The Rigged-Up Net

Crime Rates Down In San Antonio Good news here in San Antonio. New numbers show the city is a safer place to live. http://www.msnbc.com/local/KMOL/D-B8B9B399-94D8-45AF-A46B-FD0523D8DD93.asp?0na=x2212120O&cp1=1

Want a tatoo? Watch the latest Red vs Blue… funny funny stuff… http://www.redvsblue.com/archives/000110.shtml

Spam Filters Spam is a growing problem for email users, and many solutions have been proposed, from a postage fee for email to Turing tests to simply not accepting email from people you don’t know. Spam filtering is one way to reduce the impact of the problem on the individual user (though it does nothing […]

Say Goodbye To Your CD-Rs In Two Years? Little Hamster writes “According to an article on cdfreaks.com, a test done by the Dutch PC-Active magazine showed that among 30 different CD-R brands tested, a lot of them were already unreadable after twenty months. This is shocking, and makes me wonder how should I backup my […]

Humans trained to hunger like Pavlov’s dogs Humans can be trained to crave food in response to abstract prompts just like Pavlov’s dogs, reveals new research. http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994083

Red wine chemical extends life – in yeast A chemical found in red wine can mimic the life-extending effect of calorie-restricted diets in yeast, researchers have found. http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994085

Marketers, FBI unite to curb spam The Direct Marketing Association intends to help the FBI nab spammers–and help preserve its members’ ability to send commercial e-mail. http://news.com.com/2100-1024_3-5067369.html

Farting – the new trend in Porn… (thanks Pad. 😉 http://www.farthammer.com

What do you call the @ symbol used in e-mail addresses? The funny little a with its tail circling back around it is probably one of the most commonly used symbols today. So it is truly amazing to learn that there is no official, universal name for it. The most accepted term, even in many […]

Study: HIV cases increase 31 percent in Alamo City San Antonio Metropolitan Health District officials on Friday released the results of a new study showing that the number of reported cases of human immunodeficiency virus rose 31 percent in 2002 over the previous year http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2003/08/18/daily40.html

The trailer is out. I’ve mirrored it here. Enjoy!

“Ear Candling,” also known as auricular candling or coning, refers to various procedures that involve placing a cone-shaped device in the ear canal and supposedly extracting earwax and other impurities with the help of smoke or a burning wick. This is the most bizarre thing I’ve ever heard… Evidentally people do this to other people, […]

Trinity ranks No. 1 by U.S. News & World Report U.S. News & World Report once again ranked Trinity University No. 1 in its category in this year’s America’s Best Colleges issue. http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2003/08/18/daily33.html My sister is now officially a first-year at Trinity starting today! Yay! (wow I feel old)

Win or lose, drawing endorsements is key They say in sports that winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing. Not true in the upside-down world of sports endorsements. http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2003-08-21-endorse_x.htm

Hormel produces special Spam can for Hawaii Hawaiians, who eat more Spam per person than any other group in the United States, now have a Spam product of their very own http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2003-08-21-spam-can-hawaii_x.htm

New Point System For Texas Drivers If you speed or have a wreck, it’s about to cost you a lot more to drive. The effects will last a lot longer as well. http://www.msnbc.com/local/KMOL/D-0B345574-AE67-4DB4-A7C4-21AE19591EAD.asp?0na=x2212250K

Front page of http://www.hostcompare.com/! Woohoo! Direct link to article here: http://www.hostcompare.com/interviews/richardyoo.htm

I FOUND THE BOOB! w00t!

NELLY PIMPS HIS JUICE! NELLY has launched his own vitamin-enriched soft drink, ‘PIMP JUICE’, which is due out in the US next month. http://www.nme.com/news/105934.htm (Thanks Annie!)

Alamo Quarry Market For Sale The Alamo Quarry Market, one of the busiest shopping malls in South Texas, is going on the market. http://www.msnbc.com/local/KMOL/D-9BAC3C9A-B6AB-465B-836D-49BBB9314210.asp?0na=x2201373J

If you’re looking for a great programmable remote to replace your mess of remote controls on your coffee table, this is the one: PHILIPS TSU500 Pronto Neo Universal Intelligent Remote Control The thing is completely programmable – including how the buttons look and are laid out on the screen… everything is programmed on a PC […]

Texas Pledge? What’s That? Texans can’t recite pledge now required of all school children. http://www.msnbc.com/local/KMOL/D-6B597A48-D63E-4492-B5DE-185FC67F1E2A.asp?0na=x2203130J

New evidence links virus with breast cancer The string of studies adds significant support to a connection, but contradictory evidence also exists http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994066

Fake drugs force makers to play spy games Drug companies are turning to spy novel gizmos — invisible inks, tiny radio-frequency antennas and the like — to help stop counterfeiters from faking or adulterating prescription drugs. http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/drugs/2003-08-17-fakedrugs_x.htm

Volvo finally meshes power, handling Volvo has made powerful cars, and it has made smooth cars. But the twain haven’t often met. The 2004 R cars change that. http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/reviews/healey/2003-08-14-volvo_x.htm

Satellite Views Of The Blackout http://slashdot.org/articles/03/08/16/1320201.shtml?tid=134&tid=160

Too funny… http://dev.projek7.com/projekx/skunkworks/hosted/fun/STD-ster.html#

LifeSavers changes its stripes Friday LifeSavers will announce on Friday a new flavor lineup for its classic, nearly 70-year-old five-flavor roll. Raspberry-, watermelon- and blackberry-flavored “O’s” will replace the traditional orange, lemon and lime. http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2003-08-14-lifesavers_x.htm

Gotta love the fans. http://laer.nu/captions/superman.php?text=ebg13V+ernq+Gur+Evttrq+Hc+Arg and http://www.patrick.fm/boobies/boobies.php?text=Rigged%20Up Go here to make your own.

Overexposure can sour sweet ‘Eye’ These days, networks don’t so much promote shows as pillage them. http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2003-08-13-queer-eye_x.htm

Electronic ‘Etch A Sketch’ may boost quantum design An innovative system, which works rather like a child’s Etch A Sketch toy, could significantly speed the design of quantum electronic devices. The intricate circuits needed can be “drawn” on a surface using tiny spots of charge, adjusted, and then scrubbed out with a flash of light. […]

Nuclear reactor back online A nuclear reactor that’s partly owned by Austin Energy is operating again after an extended shutdown, the South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Co. announced Thursday. http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2003/08/11/daily28.html

For those nights and days, when you want to be and feel a little special, naughty, and very sexy, these Manties are for you. Once you have them on, it will be “hard” to take them off. They are made of nylon and have the extra room where you need it, for the most comfortable […]

Will edgy shows scare off marketers? The broadcast TV networks will be living on the edge this fall. New comedies and dramas such as NBC’s Coupling and Fox’s Skin will exploit such racy topics as sexuality and the multibillion-dollar porn industry. The question is whether advertisers will buy into these edgy programs. http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2003-08-12-edgy_x.htm

Remember the webiste, Hot or not? Well… these other guys took that idea, and have created Mobileasses.com … basically people running around with cellphones with built-in cameras are sending in pics of butts in public for your rating amusement… good stuff.

Muscle power aid also boosts brain power A dietary supplement used by many athletes to boost muscle power can also increase brain power, at least in vegetarians. New research shows that non-meat eaters taking the supplement, called creatine, perform better in various memory tests than those taking a placebo. http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994047

Winning the War on spam: Comparison of Bayesian spam filters Spam e-mail has become an ever increasing problem, and these days it is next to impossible to use e-mail without receiving it in large amounts. Various techniques exits to combat the problem; keyword-based filters, source blacklists, signature blacklists, source verification and combinations of these to […]

Krispy Kreme’s sweet on Britain The doughnuts already are rolling off the line at the Krispy Kreme training center in a bare-bones warehouse south of the city. But come October, they’ll officially make their debut in that British palace of posh: Harrods department store. http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2003-08-11-krispykreme_x.htm

Study: ISPs block some legitimate email A new study by Return Path Inc. reveals Internet service providers inadvertently are blocking or filtering legitimate email in their attempts to protect their subscribers from spam. http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2003/08/11/daily9.html

Is Zip coming undone? New versions of software based on a popular file-compression technology could create headaches for users through their use of incompatible formats. http://news.com.com/2100-1046_3-5062423.html?tag=fd_lede2_hed