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[the plot sick..i mean thickens]

piscesgal
1 minute ago
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So MI6, the Bond messageboard(the only one on the internet, to hear them tell it.. *eyeroll* ) has been down for several days, without any explaination from the moderators. Word on the street is that they got hacked. I can't say that I am all that surprised, to be honest.

There is lots of talk from the MI6 posters that have congregated at Commander Bond(far superior to MI6-and that board never goes down) of not going back to MI6(I think a lot of them will, eventually, though,even though they say that they won't.)

It makes MI6 look bad(they already do, what with the welcome most people get(as someone at Commader Bond put it "Eff off you bastard". Which is the truth.Sadly.)

To say nothing of certain parts of the board being locked down(you have to have a screen name to log in and read them) which adds to the cliqueishness factor as well. New posters don't exactly get a welcome(that's putting it mildly) and it takes quite a bit of work to fit in there,to be accepted. It's very high school.

There is a pecking order,....if you haven't posted for very long, and have a low post count,you are shunned.Until you get a higher post count, anyways/ There are people with ridiculously high post counts.It makes you wonder how much of the day they spend posting. And most of it isn't anything of substance, either.Just emoticons or "Cool Story Bro"(a favourite way of being condescending to anyone they see as being not worthy or a noob)

clean up

Cyn
Yesterday

cleaning house a bit since most folks that were here are here no longer. established elsewhere. ;)

A Call to Copenhagen

For the Dream you wish and hone.....For the dirty water.....For the natures mountain spring.....Good for beaver otter......may seem a dream so lost, there you have a phone.....pick it up and call today.....don't suffocate alone....this is real in drama.....This is not a dream.....This is not Shakespeare or movie.....This is what it seems.....Even dullards notice.....Mayhap they are so called.....Like to raquet ping to pong.....To play one needs a ball.....We live on one of beauty.....This is your gift of life..... it is not to be stolen.....Knowledge is your knife.....Some of it is read or heard.....Some is yours alone.....To play a game of life.....a field needed....it is known.....when you let light be shown.....birth- to Dead's shining bone.....yours and you alone......Peace....Tony

Holiday work party picture.

xmangerm
Yesterday
2 comments

Having fun at the holiday work party. Fellow Voxers have a nice day.

Holiday work party 17 Dec 09.jpg

Gosh! A Scandal!!!

I had a slight grin and a little twinkle in my eye when I read this story a moment ago.

A New Zealand church has posted a billboard in an effort to get people to discuss the Christmas story. Doesn't sound so bad does it. I'll share the image in question,, but be warned, it's shocking!

Mary & Joseph

I'm not a religious individual, I have always thought the Bible to be nothing more than a collection of fables put together by a ruling religious class in order to instil their authority and subjugate women and other religious beliefs. However I do believe in other peoples right to believe in the Christian dogma. Personally I would rather idolise J.R.R. Tolkein's effort.

But does the image above instil so much wrath in your eternal soul that you would feel the need to be offended or even stand on top of your car with a tin of emulsion to paint over it? I don't think so.

I find it humorous and it does highlight many problems within relationships today, after all, shouldn't the church be addressing such issues?

I don't think it was meant as an offence and I can only guess it's the fundies that are taking umbrage, and as with all things highlighted in such circumstances by people who don't want you to see something, it's now been blown out of all proportion and it's now reported upon throughout the world. Quite the Streisand effect.

I'm not a church goer but I'd definitely pay a visit to St. Matthews over Christmas if I lived in New Zealand.

Altered States

Endeesea
Yesterday
1 comment

Those of us who are old enough to remember William Hurt's acting debut in the film, "Altered States" may also have been lucky enough to have experienced something of what the movie was about. No, not the regression to a primal state of mind, let alone physical being, as Hurt portrayed in the 1980 sci-fi, suspense flick. Although, if you've indulged in some recreational hallucinogens while experiencing sensory deprivation, you're a braver person than I am, Gungadin!

I'm referring to the kind of sensory deprivation, or as I find it, sensory enlightenment, one can experience in a floatation tank. Counting the experience this afternoon - courtesy of a very enlightened employer, no less - I've floated 5 times since 1986. I wish I could afford to do so more often, but one indulges in what one can, when one can. Today's was a Christmas gift. I find the experience is simply something remarkable. I've never been very good at meditation probably because my mind simply isn't very disciplined. It wants to keep right on exploring, talking, contradicting and judging regardless of what I might want. Inside the totally dark, body temperature encapsulation of a floatation tank, it panics. I don't panic, but the voice I carry with me, and which I believe we all carry with us, starts to 'thrash around'. My senses, which feed my mind, radically reach out within minutes of turning out the room light, entering the 500 litres of magnesium sulphate saturated water, closing the lid on the tank and settling into a supine position. You're buck naked, of course, no jewellery, you shower before entering the tank, and again afterwards to remove the salts.

It's a strange feeling at first. How to hold or place one's arms? Legs are fine, they just stick out of the end of the torso, but arms? Floating by the side doesn't feel right to me. I've interlinked fingers across my chest, supported my head in my hands, even used the 'dead pose' of wrists crossed on the chest. Today, I found the correct position for me. Arms 'above' my head. The tank is plenty big enough and I'm a short-arse anyway.

I'm not claustrophobic so being in a small space in the dark doesn't phase me and besides, it's warm and comfortable. Earplugs in to keep all noise out, eyes closed to keep the salty water out, the very first sensation is one of rotation. That's your senses reaching out for points of reference. You're horizontal, that much is known, but we live in a 3D world and a float tank is very much 2 dimensional. A watery plane to which you are held by gravity and buoyancy. You couldn't sink if you tried. So, rotation. Nothing dizzying, just a feeling of turning around your belly-button. In the first few minutes you'll find that a toe or a finger or elbow might touch a wall as any movement of your body in the water settles out, returning a sense of place to the mind that's calling for orientation. You may also find that condensed humidity will drip on you irregularly. You're inside a 100% humidity environment so that much is inescapable. It's not annoying if you know it's there and it stops after a few minutes anyway as the humidity returns to 100% from that which escaped when you opened the lid to get in. These are initial bugbears which are unavoidable and soon go away.

So there you are, held in a womb-like embrace on a two dimensional plane. Most float centres use 'relaxation music' to help you settle in, and also to bring you back at the end of your time. It helps at the start and without it at the end, I'd still be there. The music fades away after ten or so minutes and you find yourself listening to your own breathing, your heart-beat, your stomach gurgling....any sound your senses can detect, you'll listen. It's just more reaching out by a mind deprived. I know the experience is taking me when my sight sense begins to 'see' something. For me, it's light. It's been a psychedelic light show, geometric patterns, dreamscapes where people or places appear always brightly lit. Today it was a bluish plasma ball which moved in and around a massive, organic internally lit sphere held against a black background by what 'looked' like veins or sinew. Remember, this is my mind working, not my eyes. My eyes couldn't see squat because they were closed. That's how it began. I lost time today, just like the last time I floated. I know the music at the beginning went for 5 or 10 minutes, the odd drip was annoying, the rotation passed quickly and toes only touched a couple of times. My breathing settled after a couple of seemingly overly deep breaths, and then the lights came along. I chased the plasma ball, weaved in & around the organic sphere, 'watched' the lights and enjoyed being held by the warmth and security of my own mind as it quietened and 'listened' to itself, and then....the music.

I came back with something of a start. I wasn't ready and unlike waking from a deep sleep, wakefulness is instant. 'What? It's over? I'm not ready! I was......dunno....' and that's the honest truth. I really don't know where my mind was at the end, but I do know the plasma ball & organic sphere were a long time ago. I gently and slowly emerged from the tank, flicked on the room light and leaned against the tank. It's like coming down from something like pethidine but much more gentle, no drug-induced fogginess, no detrimental hangover. Just a quiet sense of peace & return. I checked my watch on the sidetable and a full hour had passed, yet to me it felt like 20 minutes. Even now, four & a half hours later, I'm still enraptured by the experience. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking to quieten their mind, relax and find some inner peace. Thank you, Alex. A much needed and enjoyed experience. The journey you take without going anywhere.

Scientists Discover Earth-like Planet...

Star-Cluster-001

AFP is reporting that scientists have discovered an Earth-like, water-rich planet. This planet is a bit larger than our own and is approximately 42 light-years away.

How freaking awesome is this, eh? Now if only we could send people out to explore this new world. What would we find? Hell, who would we find? I mean, I know it's warmer than Earth, according to the scientists, but we have species who can live in the coldest and hottests places on Earth and survive. So why not there, right?

Can you imagine the potential diversity of life on this new planet? Would they have intelligent life? Would they be larger than Humans? Or smaller? Would they walk on land? Or swim in their vast seas? So many questions, and little we can do to answer them at this time, unfortunately. Here is the article:

PARIS (AFP) – Astronomers have discovered a new Earth-like planet that is larger than our own and may be more than half covered with water, according to a study published Wednesday in the science journal Nature.
The so-called "super Earth" is about 42 light years away in another solar system and has a radius nearly 2.7 times larger than that of our planet, according to the study by the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics.
The discovery of the planet, called GJ 1214b, represents a "major step forward" in the search for worlds similar to the Earth, added the University of California's Geoffrey Marcy in a commentary also in Nature.
The "newfound world" is too hot to sustain life as we know it, said the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in a statement.
Its density suggests however it "is composed of about three-fourths water and other ices and one fourth-rock," it said. "There are also tantalising hints that the planet has a gaseous atmosphere."
Its temperature is estimated at between 280 and 120 degrees Celsius (536 and 248 degrees Fahrenheit) with its host star about one-fifth the size of the Sun, according to the scientists.
"Despite its hot temperature, this appears to be a waterworld," says Zachory Berta, a graduate student who first spotted hints of the planet's presence.
"It is much smaller, cooler and more Earthlike than any other known exoplanet," he said in the statement.
An exoplanet is one outside of our solar system.
Berta said some of the water would likely be in crystalline form that exists at pressures greater than 20,000 times Earth's sea-level atmosphere.
Its temperature is much lower than that on the only similar discovery, called CoRoT-7b, which revolves around a star that is much hotter, the scientists say.
The CoRoT-7b has a density close to that of the Earth (5.5 grammes per cubic centimetre) and seems to be rocky, while the new discovery appears to be much less dense (1.9 g/cm3).
"To keep the planet's density that low requires that it contains large amounts of water," said Marcy. "It must contain a huge amount of water, roughly 50 percent by mass."
The "wild card" is the make-up of the gases on the planet, he said.
The planet orbits every 38 hours around a small, faint star that was first spotted by eight ground-based telescopes no larger than those used by amateur astronomers, the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre said.
Its relative closeness makes its possible to study it to determine its atmosphere.
"That will make it the first super Earth with a confirmed atmosphere -- even though that atmosphere probably won't be hospitable to life as we know it," said David Charbonneau who heads the research team.

Okay, so the atmosphere wouldn't support humanity without a suit, but still, life is quite adaptable and this world appears to have the necessary ingredients for life. Even if it's barely a single cell.

Until next time...

-Wil

[goodbye pain,hello loopiness]

I had a muscle ache last night and I can't sleep if I have a muscle ache(or any sort of ache and I *really* hate waking up with a headache(luckily that doesn't happen very often). I took a couple of Advil PM but didn't go right to bed. It took a little while,but it started to kick in. Bigtime. Went to bed and(not surprisingly) got a good night's sleep.

If you use cruise control, you should read this.

Snowy
2 days ago
6 comments

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26497660-952,00.html

Cruise control driver runs down his critics

THE driver stuck on cruise control at 100km/h on the Eastern Freeway and EastLink has lashed out at those casting doubt on his story.

"You weren't in the car," Chase Weir said. "If anyone can fake a 000 call and all that screaming, show me how."

Readers swamped the Herald Sun website and talkback radio to also ask why the Ford Explorer driver didn't turn off his engine or shift the gear selector into neutral.

Click here to listen to the dramatic 000 call extract

Mr Weir told police the ignition key would not move and that he could not put the car into neutral.

On trying to brake, he could not slow below 80km/h.

The 22-year-old Queenslander's ordeal began at 12.40pm on Tuesday when he was unable to slow for his Eastern Freeway exit.

It ended just over 30 minutes later on the Moorooduc Highway at Frankston, when he finally managed to stop the vehicle using the handbrake and the brake pedal - on the wrong side of the road.

Police considered radical measures to stop Mr Weir.

But it was Sgt Marnie Goldsmith who in effect rescued him, talking him through his panic after he dialled 000.

Mr Weir thanked her in person.

Sgt Goldsmith said: "He shook my hand and I said 'I can give you a hug'."

Mr Weir said it was only her calm response that allowed him to keep his head.

"She was saying, 'the car won't stop but you're still OK'. I was panicky, but she kept me calm."

She explained: "I just said 'I'll tell you when it's time to panic and we're not there yet'."

Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority operator Jay Kemp, who co-ordinated the response, said: "There is no standard procedure to stop a car stuck on cruise control. It was extraordinary."

The first police unit to reach Mr Weir thought it would all end in tragedy.

Sen-Constable Steve Warr and Constable Stephen Glenk from Doncaster kept other vehicles away from him.

"We knew the traffic would bank up and we wanted to end it prior to Frankston," said Sen-Constable Warr.

"We discussed about 50 different options, from using our van or a truck to stop him, using the guard rail, or running him into a paddock.

"By the time the last 3km came up, it was too late. I thought there were going to be fatals. I said over the air - 'It's going to be bad'."

The Explorer will now be examined by police and Ford. Mr Weir claims six Australians have contacted him on Facebook to claim similar issues with their cars.

National Motoring Editor Paul Gover writes: If you are faced with a jammed accelerator, or a stuck cruise control, do not panic. Firstly, push down very hard on the brake. If it doesn't release the accelerator, don't panic.

If it's a manual, push down on the clutch, which should disengage a cruise control, or knock the lever into neutral. Do the same for an automatic, but go gently on the shifter.

Selecting neutral will disconnect the engine from the gearbox and allow you to brake to a stop.

If you cannot get into neutral, try turning the engine off (do not lock the steering). You should be able to steer and brake to a stop.

In the absolute worst case, do as Mr Weir did to stop.

Solstice movie, hot cider (and adorable toys)

Emmi
2 days ago
9 comments

Almond blossoms

It's been freezing cold, I went running at the Lake today and it's already covered in ice. Lovely, though. Downed conifer limbs, blue jays singing.

Now I'm drinking my third hot beverage (hot chocolate) and hoping to hear back from employers. Oh, did I mention, the school hasn't sent me my diploma yet? But the Registrar confirmed that I'm officially graduated. I'm not celebrating until I get the diploma in hand.

We've been consuming good movies and hot cider for Solstice. No fancy celebrations this year, til we get to my sister's. SyFy channel has 2 great holiday specials. One is a remake of Alice in Wonderland. We haven't seen it yet. The other is a really dark, modern remake of Wizard of Oz.

The second one is called Tin Man and I never thought I'd say this, but Alan Cumming is adorable as the Scarecrow. The plot is completely different and you wouldn't even recognize the characters from the original. I love, love love creative remakes, or just simple, creative films. They're in low supply these days.

Another fun plug is the new Sony Ericsson "eco phones", Hazel and Elm. (Cute, right)? They look nice and I used to love my old Ericsson before the *ahem* screen ribbon broke.

Does anyone have other fun film ideas for Solstice? I don't especially like fantasy unless it's mixed with a good plot. Harry Potter is pretty fun for this time of year. I thought the sci fi was a stretch but as long as it's not overly dramatic vampire movies or something, it's an okay medium.