quickly become desensitized to the ozone smell. And keeping the setting on low, doesn’t eliminate the problem, it only makes the air from an ozone air purifier a little less dangerous.

How do these marketers get away with making such outrageous claims? Easy! Since ozone generators have no regulation, salespeople can say anything and everything they want, in order to sell their product. There’s no one to stop them.

As you can see, you should be concerned about breathing ozone air from air purifiers. There are other safer more effective choices available.

When you consider all the options, a HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) purifier with an additional activated charcoal filter is your best option. The HEPA system combined with a charcoal filter works like a sponge soaking up offensive cooking, tobacco and pet odors, as well as being 99.9% effective at eliminating airborne allergens down to 0.3 microns in size. That’s small. There are over 600 microns in the period at the end of this sentence.

A HEPA system with a charcoal filter provides the best benefits, with no risk of breathing ozone air from air purifiers. – ezinearticles

First, a review of scientific research shows that, for many of the chemicals commonly found in indoor environments, the reaction process with ozone may take months or years (Boeniger, 1995). For all practical purposes, ozone does not react at all with such chemicals. And contrary to specific claims by some vendors, ozone generators are not effective in removing carbon monoxide (Salls, 1927; Shaughnessy et al., 1994) or formaldehyde (Esswein and Boeniger, 1994).
Second, for many of the chemicals with which ozone does readily react, the reaction can form a variety of harmful or irritating by-products (Weschler et al., 1992a, 1992b, 1996; Zhang and Lioy, 1994). For example, in a laboratory experiment that mixed ozone with chemicals from new carpet, ozone reduced many of these chemicals, including those which can produce new carpet odor. However, in the process, the reaction produced a variety of aldehydes, and the total concentration of organic chemicals in the air increased rather than decreased after the introduction of ozone (Weschler, et. al., 1992b). In addition to aldehydes, ozone may also increase indoor concentrations of formic acid (Zhang and Lioy, 1994), both of which can irritate the lungs if produced in sufficient amounts. Some of the potential by-products produced by ozone’s reactions with other chemicals are themselves very reactive and capable of producing irritating and corrosive by-products (Weschler and Shields, 1996, 1997a, 1997b). – epa

Many useful things have come from NASA. This one is better than Tang. This is an older study but still one I think more people should know about.

NASA Study House Plants Clean Air

In the late 1980s, a study by NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) resulted in excellent news for homeowners and office workers everywhere. The study concluded that common houseplants such as bamboo palms and spider plants not only make indoor spaces more attractive, they also help to purify the air!

The study was conducted by Dr. B.C. Wolverton, Anne Johnson, and Keith Bounds in 1989. While it was originally intended to find ways to purify the air for extended stays in orbiting space stations, the study proved to have implications on Earth as well. – cg

Common indoor plants may provide a valuable weapon in the fight against rising levels of indoor air pollution.

Those plants in your office or home are not only decorative, but NASA scientists are finding them to be surprisingly useful in absorbing potentially harmful gases and cleaning the air inside modern buildings.  … NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) have announced the findings of a 2-year study that suggest a sophisticated pollution-absorbing device: the common indoor plant may provide a natural way of helping combat “SICK BUILDING SYNDROME”.

While more research is needed, Wolverton says the study has shown that common indoor landscaping plants can remove certain pollutants from the indoor environment. “We feel that future results will provide an even stronger argument that common indoor landscaping plants can be a very effective part of a system used to provide pollution free homes and work places, ” he concludes.

Each plant type was placed in sealed, Plexiglas chambers in which chemicals were injected. Philodendron, spider plant and the golden pothos were labeled the most effective in removing formaldehyde molecules. Flowering plants such as gerbera daisy and chrysanthemums were rated superior in removing benzene from the chamber atmosphere. Other good performers are Dracaena Massangeana, Spathiphyllum, and Golden Pothos. “Plants take substances out of the air through the tiny openings in their leaves,” Wolverton said. “But research in our laboratories has determined that plant leaves, roots and soil bacteria are all important in removing trace levels of toxic vapors”.

“Combining nature with technology can increase the effectiveness of plants in removing air pollutants,” he said. “A living air cleaner is created by combining activated carbon and a fan with a potted plant. The roots of the plant grow right in the carbon and slowly degrade the chemicals absorbed there,” Wolverton explains.

NASA research has consistently shown that living, green and flowering plants can remove several toxic chemicals from the air in building interiors. You can use plants in your home or office to improve the quality of the air to make it a more pleasant place to live and work – where people feel better, perform better, any enjoy life more. – zone10

TOP 10 plants most effective in removing: formaldehyde, benzene, and carbon monoxide from the air:

Common Name	Scientific Name
Bamboo Palm	Chamaedorea Seifritzii
Chinese Evergreen	Aglaonema Modestum
English Ivy	Hedera Helix
Gerbera Daisy	Gerbera Jamesonii
Janet Craig	Dracaena “Janet Craig”
Marginata	Dracaena Marginata
Mass cane/Corn Plant	Dracaena Massangeana
Mother-in-Law’s Tongue	Sansevieria Laurentii
Pot Mum	Chrysantheium morifolium
Peace Lily	Spathiphyllum “Mauna Loa”
Warneckii	Dracaena “Warneckii”

For an average home of under 2,000 square feet, the study recommends using at least fifteen samples of a good variety of these common houseplants to help improve air quality. They also recommend that the plants be grown in six inch containers or larger.

Here is a list of resources for more information on this important study:

PDF files of the NASA studies related to plants and air quality: here, here

List of NASA studies related to treating a variety of air and waterborne pollutants with plants: here

- cag