Sure...you may laugh now

but when the zombies come (or Armageddon, whichever comes first), you'll want to be first in line!

http://news.yahoo.com/developer-kan-caverns-could-preserve-human-race-071249444.html

this is HUGE

Everything....everywhere.

http://news.yahoo.com/google-launches-internet-beaming-balloons-033037901.html

The face of evil

THIS.  This is what we fight against.  This is what the enemy wants: death, destruction and torture to children who have done nothing wrong. 

http://tinyurl.com/k3xr78v

To those who don't believe it exists, I defy you to call it something other that what it is: EVIL. 

TACKY...thy name is Obama

Just some of the reasons why this president is so painful...in so many ways.

Swag for the First Family from world leaders:

• England:  The Prime Minister gave Mr Obama an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet.  The unique present delighted Mr Obama because oak from the Gannet's sister ship, HMS Resolute, was carved to make a desk that has sat in the Oval Office in the White House since 1880.  Mr Brown also handed over a framed commission for HMS Resolute and a first edition of the seven-volume biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert.  In addition, Mr Brown and his wife showered gifts on the Obama children giving Sasha and Malia an outfit each from Topshop and six children's books by British authors which are shortly to be published in America. He also gave a first edition biography of Winston Churchill.  And even for Bo, the Obamas' dog, a bone-shaped chew toy adorned with a U.K. flag
• Qatar: wooden case containing a small sword
• Panama: 14-karat gold bird-shaped cufflinks
• China: blue-glazed porcelain hand figurine with a small bird in a yellow display box
• Malaysia: ornate pewter jewelry box with velvet interior
• India: white marble table top with design of inlaid blue and yellow flowers
• Mexico: green, pink, and red-beaded necklace with silver-colored leaf pendants
• Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy (the biggest spender on the list) gave Obama an Hermes golf bag worth $7,750 and Baccarat crystal statuettes of golfers. In all, the Sarkozys gave the Obamas $41,675.71 in gifts that year alone, Agence France-Presse reported.
• German Chancellor Angela Merkel also tapped into the golf theme, giving Obama a putter and training material. Guess she's sending him a message.
• Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave POTUS a basketball signed by the NBA's Toronto Raptors.
• Other gifts to Obama were more formal, including a 48-inch bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln by the artist Yuan Xikun given by former Chinese President Hu Jintao, valued at $9,800.
• The most expensive item on the list is the aforementioned art from the president of the Gabonese Republic, Ali Bongo Ondimba. It is a 14-inch blue mask sculpture by Daum on a 10-inch black and silver stand.
• As for the least expensive, the book came from President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj of Mongolia and is called "Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World," by Jack Weatherford.

 

Tacky and inappropriate gifts to world leaders FROM Obama:

• To the Prime Minister of England:  a set of DVDs. Barack Obama, the leader of the world's richest country, gave the Prime Minister a box set of 25 classic American films - a gift about as exciting as a pair of socks.  The DVD gift, perceived as cheesy, didn't even work on British DVD players. "The Fleet Street tabloids … treated this White House gaffe as practically an act of war," British-born editor Tina Brown wrote on her Daily Beast blog. The Obamas gave the Browns two models of the presidential helicopter, Marine One, to take home to sons Fraser and John.  Mrs. Brown has been praised for her well-chosen gifts for the Obama children - but Mrs Obama's gift to the Brown children appeared less thoughtful.  And if that weren't enough of a diss to our greatest ally, Great Britain, Obama also gave back a bust of Winston Churchill, which was given to us on 9/11 as a symbol of unity. He said, "No, go ahead. Take it back." I mean, like, "No, no. Seriously, let it stay here in America. You can put it in a museum." "No, no, take it." You've got to be kidding me, right? 
• The Prime Minister has not had the best of luck when receiving gifts from U.S. presidents.  He was given a fur-trimmed brown leather bomber jacket by George W. Bush during his first trip to America in the summer of 2007.  Commentators gleefully pointed out that the garment was hardly in keeping with Mr. Brown's usual sober attire of business suit and tie.
• What do you get the monarch who has everything? Michelle Obama gave Queen Elizabeth II an iPod loaded with show tunes. That rare Rodgers and Hart songbook and iPod with Broadway show tunes she gave Britain's Queen Elizabeth II? As per routine, it was selected with advice from Buckingham Palace. (The queen collects books and is fond of musicals.)  "An extremely thoughtful gift," declared lied Ann Stock, White House social secretary under President Clinton. "It's something a rare-book collector would like very much."  Queen Elizabeth's iPod also carries photos of the president's January inauguration and she'll be able to hear his inaugural address, as well as listen to Obama's 2004 speech to the Democratic National Convention.  The Obamas got a framed photo of Her Majesty.
• What did the George and Laura Bush give to the Queen when she visited in 2007? President and Mrs. Bush gave Her Majesty a bronze statuette "High Desert Princess" with a personal inscription on the bottom of the base. It is a replica of the original life size statue that is located in front of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Ft. Worth, Texas. President and Mrs. Bush gave Prince Philip an exclusive sterling silver eagle box by Tiffany & Co. with personal inscription on the inside lid.  President and Mrs. Bush also gave Their Majesties a leather presentation box filled with a collection of documents from the National Archives. One of the items was a copy of an original letter from President Roosevelt to her father, King George, written in 1938. There were also photos from previous royal visits and a DVD of the footage from the Queen's visit to the United States when she was Princess Elizabeth in 1951.
• But Obama did not disclose other gift exchanges with the Germans and the Czechs. The Czech press, however, reported that Obama received glassware from Czech first lady Livia Klausova; in return, Klausova said, she got "a nice little American vase" from the Obamas. Also, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek gave the Obamas a Czech-made Prim watch and a garnet brooch.
• His gift to Angela Merkel: copies of "The World at War" and "Schindler's List" on DVD along with a first edition of "The Diary of Anne Frank."
• Friday, June 22, 2012 - President Tacky Asks Americans For their Wedding Gifts and Birthday Gifts.  I always knew Barack Obama was a tacky many lacking style. This takes the cake.  Barack Obama is asking rather than add a gift to your bridal registry that you ask your guests to just donate to his campaign rather than give you wedding gifts.

Cloud computing - full of hot air?

This is not new or news to me, as I happen to work for a very successful tech company where one of their main business functions is cloud computing.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/29/cloud.computing.richard.stallman

Unfortunately, I also have a lot of "Google-y" stuff in my life besides the basic on line search engine.  I have a Gmail account, I'm on Google+, and my phone and tablet are both by Samsung, which is hugely tied to Google on various portable computer devices. Seems I can't win. 

And with the way things are going, you really can't go "off grid" even if you wanted to; so much is now tied together, if you happen to close one door, you risk being unable to open several others because of it.

The Big Bad NSA

Since 9/11, security in our nation (and the world) has had a pardigm shift.  Everyting and everyone now seems suspect...for some reason or another. How better to keep tabs on it all than, as this whistleblower states in this article from the (UK) Guardian:

"Over the next three years, he learned just how all-consuming the NSA's surveillance activities were, claiming 'they are intent on making every conversation and every form of behaviour in the world known to them.'"


http://tinyurl.com/pt8td5j

ONE. STEP. CLOSER

Not that you have to swear allegiance to anyone...yet...but it's just another step closer to doing so:  http://tinyurl.com/p48rhye

YES. Yes, it is.

Big Data is a new type or genre of data mining--similar to the lists that advertisers use--to gather all types of information from social media and other on line sources to see how we "tick." 

However, there's a dark side to everything, and with technology comes the possibility (actually...the imminent use of) this technology in a negative way. Remember, we're already on the slippery slope toward "tracking everything, everywhere."  And this is just another part of it:

http://news.yahoo.com/big-data-turning-government-big-brother-071009613.html

Peekaboo...EYE see you!

Interesting that they say "unlimited authority."   Well there's your problem.


http://gizmodo.com/the-nsa-is-collecting-phone-records-of-millions-of-amer-511565570