Prostitute Retraining Program

US News and World Report has a feature this week on things other countries do better than the United States. Along with the usual suspects--bike paths in Berlin and Amsterdam, healthy eating habits in Japan, universal health care in the United Kingdom--is this entry about Germany:
Life is hard for German hookers these days. Sex work was legalized in 2002, and the red-light districts have become increasingly competitive since. Even in the best of times, prostitution is a career seriously lacking in long-term potential.
So when the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia announced a pilot employment program for women of the night, there was a lot of interest. "We wanted to help them find a market where there's a future," says Rita Kuehn, director of the program known as ProFridA.
Specifically, the 50-some participants are being retrained as elder-care workers. It makes perfect sense, says Kuehn, without irony. "Prostitutes have already learned to get along with people, and they're usually very good listeners," she says.

Visa for travel to India

I am planning a business trip to Bangalore, India and Beijing, China and just received some paperwork from the travel folks putting it together. Here's info about the Visa application for India:

7. OTHER: The application must list the father’s/husband’s name, whether the applicant is male or female. Without this information, the paperwork will be rejected.

I do appreciate that this is regardless of whether the applicant is male of female. I wonder what happens if a gay guy lists his husband? I'm thinking they don't get to visit India... Heh.

A lying politician?

Shocking!

Tom DeLay was on Hardball today pitching his new book.

Chris Matthews quotes him from the book saying that he called dick Armey "drunk with ambition." DeLay denies it. Matthews finds the quote and reads it to him. He still denies it. Matthews hands him the book and tells him to read it himself. DeLay says "I don't have my glasses on."




I was playing around

after reading a friend's blog today and I went to Google and searched on "Amy". And look what it said!

(My mother's going to be so proud...)

Kooky Kitty

Okay, I admit that I am not a cat person - don't know a lot about them, but seriously people...if a cat is making that "I'm possessed and not of this planet" noise, don't you just put it down?

Give 'em Hell

Yesterday, Democratic Rep. John Murtha gave it to Republican Rep. Jerry Lewis when he tried to remove a provision that would require troops to be appropriately equipped and trained from the Iraq appropriations bill.

Note the name of who posted the video on YouTube... :-)

Spring in Redmond


Apparently, pink and purple things bloom first. Posted a bunch of new pix of Ken's visit, Sonics game and views from around work.

More great deals courtesy of Gizmodo


Well, I read about them in Gizmodo. Anyways, I don't know how many of you have met my mom, but for the sake of the point I'm attempting to make, keep in mind that she has a force field that causes all electronic gadgets she comes in contact with to stop working. Pretty much everything other than light switch seems to be affected.

Then, there's the confusion factor. I think that if you don't know what the Pause button on your remote control looks like, you shouldn't be allowed to drive the remote.

She came to visit me a while ago and picked up my Harmony remote and was able to start the tv, tivo, etc etc etc and change channels 'n stuff. May not sound like a lot to you, but this is huge!

Harmony remotes require some programming, but you end up with a screen that says "Watch TV", "Watch DVDs", "Play XBox" (or whatever you have configured it to say/do). When you select the appropriate option, it starts all of the associated hardware (tv, stereo receiver, Xbox, TiVo, etc.) and sets it to the right settings (input/output, etc.). You plug it into your PC via a USB port and tell it what devices you have (manufacturer, type, etc.) and it downloads all the remote settings. You tell it that you want to use the stereo instead of the tv for sound and it configures that all properly. It's super-cool. If you have a home theatre, you must have this remote. And if you have multiple devices (you know, like a stereo and a DVD player and a tv), you really should consider getting one.

And, based on my techo-killer-mama's experience, it's easy to use.

Anyways, Amazon is having a sale on Harmony remotes (I have the Harmony 880, btw). They have the Harmony 659 for $77 after $113 of instant savings. Other available remotes include the Harmony 550 for $80 after $50 of savings, the Harmony 880 for $155 after $95 of instant savings and the Harmony 890 for $233 after $167 of instant savings.

Refurbished iPod deals


Thanks Gizmodo!


• iPod shuffle 1GB - Silver (current generation) for $79 - $20 = $59.

• iPod shuffle 1GB - White (previous generation) for $149 - $100 = $49.

• iPod nano 2GB - Silver (current generation) for $149 - $30 = $119.

• iPod nano 4GB - (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition, Silver, Green, Blue or Pink (current generation) for $199 - $30 = $169.

• iPod nano 8GB - (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition or Black (current generation) for $249 - $40 = $209.

• iPod nano 1GB - White (previous generation) for $149 - $70 = $79.

• iPod nano 4GB - White (previous generation) for $249 - $100 = $149.

• iPod 30GB - Black or White (current generation) for $249 - $40 = $209.• iPod 80GB - Black or White (current generation) for $349 - $50 = $299.

• iPod 30GB - Black or White (previous generation) for $299 - $80 = $179.

• iPod 60GB - Black or White (previous generation) for $399 - $170 = $229.

I love Knut

My friend Volker sent this to me. It's in German, but it so doesn't matter...

Knut is a polar bear baby that was rejected by its mother. Now he is growing up with a human.

For geeks only

This page was supposedly written by a parent whose child became a hacker warning others...it's incredibly clueless and hysterical. Below are my favorite parts:

3. Has your child asked for new hardware?

Computer hackers are often limited by conventional computer hardware. They may request "faster" video cards, and larger hard drives, or even more memory. If your son starts requesting these devices, it is possible that he has a legitimate need. You can best ensure that you are buying legal, trustworthy hardware by only buying replacement parts from your computer's manufacturer.

If your son has requested a new "processor" from a company called "AMD", this is genuine cause for alarm. AMD is a third-world based company who make inferior, "knock-off" copies of American processor chips. They use child labor extensively in their third world sweatshops, and they deliberately disable the security features that American processor makers, such as Intel, use to prevent hacking. AMD chips are never sold in stores, and you will most likely be told that you have to order them from internet sites. Do not buy this chip! This is one request that you must refuse your son, if you are to have any hope of raising him well.

4. Does your child read hacking manuals?

If you pay close attention to your son's reading habits, as I do, you will be able to determine a great deal about his opinions and hobbies. Children are at their most impressionable in the teenage years. Any father who has had a seventeen year old daughter attempt to sneak out on a date wearing make up and perfume is well aware of the effect that improper influences can have on inexperienced minds.

There are, unfortunately, many hacking manuals available in bookshops today. A few titles to be on the lookout for are: "Snow Crash" and "Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson; "Neuromancer" by William Gibson; "Programming with Perl" by Timothy O'Reilly; "Geeks" by Jon Katz; "The Hacker Crackdown" by Bruce Sterling; "Microserfs" by Douglas Coupland; "Hackers" by Steven Levy; and "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" by Eric S. Raymond.

If you find any of these hacking manuals in your child's possession, confiscate them immediately. You should also petition local booksellers to remove these titles from their shelves. You may meet with some resistance at first, but even booksellers have to bow to community pressure.

5. How much time does your child spend using the computer each day?

If your son spends more than thirty minutes each day on the computer, he may be using it to DOS other peoples sites. DOSing involves gaining access to the "command prompt" on other people's machines, and using it to tie up vital internet services. This can take up to eight hours. If your son is doing this, he is breaking the law, and you should stop him immediately. The safest policy is to limit your children's access to the computer to a maximum of forty-five minutes each day.

8. Is your son obsessed with "Lunix"?

BSD, Lunix, Debian and Mandrake are all versions of an illegal hacker operation system, invented by a Soviet computer hacker named Linyos Torovoltos, before the Russians lost the Cold War. It is based on a program called "xenix", which was written by Microsoft for the US government. These programs are used by hackers to break into other people's computer systems to steal credit card numbers. They may also be used to break into people's stereos to steal their music, using the "mp3" program. Torovoltos is a notorious hacker, responsible for writing many hacker programs, such as "telnet", which is used by hackers to connect to machines on the internet without using a telephone.

Your son may try to install "lunix" on your hard drive. If he is careful, you may not notice its presence, however, lunix is a capricious beast, and if handled incorrectly, your son may damage your computer, and even break it completely by deleting Windows, at which point you will have to have your computer repaired by a professional.

If you see the word "LILO" during your windows startup (just after you turn the machine on), your son has installed lunix. In order to get rid of it, you will have to send your computer back to the manufacturer, and have them fit a new hard drive. Lunix is extremely dangerous software, and cannot be removed without destroying part of your hard disk surface.

Clowns for Jesus

Deleted cause the Jesus Clowns launch on their own every time you open this site. If you want to see them go over GodTube.com (seriously).
My friend Ken from LA came up to visit this weekend and late Friday night (well, late to us), we stumbled on Ferris Bueller on tv. To me, Ferris Bueller is one of those movies where you must stop and watch - and luckily, Ken feels the same way. I feel like it's one of those movies that sorta is a touchstone for a generation of us -- that will always be the first thing I think of when I hear Matthew Broderick's name. And there's a whole bunch of us who start snickering when we hear "Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?"

The clip below is when they go to the Chicago Museum of Art - one of my favorites, especially the end when Cameron's tripping out on a Seurat painting -- which was (horribly) cut from the version we watched the other night. Blasphemous!


Swiss Accidentally Invade Liechtenstein

That my friends, is an actual headline on today's NY Times website. Certainly grabs your attention if you're anything like me. So, here are the details:

What began as a routine training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident after a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein.

According to Swiss daily Blick, the 170 infantry soldiers wandered just over a mile across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back.


What a teaser! And that's from the "paper of record". Oy.

Have Microsoft donate money on your behalf...

Today in the U.S. Microsoft launched "i'm" which connects users of Windows Live Messenger with nine of the world’s most significant causes and the leading non-profit organizations associated with them. Every time you start a conversation using i’m, Microsoft shares a portion of the program's advertising revenue with some of the world's most effective organizations dedicated to social causes. They've set no cap on the amount we'll donate to each organization. The sky's the limit.

Organizations participating in this exciting initiative are: American Red Cross, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, National AIDS Fund, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Ninemillion.org, Sierra Club, StopGlobalWarming.org, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and U. S. Fund for UNICEF.

To join the Initiative, simply go to http://im.live.com/, and select the organization you wish to support and download the latest version of Windows Live Messenger (8.1) to become part of the solution.

Spread the word to your friends, and help start the movement by saying i'm Making a Difference.