OK, I am (at long last!) about to try to do the clean install of XP promised so long ago, to fix my drive problems, ... using a bunch of the suggestions passed along by helpful cyberites out there who read and took pity on me. Yes, have saved latest Radio template too so... hope to be posting again later this evening in triumphant mood, rather than weeping into the keyboard. Wish me luck.
7:17:54 PM  #   your two cents []

Religious Sect Says It Will Announce the First Cloned Baby: A religious sect that contends space travelers created the human race by cloning themselves said that it would announce that the first cloned human baby has been born.
2:08:08 PM  #   your two cents []

Mitnick gets his ham radio license again-- and will be allowed back on the Net...
2:07:09 PM  #   your two cents []

In the shops now! A special splint for sufferers of Blackberry Thumb... [from the Shifted Librarian]
2:04:17 PM  #   your two cents []

Top 10 Unsolved Space Mysteries [Slashdot]
2:02:44 PM  #   your two cents []

My cats (with a triumphantly smug look) insisted I post this: Man's best friend is not so clever. Dogs are stupider than their owners think, according to new research from Exeter University. [Guardian Unlimited]
2:01:55 PM  #   your two cents []

The luxury of doing nothing. Yesterday was St Stephen's Day in Ireland (and Boxing Day in Britain) -- a national holiday. Often people spend the day visiting friends and drinking sherry (or something more adventurous) and eating (yet more) Christmas cake. I spent the day doing two things I really enjoy -- making a big pot of soup and reading on the sofa! Not turkey soup -- I had part of a chicken, and saved veggie scraps, and a fresh pumpkin -- so voila, pinto bean, shredded chicken and pumpkin soup from fresh chicken/veg stock, flavoured with sherry and cumin. Mmmm! Made a fire, and read for hours while nibbling on some lovely Druid chocolates (a friend's kind gift) and (not at the same time), enjoying a bottle of red. Today -- back to work -- briefly! -- as I have to write two pieces for Monday's Irish Times.

11:21:37 AM  #   your two cents []

European nations fail to reach agreement on Galileo. Disagreements by Germany and Spain have prevented the European Space Agency (ESA) from reaching an agreement on the Galileo satellite navigation system. [spacetoday.net]
11:11:59 AM  #   your two cents []

More Boing Boing Blog: Gadget alert: Ceiva digital photo frames. Costs $119.99 at Amazon after mail-in rebate. Here's a snip from the Amazon.com editorial review:

Ceiva put the future in an unassuming black picture frame with this amazingly simple yet innovative product. This Internet-enabled frame makes it so easy to receive and display digital photos that even the most tech-shy relatives will love it. The traditional frame houses an LCD screen that displays up to 20 pictures in a single-view or slide-show format. Once a day, the frame dials in to Ceiva's Web site and downloads any new photos that have been sent to you (or that you've uploaded). What's truly amazing is that it works flawlessly--it's a cutting-edge technology idea that's well executed. Link

...I have seen these in use -- Microsoft has them in their 'home of the future' out in Redmond. They're a really interesting idea -- the problem with emailed photos being that they sit in your drive and can't be displayed unless you print them out. However, unless you are looking straight on at the pic, the photos get a bit of that weird look you see on digital camera viewfinders when you see an image at an angle. Also the colours can be a bit washed out, as the review goes on to note. It's curious that it has taken this long for some awareness of this product to surface, since the frames have been commercially available for well over a year. Maybe the whole digital camera/emailed pics thing is just now getting some critical consumer mass.

10:47:40 AM  #   your two cents []

From Boing Boing Blog: Pepys' diary as blog. Ben sez: "Phil Gyford's taken the Project Gutenberg edition of Samuel Pepy's diary, and converted it into a blog - new entries every day from Jan 1st. It comes complete with space for annotations, and trackbacks, and has an RSS Feed with the complete entry inside." Link (via Ben Hammersley) ... Wow -- can you imagine Pepys blogging?! I think his diary would have been *just a little too personal* for him to put online for all to view... thus we would have had a less entertaining and blunt work than we ultimately got. But then, who knows -- maybe in our age of exhibitionism and voyeurism, Pepys would have had a field day! And would have added jpegs! 
10:37:19 AM  #   your two cents []

A High-Tech Fix for One Corner of India. An Indian politician has moved decisively to transform Hyderabad into a computer programming and pharmaceuticals hub that is trying to rival Bangalore.  [New York Times: Technology]
10:33:17 AM  #   your two cents []

Euro brings prices fear. In the first of a two-part investigation Guardian writers visit Germany to see how the euro has fared. [Guardian Unlimited]... This has been the Irish experience -- both informal and formal data show that prices did indeed rise (often 'rounded up' into euro). On the other hand, the transition was incredibly smooth and surprisingly unemotional. I was away from Ireland over the New Year transition period last year -- so left using Irish punts and returned to get euros out of the cash machine at Dublin airport. Initially I think everybody avoided using the coins as they were more confusing than the notes.

I think across the EU there's a sense of Britain having put itself outside the Union not just monetarily but psychologically -- and as well it has damaged its trade as it is far more expensive to buy UK-produced items now given Sterling's strength. I like the euro (though the notes are bland, the 1 and 2 euro coins are too similar in size, and I miss the animals on the old Irish pence coins, which were beautiful). And sure is great when you travel through Europe -- you always know the value of an item or service in any euro country compared to Ireland (not always to Ireland's benefit!).

10:24:47 AM  #   your two cents []

From The Shifted Librarian:

"15 months after the first waves, Blogging seems to prove so popular among young Iranian boys and girls that now the number of Persian (or Farsi) weblogs has jumped to more than 9,000. Almost half of them are using Blogger.com's free service and other half are using a similar but more Persian-friendly online application, created by Iranian programmers, called Persianblog.com. Tomorrow, they are gathering in a big conference hall in Tehran to meet other colleagues and bloggers and to share what they've experienced during their lovely days of a rare thing in Iranian history: absolute freedom of expression." [MetaFilter]

10:18:50 AM  #   your two cents []

Russell Baker. "Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things." [Quotes of the Day]
10:17:28 AM  #   your two cents []