SCI FI Announces Caprica

NEW YORK—SCI FI Channel announced the development of Caprica, a spinoff prequel of its hit Battlestar Galactica, in presentations to advertisers in New York on April 26. Caprica would come from Galactica executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, writer Remi Aubuchon (24) and NBC Universal Television Studio.

Caprica would take place more than half a century before the events that play out in Battlestar Galactica. The people of the Twelve Colonies are at peace and living in a society not unlike our own, but where high technology has changed the lives of virtually everyone for the better.

But a startling breakthrough in robotics is about to occur, one that will bring to life the age-old dream of marrying artificial intelligence with a mechanical body to create the first living robot: a Cylon. Following the lives of two families, the Graystones and the Adamas (the family of William Adama, who will one day become the commander of the Battlestar Galactica), Caprica will weave together corporate intrigue, techno-action and sexual politics into television's first science fiction family saga, the channel announced.

CNN.com - 'World's unsexiest man' named - Apr 19, 2006

BOSTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) -- Comedian Gilbert Gottfried, the voice of the Aflac duck in television commercials for the insurer, was crowned "unsexiest man in the world" by an alternative newspaper Tuesday.

"The parrot-voiced, pickle-faced comic is to sexy what Kryptonite is to Superman," The Boston Phoenix wrote.

Hey, c'mone now. Leave him alone! Gilbert is one of the coolest charecter actors around. He is also one of my favorite Disney characters of all time, Iago the parrot in Alladin. Jeesh, at least they could have put Steve Buccemi ahead of him! Also a great actor and all around cool guy, but he truly is one interesting looking man :-D

Debate rages on use of cervical cancer vaccine
While almost 100% effective, some contend use condones teen sex

Rob Stein, Washington Post

Monday, October 31, 2005

Washington -- A new vaccine that protects against cervical cancer has set up a clash between health advocates who want to use the shots aggressively to prevent thousands of malignancies and social conservatives who say immunizing teen-agers could encourage sexual activity.

Although the vaccine will not become available until next year at the earliest, activists on both sides have begun maneuvering to influence how widely the immunizations will be employed.

Groups working to reduce the toll of the cancer are eagerly awaiting the vaccine and want it to become part of the standard roster of shots that children, especially girls, receive just before puberty.

Because the vaccine protects against a sexually transmitted virus, many conservatives oppose making it mandatory, citing fears that it could send a subtle message condoning sexual activity before marriage. Several leading groups that promote abstinence are meeting this week to formulate official policies on the vaccine.

This should be a crime! this vaccine could save thousands of women a year and they won't put it out because of "teen sex"??????? Please will somebody in Washinton get your head out of your ass and save some lives!

LASIK@Home

Affordable In-Home LASIK Surgery You Can Do Yourself!

In the past, LASIK surgery was an expensive procedure that could only be performed by skilled professionals in a doctor's office or eye clinic. Often costing upwards of $1000 per eye and almost never covered by insurance, Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) was beyond the reach of most Americans.

Now the revolutionary LASIK@Home system makes clear vision affordable for everyone.

The Procedure

LASIK@Home is the same patented surgical procedure performed at eye clinics around the world, but without the unnecessary equipment and staff. Find out more on the How It Works page.

NONONONONONONONO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are the F'ing serious?????

Fossil Called Missing Link From Sea to Land Animals

By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD

Published: April 6, 2006

Scientists have discovered fossils of a 375-million-year-old fish, a large scaly creature not seen before, that they say is a long-sought missing link in the evolution of some fishes from water to a life walking on four limbs on land.

In two reports today in the journal Nature, a team of scientists led by Neil H. Shubin of the University of Chicago say they have uncovered several well-preserved skeletons of the fossil fish in sediments of former streambeds in the Canadian Arctic, 600 miles from the North Pole.

The skeletons have the fins, scales and other attributes of a giant fish, four to nine feet long. But on closer examination, the scientists found telling anatomical traits of a transitional creature, a fish that is still a fish but has changes that anticipate the emergence of land animals — and is thus a predecessor of amphibians, reptiles and dinosaurs, mammals and eventually humans.

In the fishes' forward fins, the scientists found evidence of limbs in the making. There are the beginnings of digits, proto-wrists, elbows and shoulders. The fish also had a flat skull resembling a crocodile's, a neck, ribs and other parts that were similar to four-legged land animals known as tetrapods.

Other scientists said that in addition to confirming elements of a major transition in evolution, the fossils were a powerful rebuttal to religious creationists, who have long argued that the absence of such transitional creatures are a serious weakness in Darwin's theory.

The discovery team called the fossils the most compelling examples yet of an animal that was at the cusp of the fish-tetrapod transition. The fish has been named Tiktaalik roseae, at the suggestion of elders of Canada's Nunavut Territory. Tiktaalik (pronounced tic-TAH-lick) means "large shallow water fish."

More strange stuff - Late Grateful Dead Leader's Toilet Stolen

http://www.newsvine.com

Associated Press

SONOMA, CALIFORNIA — The long, strange trip continues for Jerry Garcia's toilet. Police say the Grateful Dead leader's commode was stolen recently from a driveway along with three other toilets and a bidet, The Press Democrat newspaper reported Saturday.

Garcia's salmon-colored toilet was the subject of a legal battle before it was finally moved to Sonoma, to await shipment to a Canadian casino.

It's unclear if the toilet was swiped by a wayward Deadhead or a thief remodeling a bathroom. Police have no suspects or leads.

Music And Film Industry Association of America (MAFIAA)

http://www.mafiaa.org/

April 1, 2006 - Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) chairman Dan Glickman and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) president Cary Sherman today announced the historic merger of the two organizations. The newly-created entity is being called the Music And Film Industry Association of America, Inc.

April Fool! I know it's the second, but I just came accross this. Sad thing is, even though it's a joke, this is how a lot of people feel including myself. Go to the site, read it... it sounds soooo true that just maybe it is real. remember not everything that happens on April 1st is a joke. After all that the day that Apple was founded 30 years ago. So happy birthday Apple, and for everyone else.... beware the ides of April.......

MAFIAA site by John Haller - http://johnhaller.com/jh/ check him out he has a lot of good information there on opensoure "portable apps" which I use daily while at work, after all a thumb drive has got to be good for something other than raw data storage :-)