000webhost

Web hosting

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Life in Iran, Examining Prophets/Pre-Cogs 6/Hyperspace Travel, and More

Wanted to take a look inside Iran given how much trouble it seems to in:
- ancient history has Iran as one of the great world empires. Complicated history with neighbors (very strange with regards to Israel in particular) and those who have attempted to fully or partly colonise the country or take it's resources. Clearly, frustrated by core fundamental ideological differences to the US/West? Islamic Revolution of 1979 is core to it's latest history. Neither a small country or one with a small population
iranian history
German Satire (engl sub) on ISIS and American Interventions in the Middle East
Time to Rethink Iran
iran contributions
Iranian Innovations: Contributions of Iran to the world civilization
- has been unpopular with the US/West for a long time so has developed a self contained/insulated economy like other states on the outer. Income mostly comes from oil. You'll be suprised by some of it's major trade partners: UAE, China, South Korea, Turkey, etc... Core metrics (poverty, home ownership, education, etc...) are pretty good across the board (though could be better). Biggest problem seems to be inflation (which are probably linked to sanctions?) You'll be surprised at how they've been manage to get by in spite of US/Western sanctions (reminds me of North Korea in a way. How to they get by?)
iran economy
- fusion of food from local region in particular but feels like it has a strong national identify. Often contains rice, meats, etc... Despite this clear that the food is still quite accessible
iranian food recipes
- varied wildlife and environment consisting of forest, desert, plateau, mountains, etc...
iranian animals
- media tends to be fairly anti-US/Western. Different culture completely. As I said previously, one of the things I find very strange about their media is that they tend to cover alternative political views in the US/West more widely then in the US/West itself. Stronger focus on US and UK foreign affairs in the Middle East in particular. Some variety in the media but not much? Media must stick to Islamic principles?
iranian media
- one of the ironies is that in spite of the difficulties/harshness of life in the Middle East it's probably those in the Middle East who have probably stuck closest to the their 'religious duty'? At times, it feels like their stuck in a completely different world
- their military is build like a professional guerrilla warfare group based on some of the things that have been said. Old and limited but very effective at warding those who may want to do it harm
iran defense
- obviously, the key problem between the US/West and Iran (and North Korea) is their nuclear program
The Essential Balances in Iran's Nuclear Breakthrough
- has been under sanction since 2005 over their nuclear program. Has increasing diplomatic influence especially in light of a separate group consisting of Iran, China, Russia, North Korea, and others who have had differences with the US/West for a while. Moreover, other countries who have had economic growth issues for a while (Europe (as an US ally) who ironically have had massive issues with their nuclear program in particular). A lot of people don't seem to be aware that the Middle East is generally split along religious lines with generally siding with the US/West (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Israel, etc...) and the other the other generally not (Iran, Syria, Yemen, etc...) . There are also those who are split more down the middle such as Iraq, Egypt, UAE, etc...
Alarm over Iran’s rising influence
CrossTalk - Iran - Game Changer
Bullhorns - Trumping (CrossTalk)
EPIIC Symposium 2014 - Vying For Influence - Iran and Saudi Arabia
- strange mixture of old and new. Still have traditional markets and bazaars with Persian carpets and paintings that look like what you expect from ancient times. Architecture is also fusion of old and new. 1979 revolution was a 'value based' revolution. Supreme Leader runs things. Males find females in Iran not the other way around. Islam generally split into Sunni and Shia
IRAN  Documentary Yesterday and Today  - Rick Steves
- one of the names that comes up over and over again regarding the Iran and the Middle East is Ali Vaez (from an Iranian perspective)
Iran - The Battle for the Presidency
ISIS Tilting the Chess Board - The Dawn of a New Middle East Balance of Power - H. van Lynden lecture 
- wanted to see what their sense of humor was like. Like the Chinese (and other nationalities) they've learnt to create a phonetic version of their own language using English
iranian jokes
- feels like life inside of Iran is just like any other developed country. Most people are very similar to us? The primary difference is the 'leadership'? Just the conditions and rules of life are different? It doesn't feel like it's super different from life in the US/West at times? There is very definitely a US/Western cultural influence there. The sanctions have even fermented the creation of a US/Western counterfeit goods and services market? Islam obviously plays a huge role in these people's lives... They live in ways in which their religion Islam and their way of life don't conflict?
life in iran
Full Documentary - Tehran, Iran - Life in Iran
Life In Iran
- sanctions have had a massive impact on them. Some aspects of Iran are very much behind the times. Their trains are half the speed of that of other modern countries. Due to issues with public transport a lot of people use cars. Lot of road fatalities at ~13K... have now become more self sufficient with regards to modern trains now
Iran Today - Iran Railway System-Q
- mix of old and new make it a very interesting place to look at. Bazaars Ancient method of moving water underground
Iran Vacation Travel Video Guide • Great Destinations
- drive, move around with freedom. Permission of husbands required to leave country/divorce. 9 out of 200 women in parliament are women... Change is at hand?
Life for women in Iran, a country of contradictions - The 51%
- no nukes, no destablise, no export terrorism, etc... Notice IQ Squared are mostly from US based "experts"? Would be more interesting if you had people from relevant states talking? Pressure until it becomes less hostile. Hostile to US, Israel, other Arab monarchies, etc... Islamic revolution. Are accounts of hostilities verified/true? Conciliatory approaches not working. US campaign against Iran too broad and untargeted? Maximum pressure has aliented some US allies? Iran having nuclear weapons would disrupt world at large. US wants Iran to have a constitutional government. Iran targets vulnerable? US doesn't understand the problem/s underlying relationship with Iran? Most Muslims are siding with US against Iran rather then against Israel now? Iran regime is corrupt, incompetent, has lied to it's people and have bankrupted the country? Iran needs to be more democratic? Maximum pressure on regime not it's people. Only time they change is when they are under intense pressure? That said, things have changed and Iranians have become more provocative since JCPOA was torn up. Food, medicine, Iranian people banned and sanctioned. Iran having nuclear weapons will trigger Middle East nuclear weapons arms race? Iranian spare money goes into proxy wars such as via Syria, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, proxy army of 40K, Bunyards, IGRC, criminal patronage networks, etc... Iran has been pushed into Russian and Chinese corner. They've had naval drills in Persian Gulf for first time. They have no patron to protect like North Korea with China? Nuclear bomb guarantees respect from the US? Natural enemies are fans of maximum pressure on Iran. Weakness to be exploited is a human condition? Mark McFall, Larry Diamond, Abbas Malani CIA agents or work at Stanford and Hoover Institute. Instability in US foreign policy causes others to hedge bets such as Russia
The Maximum Pressure Campaign Against Iran Is Working
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN_wyZuuAV0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Davis_Hanson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._R._McMaster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Crenshaw
Abbas Malani

On Prophets and Pre-cogs:
- before we start again once more there was more then enough evidence for governments to put a lot of money into this. It's just like a science problem that's difficult to crack? Would probably require just one trained/reliable pre-cog and it should make sense? The rest of them would only help to make things more provable to the rest of humanity?
- obviously what is required is one very reliable (or many semi-reliable) pre-cogs/prophets that you can experiment on/with? They may be rarer then I had previously guesstimated or else things would be a lot better/different?
- if they tried to faithfully translate but couldn't tell the difference between pre-cog visions, truth/fiction, dreams, etc... it explains why things are a jumble? Don't make any sense? Stack on top of this translation issues, lack of human scientific progress, mis-interpretation, etc... and it makes things a lot easier to understand
- it partly means that part of what the religious clerics, priests, rabiis, muftis, gurus, seers, monks, etc... are saying is is also actually true. Part of the ascension process might need to be completed while on Earth (think of it as a measure of progress if you gain 'abilities' while on Earth)? Here's the problem though. If you read about what some of them went through I doubt you'd want to go through with the tests. Look at the history of Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad when they finally 'awoke'. Compare this to what a lot of people go through during torture. It's not too dissimilar. The worse part of this is that they if they can't go through with it all the way and figure out a way to stabilise themselves afterwards they may end up being 'permanently damaged' without possibly having gained anything for it. That said, it's clear that a lot of them may also had other 'abilities' prior to their ascension/awakening? Ascension/awakening (which mightn't be complete) may just allow them to piece things together more fully?
- if the point of all religion is to be closer to God, gain access to abilities on Earth and afterlife at the end it makes sense if part of the Holy Scriptures were partly written as allegories (imagine trying to teach a child science without knowing mathematics. Very difficult?)? People clearly didn't have the science/technology to be able to decipher everything back once upon a time. If allegories were used it wouldn't surprise me. Raises the issue of whether these beings were aliens as well (constant allusions to Heaven?). Also the reason why we have so many nuclear weapons? If you look around at the nuclear weapons, you'll realise that the number of nuclear weapons left on Earth is roughly about what is required to 'save life' on Earth from potential Earth destroying meteors? What I don't get is this? Why don't they just say that? Moreover, surely nuclear weapons would be useless against extra-terrestrial threats (should they exist)? They can already warp through time/space at FTL speed (and have been for a lot longer then the human population has) which raises all sorts of other scientific and technological issues? What sort of genuine chance does humanity have against that? 
earth ending asteroid size power
- one thing I struggle with is who defines what is right and wrong when it comes to deciding who is a good pre-cog? A lot of the prophets were correct for their particular time period and location. For instance, Muhammad did a lot of things which were right and correct for his time and location but look very strange now. Even Jesus would look completely out of whack in modern society? The same would likely go for many other prophets/pre-cogs? I guess things lie in the eye of the beholder to a certain extent?
- common assumption is that you need to be 'perfect to have abilities' but there's evidence of imperfect prophets/pre-cogs in time? Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, Abraham, etc... weren't 100% perfect? One of the others that people should understand is that once they go up they may inherit 'extra abilities' as well? I doubt that others would want to watch them the whole time if they were to go up
- let's say if noetics/lucid dreaming is valid science. If you hit a null point in time/space that is wrong do you just hit no space/time?
- things that will frustrate any pre-cog/prophet trying to prove some of this. You can't prove a lie? A lot of the stuff that is being talked about in the Holy Scriptures makes sense to them but some is a bit more difficult to explain?
- imagine that each version of religion was simply an attempt to explain things a bit further? Surely, different methods can be used to 'warp'? Fall back to other methods if others don't work?
- so clear what a lot leaders have been trying to do. They've been trying to 'force transcendence'. Problem is nothing in consistent from one person to another owing to their unique nature. Moreover, there's never been enough evidence for people to want to 'transcend'. It's difficult enough as it is to make sense of the applicability of a lot of what's in the Holy Scriptures to real life
- imagine those from 'up above' are just like the rest of humanity but are simply ascended and have some extra 'abilities'. If they're trying to explain things to those down below but can't get the message across (without violating certain rules) it's possible they may have tried different ways to get their message across? Obviously, this could have resulted in multiple 'iterations'? If this is all that has happened be glad there is an afterlife? If I'm correct (about the neurochemical theory) evidence should be higher (of pre-cogs/prophets) in countries which have stuck further to their 'religious duty'? Can't seem to find distribution of pre-cogs/prophets globally at the moment. Am certain they keep records somewhere?
prophets count trends
- if Jesus was 'lazy' he could have 'faked his resurrection' really easily by taking an alternate form and entering the mind of those he saw afterwards
- ironically, some interpretations of Hinduism can easily be merged with the others because it's clear that they have a single God and that much of the teachings still overlap?
- one thing that any pre-cog/prophet would be perplexed about was if there is evidence of an afterlife and they've overlaid it with so much mis-direction (defense against false prophets?)?
- 'faith' makes more sense to a pre-cog/prophet then someone without this ability. Just think a bit... It's like religious leaders are saying just believe in the pre-cogs/prophets and our agreement between those from up above and down below?
- the appeal of doing this stuff is obvious (that have been mentioned thus far). You can go off world, enter the minds of animals (just to look out not necessarily to take control), talk to lose love ones, try extreme spots (without getting hurt), etc... One thing that seems a bit odd to me is why if pre-cogs can't control where they warp how can certain things be forbidden? If you happen to accidentally warp past your mortal life of course you're going to end up 'somewhere different'. For instance, Heaven, Hell, purgatory, etc... Who knows who you may end up dealing with (look online for accounts of those who have gone 'up' and 'down'. It seems pretty obvious no matter how horrible you are you probably don't want to go down (if it exists). I'd just say 'try to do your best'?)?
- thinking that warping is an entirely 'internal process' is problematic for a number of different reasons. If you think about folding time and space (hyperspace) it means that once you end up at the other end you need to unfold time and space. To re-animate at the other end (even as pure light) it still takes light and therefore mass (E=mc^2) which means in 4D co-ordinate system you must be located at a finite distance further away from your point of origin. It needs to be somehow in a different dimension? or else you risk destroying/colliding with the the current dimension at your point of origin. Like others have been saying (and what feels like to me) there are big gaps in our science 
- examine the Old Testament and it seems clear that people spent a lot of time on dealing with the 'time immutability' problem. Can you change a particular time stream? The problem is that even now prophets are still extremely difficult to properly authenticate (a lot of them clearly don't know how to control their abilities, navigate, translate, interpret, etc... On top of that how do you identify someone who is simply a good liar/manipulator/predictor/scholar if you aren't 'enhanced') Huge problems across the board 
- hitting a particular point in 4D over and over again sounds ridiculously difficult for pre-cogs/prophets who can barely figure out how everything works in the first place. In the Old Testament/Torah in particular though it feels as though pre-cogs/prophets use their abilities to continually avoid trouble before it actually occurs? Wonder whether people with exceptionally fast reflexes or just quick mental ability don't recognise that they may be pre-cogs/prophets?
- higher free radical activity in schizophrenics (my guess is that these are the most likely pre-cogs/prophets candidates?) implies higher chemical creativity implies greater likelihood of unstable chemical reaction (reaction with a greater number of elements unlike standard noble gases elements such as Neon, Helium, Argon, etc...). Clearly, you require something reactive and something of a higher then average energy density (if my theory of the brain acting similar to a neutrino detection device is correct). Notice brain chemical composition is mostly cholesterol/fat and that it's energy density is significantly higher than average) and water? What else? Brain frequency and dopamine levels seem to be the main issues according to a lot of neuroscientists in this particular area
- the difficulty in using QET theory to explain things is that everything has to travel in parallel lines perfectly timed across a large space. The probability is pretty small. There has to be other elements besides change coming into play here if we are to prefect hyperspace jump technology (see further)?
Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon of quantum mechanics where an extremely strong correlation exists between quantum particles. These quantum systems cannot be described independently of each other despite the distance separating them. This disregards what Einstein called the "principle of local action," the rule that distant objects cannot have direct influence on one another, and that an object is directly influenced only by its immediate surroundings. By measuring these correlations, the scientists were able to demonstrate this quantum non locality, the ability of the particles to instantaneously “know” about each other’s state, even when separated by these large distances
- for me one of the interesting things is whether Heaven, Earth, and Hell are like mixing liquids of different density togther? For instance, mixing fat and water doesn't really work? You need a intermediary substance (like vinegar in a solid) to create an emulsion. While they don't really mix with the right mixture we may be able to see across and through into other places? In this, case the pre-cogs/prophets are the intermediary substance (it also explains why we have lots of para-normal leakages/miracles from time to time (there are some very difficult ones to explain no matter how you try. Easiest explanation is that at least some are legitimate miracles))? If it comes down to pure brain chemical composition then it should be like a tunnel into other places? The problem is what does the portal open to? You're back to the at square one with regards to how pre-cogs/prophets navigate. Think further though? The way pre-cogs/prophets and QET works aren't that much different? If Quantum state on one side results in a cause/effect relationship in another part of time/space then we basically have the basis for hyperspace travel? As long as you have a basis from which to navigate (anything within the EM spectrum should work. Namely, pictures, sound, standard movement in hyperspace, etc... as long as they replicate what is at the end point) then non-enhanced humans should be able to at least see what pre-cogs/prophets are able to see. In terms of inter-stellar travel this actually works heavily in our favour. Since the speed of light is finite and you're warping through hyperspace you effectively end up in time/space in the exact same state that you originally saw through a telescope. Moreover, since science works in generally predictable fashion you can use this as a basis for navigation as well (think about radioactive decay as a good example of this and chemical, radioactive interactivity... This makes 3D and 4D travel a lot easier)
- clearly 4D viewing/travel brings ethical problems into play as it can create  'sin free society' (which can be a nightmare) by not allowing anyone anywhere to hide. There would have to be limits on how such technology could be used as well as immunity for many events prior to a particular point? A change over period?
- this brings other problem into play but to me they should seem insignificant? Doesn't matter what it is in between? What matters is that we can see/get across (the rest will become obvious over time)? Since pre-cogs/prophets don't often know where they end up it may only require a small number of variables to be fulfilled in order to get things done? I guess it's a bit like tuning a radio set? Might be a muddy image but it's something that we can see? Ultimately, this should allow non-precogs to see what pre-cogs see? Do what they do and perhaps initiate first contact between Heaven and Earth (should it exist). This will allow all sorts of things such as confirmation of whether there is an Afterlife, whether there is a God, contacting lost love ones, possibly even bringing them back across the portal to Earth?, etc... If such phenomena can be used to create a navigation mechanism for pre-cogs/prophets they can also be used to setup a machine. After all, you can setup a bionic/robotic/mechanistic means for navigation. Once a substrate/medium is established you can then 'warp' anywhere you like... based on physical phenomena in the EM spectrum as mentioned above
- the obvious problem is travelling across though. Hyperspace jump travel is just 'inherently dangerous'. Most of the pre-cogs/prophets described being enmeshed in some form of 'energy shielding' no matter where they go. There's no question that just like science fiction if you can't get a valid target set of co-ordinates for navigation that you may possibly be ripped apart on attempting to enter hyperspace? It also seems clear that technically a gate/bridge between Heaven and Earth would be violating the standard mechanisms and protocols for traversing between them. My guess is that should the former exists only those from Heaven can come back to Earth while those on Earth can't enter Heaven (should it exist)? Communication may still be allowed though
gravity at centre of earth
- obviously, most of the science and technology outlined above (should it be valid) provides the basis for genuine inter-stellar space exploration? Technically, this means that the 'finite resource' problem and also the 'charity paradox' is largely dealt with. The major problem that is faced still is the 'transcendence issue' though...
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2012/10/soldering-ftl-travel-and-more-security_1.html
- give how big of a role that pre-cogs/prophets have played throughout human history people may be perplexed at why others may want to halt their progress. Here's the other thing if they can traverse between dimensions and all of time/space at will it doesn't matter what others do? Those who are ascended should surely always win out in the end?
- it's obvious what should the above outline works that time and space will become a new domain for humanity like it has supposedly for those who have been 'enhanced'. Disease will end and scientific progress will drastically speed up (because we can warp forward in time and bring back science and technology from the future just like some of the scientists that may have doubled as pre-cogs/prophets), life shall literally become never ending (especially if a permanent bridge can be established between Heaven and Earth), we can colonise other planets, bring back meteors instantly, etc... but it's obvious that many humanity just aren't ready yet? I'm guessing that any pre-cog/prophet will be wondering the same thing as well? We could be on the cusp of an extraordinary new age of humanity?

Random Stuff:
- at times, ISIS doesn't feel like your average terrorist group?
- for some strange reason I don't the think JSF (and a lot of manned options) may have much relevance in the future? If tiny military drones are true (and they can come up with jam proof guidance systems) then the JSF is just a waste of money. We should just have a limited run of them and tandem with with UCAVs (which seems to be the case) as well as other drones (which have already been under development). Why bother with sending manned fighter jets costing heaps when you can send a bunch of small, inexpensive drones with a lower RCS then any manned fighter jet that you could ever produce?
-more funny animals...
- the obvious problem with laser weapons is that they give you a pin point target to focus on if you are the receiver and have multiple decoys in play in particular
- ever have a problem program. This works well
- knowing heaps of stuff is one thing. Doing something useful with it is another?
- if only life could be simpler?
- hmmm... 
- why not get into politics?
- I wonder what the world would look like without drugs?
- need a news aggregator to create something
php news aggregator
pure php news aggregator
- I wonder how the numbers actually stack up currently? How they would match up against planes (self flying for the most part either way)?
- junk if your data is off?
- have been building some auto download software of late... Some useful tools
- some schematics for the WikiReader...
WikiReader - Hardware Specifications

Random Quote:
- The speaker of Russia’s lower house has called for radical changes to the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary assembly, warning that the body risks becoming a “marginal site” totally dependent on “Atlantic forces.”

“The United States is trying to deprive other nations of time required for evolutionary development, forcing them into making sudden leaps. The experiments in revolutions are being made in many nations, even in their natural partners such as the countries of the European Union,” Sergey Naryshkin wrote in the article published on Friday in the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily.

“It seems that the transatlantic plans to achieve absolute domination have transformed into an unhealthy maniacal idea,” he noted.

Naryshkin also wrote that in order to achieve this domination, the United States was skillfully using modern information technology in the propaganda field without any respect towards the sovereignty of independent nations or the principle of non-interference into their internal affairs.

“There are no morals or respect for international law in this situation. We cannot describe it as democracy,” he wrote.

The speaker went on to state the necessity of breaking the artificial connection between the internal politics of European nations and the processes developing in the international politics.

“While accepting the evident fact of ongoing globalization, sovereign nations must seek some constants in their economic and political systems that would guarantee their future from the influence of destructive mechanisms launched from the outside,” Naryshkin stated.

He then gave an example of such mechanism saying that the so-called “transatlantic forces” were aggressively imposing their will on European organizations and this resulted in the situation in which European groups distance from their original goals, lose their sovereignty and get staffed by people who are dependent from the “transatlantic forces.”

“The most vivid example of such organization is the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Only a key reform of this structure can put it back on the way of normal development and prevent it from becoming a completely marginal site,” Naryshkin wrote, noting also that the full restoration of the Russian delegation’s rights in PACE could be the first indicator of improvement.
- In a tweet on Sunday, Macron wrote: "The problem is not that the French no longer trust politics, it is that politicians no longer trust the French."

Macron did not confirm in his latest interview if he would seek the French presidency in the 2017 election, as has been widely speculated.

A Macron bid for the presidency would further harm Hollande’s chances of re-election, with polls already suggesting the unpopular Hollande would be unlikely to make it into a run-off.

A new poll by Odoxa conducted from September 1-2 showed that 74 percent of French voters thought Macron was right to resign and 45 percent would like him to run in the election, up from 40 percent in June.
- Malcolm Turnbull says a new anti-corruption plan and commitments to open trade and investment endorsed by the G20 will drive jobs and growth, and help balance budgets.

The annual summit in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou wrapped up on Monday night with the final communique committing the world's key economies to open trade, clearer investment rules, a forum to deal with steel over-production and greater support for poor nations.

It also outlined an anti-corruption action plan, which Mr Turnbull told the summit would lift G20 members' ambitions "to do more to put an end to illicit finance flows and to protect and secure budget revenue streams".

The communique called for "improved implementation of international transparency standards for the purposes of tackling corruption, tax evasion, terrorist financing, and money laundering".

Mr Turnbull told the summit protectionism was "not a ladder to get us out of the low growth trap - it's a shovel to dig that hole deeper".

"There is a real commitment to these objectives and a real recognition from all," he said of the G20 members.
- New infectious diseases put strong pressure on their hosts to evolve, leading to rapid changes in resistance or tolerance. Rapid evolution requires pre-existing genetic variation. Our results are surprising because Tasmanian devils have low levels of genetic diversity.

Evolution doesn’t just act on the devils; it also also acts on the disease. The disease evolves to not kill the host before it can spread to another host, but also to overcome the host’s defences. Over the long term, pathogen (the cause of the disease) and host usually evolve to live together as rabbits and Myxoma virus have evolved together.

Our results suggest that devils in the wild may save themselves through evolution. However, it is essential for managers to develop strategies that help the devils do so. For example, releasing fully susceptible devils that have had no exposure to the disease into populations where resistance is developing is likely to be counterproductive.

DFTD presents a unique opportunity to study the early stages of the evolution of a new disease and transmissible cancer with its animal host. Ultimately, through future research, we may understand how cancers can become transmissible and how their hosts respond.
- Google is trying again to end an advertisement tracking privacy violation court case brought against it in 2012, this time with a settlement offer of US$5.5 million (A$7.3 million).

At the heart of the legal action is Google's bypass of the default cookie settings in Apple's Safari for iOS and Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browsers. Cookies are small text files that web servers can place on site visitors' web browsers to record session and state information, among other things.

Users who had configured their browsers to block the placement of Google-owned DoubleClick ad-tracking cookies on their computers nevertheless found them on their machines.
- SYDNEY (Reuters) - A senior U.S. soldier said on Thursday Australia must choose between a stronger U.S. alliance or closer ties with China, and urged Canberra to take a tougher stance against Chinese claims in the South China Sea.

"I think the Australians need to make a choice ... it's very difficult to walk this fine line between balancing the alliance with the United States and the economic engagement with China," U.S. Army Assistant Chief of Staff Colonel Tom Hanson said on Australian Broadcasting Corp. Radio.

"There's going to have to be a decision as to which one is more of a vital national interest for Australia," he said, adding that this was his personal view, and not necessarily that of the U.S. government.

The comments follow the publication of a parliamentary booklet warning Australian lawmakers to treat Chinese motives in the region with caution.

Australia, a staunch U.S. ally, has previously drawn criticism from China for running surveillance flights over disputed islands in the South China Sea, and supporting U.S. freedom of navigation exercises there.

However, Australia has not conducted a unilateral freedom of navigation voyage of its own. A spokeswoman for Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop would not comment on future plans.

"Clearly China believes that they have an opportunity and they feel empowered to flout that, and a demonstration by Australia would be welcome," Hanson said.

China is Australia's largest trading partner and a large source of foreign investment, spending $11.1 billion on Australian assets, mostly property, in 2015, accounting and advisory firm KPMG and the University of Sydney have said.
- “It is known that the US has a number of projects in the field of biological research, particularly some joint research programs with our neighboring countries,” Lavrov said.

He added that the refusal of the US to create a monitoring mechanism for the execution of the BTWC indicates that “these projects are not entirely peaceful.” He also stressed that the US has shied away from discussing the issue.

Lavrov also said that Russia has developed principles for the creation of a convention on combating chemical and biological terrorism in cooperation with China, adding that this idea is widely supported.
US rejected Russian offer for cooperation on cyber-security

The US has shown no interest in cooperating with Russia on the issues of cyber-security, the foreign minister said as he delivered a speech to first-year MGIMO students on September 1.

He said that many Russian citizens accused of cyber-crimes by the US were detained in third countries and illegally transferred to America in the past. At the same time, Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office still has not received any official answer from the US on its offer of cooperation, which it sent almost a year ago.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) refused to give Russia any official written answer while several department officials said they “see no sense in such cooperation,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov also said that he had repeatedly discussed the issue with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who called the DOJ’s position “wrong” and said he would try to change the situation.
No prerequisites for new Cold War

The Russian foreign minister said that he sees “no prerequisites” for a new Cold War and called such a development “unlikely.” He also said that the current situation in the international arena “significantly differs” from the one that existed during the Cold War.

“In contrast to that period, we do not have ideological differences,” Lavrov said, adding that Russia and the US now have common principles, which the two countries share as members of the UN and OSCE.

At the same time, he stressed that many modern problems arise from the fact that Western countries and particularly the US are still trying to maintain global dominance and impede the formation of a new polycentric international system based on “mutual concessions and respect as well as understanding.”

Some countries try to impose their will on other states and resolve international problems in a way that only fits their own interests, Lavrov said.

“In fact, they pretend to have a monopoly on the truth and use a number of illegitimate coercive measures and unethical means to influence their partners, [such as] rewriting history or aggressive propagandist media campaigns, unilateral sanctions or sponsoring coups as well as fueling regional conflicts and direct military intervention,” the foreign minister said, apparently referring to

the current policy of the West towards Russia, Ukraine and the Middle East.
- Apple is tightening up the rules for its App Store and will start removing abandoned apps in an effort to sharpen quality and improve user experience.

In an email to developers overnight, Apple said it would soon start culling apps that no longer function as intended, are unsupported, and that don't follow the current App Store review guidelines.

It warned coders to take app development seriously and not to submit programs that look "like they were cobbled together in a few days".

"We have lots of serious developers who don't want their quality apps be surrounded by amateur hour," Apple said.

Any app that crashes during the review process will be rejected instantly. Any attempt at gaming the App Store system or cheating during the review process will result in the coder in question being expelled immediately from the Apple developer program, the company said.

Apple did not say how many apps are currently abandoned. At last count the App Store had over two million apps available, with 100,000 new and updated programs submitted each week, the company said.

Starting September 8 Australian time, Apple will begin evaluating abandoned apps. If found lacking, developers will be notified and asked to submit an update within 30 days.

If the developers fail to provide updates, their apps will be removed from the App Store.

Apple also wants developers to stop using "extremely long names which include descriptions and terms not directly related to the app". From this month it will restrict app names to 50 characters.
- US foreign policy veteran Henry Kissinger says he will not endorse any of the 2016 presidential candidates in the race for the White House, rejecting reports that the Republican guru will publicly back Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

In a statement released on Friday, Kissinger, who served as national security adviser and secretary of state under former Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, asserted that he and George Shultz, who was secretary of state under former President Ronald Reagan, had no plans to endorse any candidate.

“We are not making any endorsement in the current presidential election,” the two former secretaries of state said in a joint statement provided to the Time magazine. “We are dedicated to fostering a bipartisan foreign policy, and we will devote ourselves to this effort now and after the election.”
- Yemeni army forces have launched a locally designed and manufactured ballistic missile towards an area deep inside Saudi Arabia in response to Riyadh’s atrocious aerial bombardment against the crisis-stricken Arab country.

On Friday, the media bureau of the operations command in Yemen released footage showing the missile attack against a stationary target in the Saudi city of Ta'if, located more than 700 kilometers (434 miles) southeast of the capital, Riyadh.

The video shows the Borkan-1 (Volcano-1) blasting off from a launcher deployed in an unknown location in Yemen. The voice of a man can be clearly heard as he chants slogans against the United States and Israel.

The solid propellant and Scud-type Borkan-1 missile reportedly has a range of more than 800 kilometers (497 miles).
- The US Air Force has started a $12 billion program to upgrade its aging fleet of F-15 warplanes, in an attempt to keep the three-decade old jet on par with Russian and Chinese models.

 Under the new program, a total of 435 aircraft will receive new radars, more modern mission computers, upgraded communication tools, advanced infrared search and track capabilities and electronic warfare systems, the US media reported Friday.

The upgrades will allow the F-15 to carry out missions in concert with more advanced warplanes while extending its lifespan until at least 2040.

The so-called Strike Eagle aircraft were first slated to be replaced with F-22 Raptor stealth jets, but the fifth-generation warplane’s production was ceased in 2009 due to high cost. Only 188 of the planned 749 F-22s were ever produced.

“Our potential adversaries are keenly aware of the importance of air superiority to our nation's way of war,” CNN quoted Air Force spokesman Major Robert Leese as saying. “This is why they continue to seek ways to contest our advantage in the air through the development and proliferation of new weapon systems.”

“To maintain this advantage, the Air Force must not only develop new systems of our own, but continue to upgrade the capabilities of our legacy systems like the F-15,” he said.

Boeing spokesman Randy Jackson said his company was going modify some of the F-15s to carry 16 missiles, two times the standard eight.

Despite getting all the advanced equipment, the F-15 would still lack the F-22’s stealth capability, which means the aircraft would have a hard time evading radars.
- As we wound up the interview, I asked for some key points.

    It is still too easy to breach security. You don’t have to be super sophisticated to get into a company and use cyber-crime tools as a service
    Cloud is one of the biggest challenges, but it will be solved
    We want to trust employees – the human factor – but that takes proactive education programs and changes in attitudes
    Social media is a new attack vector as is highly sophisticated social engineering
    Every business is likely to suffer a data breach at some point so you need to prepare to respond quickly and effectively to limit the damage, and you practice that response, all the time. So when the real deal happens, you're ready.
    Businesses that are hacked need to stop blaming the bogeyman and saying “It was a highly sophisticated attack -well beyond anything we could have predicted or protected against” – that’s plain rubbish. Mea Culpa – get over it and fix the issues
    And at the end of the day security – physical and cyber – is a serious job
    It needs to be resourced and part of the Board discussions – it is risk management

The two hours passed in a flash – and every bullet point above probably deserves companion articles.
- What I found is one of the clearest illustrations of how the pace of journalism has changed in the past 25 years: Even as newsrooms are smaller than ever, they’re producing far more journalism—at least in the realm of presidential campaign coverage. And that’s largely because of how technology has upended the journalism industry as it once operated. In the mobile internet age, the appetite for round-the-clock, real-time news is insatiable. Between 1994 and 2014, the industry cut over 20,000 jobs, representing a 39 percent decline, according to a Pew report earlier this year. And yet, among the newspapers I looked at, there were more than double the amount of articles written about Hillary Clinton over a 13-month period in 2015 and 2016 than there were written about her husband over the same time period when he ran for president in 1992.  (The coverage from this year includes online-only stories produced by newspapers, whereas the coverage from 1992 only comes from print stories.)
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/09/trumps-media-saturation-quantified/498389/
An integrated jamming system to screen strategic facilities from cruise missiles, smart bombs and drones using GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and Beidou global positioning systems for homing has entered service with the Russian armed forces, the newspaper Izvestiya wrote citing a Defense Ministry source in Moscow.

Dubbed as POLE-21, the system consists of jamming modules installed on mobile phone towers and working as a single whole to cover entire areas and making them impregnable to satellite navigation systems.

Besides being powered by a tower’s circuit, the Pole-21 modules also use their GSM antennas as a backup channel for signal control and transmission. “The system has already been successfully tested and is now operational,” the source told the newspaper.

All the four global positioning systems whose signals are effectively deflected by Pole-21 work within the 1176.45 and 1575.42 MHz range. Even a 20 watt transmitter is enough for Pole-21 to jam all signals in this range within a radius of 80 kilometers.

Pole-21 has one downside though. While generating radio interference against the enemy using the GPS satellite navigation systems, it does the same to domestic users of GPS and its Russian analogue – GLONASS.
- The US Treasury Department today announced the addition of a number of companies to their list of sanctions related to the Crimean Peninsula, this time going after companies involved in the construction of the Kerch Strait bridge, which links the peninsula to Russia.

This included multiple Russian bridge-building companies, and several subsidiaries of OAO Gazprom. 11 Crimean officials were also sanctioned over the construction, which intends to build a $3.2 billion bridge spanning 19km.

The Treasury Department insisted this showed they continue “condemning Russia’s violation of international law, and we will continue to sanction those who threaten Ukraine’s peace.” The US objects to Crimea’s 2014 secession from Ukraine and its accession into the Russian Federation.

At the same time, the bridge plan was initially made between Russian and Ukrainian officials way back in 2010. Ukraine only withdrew from the bridge construction deal in late 2014, after Crimea had already seceded, and primarily with an eye toward doing economic harm to the peninsula. Russian officials have not commented on the new sanctions, but it is doubtful the sanctions will have any impact on the plan.
- 7 Things About The Mainstream Media That They Do Not Want You To Know - Based On A Photo By Doug WaldronHave you ever wondered who controls the mainstream media?  In America today, we are more “connected” than ever.  The average American watches 153 hours of television a month, and we also spend countless hours watching movies, playing video games, listening to music, reading books and surfing the Internet.  If someone could control the production of all of that media, that would make them immensely powerful.  They would literally be in a position to tell people what to think.  Well, what if I told you that there are just six enormous media conglomerates that combine to produce about 90 percent of all the media that Americans consume.  Would that alarm you?  It should alarm you.  The truth is that our attitudes, opinions and beliefs are greatly shaped by what we allow into our minds.  After all, they don’t call it “programming” for no reason.  Even those of us that realize that we are connected to “the matrix” probably greatly underestimate the tremendous influence that the media has over us.  We live at a time when it is absolutely imperative to think for ourselves, but most Americans are being absolutely overwhelmed with information and seem more than content to let others do their thinking for them.  Sadly, this is greatly contributing to the downfall of our society.

And of course the mainstream media desperately does not want you to look at “the man behind the curtain”.  They just want you to stay plugged into the “programming” that they are feeding you without asking any questions.

Fortunately, a growing minority of Americans are waking up and are starting to reject the mainstream media.  An increasing number of people are beginning to recognize that the mainstream media is the mouthpiece of the establishment and that it is promoting the agenda of the establishment.
- While Sony's IFA events focused on the new top-shelf Signature Series, it is accompanied by the launch of a new entry-level NW-A30 series Hi-Res Audio Walkman, with the new $349 NW-A35 replacing last year's $279 NW-A25.

While the new entry-level model is more expensive, it adds a larger display which is now a touchscreen. The NW-A30 series does not feature a 4.4mm audio jack but supports the DSD Hi-Res Audio format and LDAC Bluetooth found in the high-end models.
- “The most common theme in my parenting classes is that the biggest trigger for anger is children’s lack of co-operation,” Mike says. “But we’re living in a world of information overload. Children have access to incredible information, such as social media and apps. It’s instant gratification and just another distraction from being present. That can have a catastrophic effect on children. They are consumed by social media and games, staying up later and becoming preoccupied. They are bored out of their skulls by real life. Meaning they are becoming less and less cooperative. And parents are getting angrier about it every year.”

Part of the reason that parents get so angry is lack of emotional articulacy. “It is hard for British parents to own up to their own feelings. There’s a lack of education around it. So I don’t have parents actually telling a child that they feel angry or scared or vulnerable. When we’re running late, tired or stressed, instead of telling our children how we feel, we resort instead to shaming and blaming the child.”

So parents are guilty of projecting their own stresses on to their children? “Exactly. And we’re living in a world getting more stressful all the time. There’s no opportunity for peace and quiet because of the nature of our lifestyles and environments. If we don’t know how to manage it, it all gets projected. People dump on their children all the time.”

Despite the explosion of online emotional sharing, Mike thinks that fundamentally, the British stiff upper lip remains embedded in our psyche. “We hold on to our resentment, we hold on to our anger – we see the inside and just act it out.”

Is parenting idealised to the point that people are doomed to fail and then get furious about it? “As a culture, there is something about doing things well that we really value. It feeds our confidence or self-esteem, so we strive for perfection. When we don’t achieve that we blame our children.”

He makes it clear that once people become parents, they are unwittingly drawn into an invisible, tangled web of competition with not just their partner but also their peer group and their own past. “One of the reasons parents put themselves under too much pressure is because of the way they were brought up. Either they don’t want to parent their children the way they were, so they overextend themselves and over-compensate. Or their parents were brilliant and people try to match that, which can be competitive too.”
- Technology, media, pharmaceutical and other companies, along with major corporate lobbying groups, filed legal briefs on Friday in support of a Microsoft Corp lawsuit that aims to strike down a law preventing companies from telling customers the government is seeking their data. Friday was the deadline for filing of friend-of-the-court briefs by nonparticipants in the case. The filings show broad support for Microsoft and the technology industry in its latest high-profile clash with the U.S. Justice Department over digital privacy and surveillance.

Microsoft’s backers included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, Delta Air Lines Inc, Eli Lilly and Co, BP America, the Washington Post, Fox News, the National Newspaper Association, Apple Inc, Alphabet Inc’s Google, Amazon.com Inc, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and many others. Microsoft filed its lawsuit in Seattle federal court in April, arguing that a law allowing the government to seize computer data located on third-party computers and often barring companies from telling their customers that they are targets is unconstitutional.
- The recent Falcon 9 rocket explosion badly damaged SpaceX's Florida launch pad at Cape Canaveral, meaning the company’s primary launch site is out of commission for the foreseeable future. But while that pad undergoes repairs, SpaceX says it can continue launching vehicles from its two other launch sites — one in California and another one in Cape Canaveral.

That doesn’t mean the company will be getting back to its regular flight schedule just yet, though. SpaceX’s California launch pad can only be used for certain types of missions to space, and the second Florida pad isn’t quite ready to support launches just yet.

The pad damaged in Thursday’s explosion is located at Launch Complex 40 — a site at the Cape that SpaceX leases from the US Air Force. It’s the pad that SpaceX uses for most of its launches: of the eight Falcon 9s the company has launched this year, seven took off from Launch Complex 40. Not being able to use the pad is going to significantly throw off SpaceX’s busy launch schedule for the rest of the year. The company is currently trying to figure out how long it’s going to take to get the site back to normal. "The pad clearly incurred damage, but the scope has yet to be fully determined," said SpaceX in an update on Friday. "We will share more data as it becomes available."
at
Labels: , , , ,

Dodgy Job Contract Clauses, Random Stuff, and More

- in this post we'll be going through dodgy job contract clauses. Ironically, many of which are actually unlawful and unenforceable on c...