Quantum Mechanics

The essence of Quantum Mechanics concerned with Quantum computing is fairly straightforwards: all possiblities simultaneously exist.

Huh?

Think of a parallel universe to this one. In this parallel universe, your hair is a different color to now. Everything else is the same, only your hair is different. Now, think of several parallel universes existing at the same time. In each, your hair is a different color.

Now do it with every conceivable color you can think of: pink, red, green, blue, lilac, black, white, grey ...

Each of these possibilities exist right now. The quantum box is closed. Your hair color is 'superpositioned'.

Now decide what color it is.

So it is with everything within a closed Quantum system.

Translated to computing ... current computers work on a binary system; ones and zeros. It is either on (one) or off (zero). To arrive at any solution, computers basically number crunch until they arrive at the answer through a set of predetermined instructions.

Quantum computing is different. There is a third state: both on and off. Once measured, it is either on or off (one or zero). Prior to that, the answer has already been calculated but without the number crunching, since every possible binary outcome already exists. The difficulty has always been arriving at the correct answer.

Not any more. The final hurdles have been tentatively crossed and strides are being made. Todays most sophisticated supercomputer will one day seem like an abacus.

Schrödinger's Cat

Keeping on the cat theme, let me introduce you to Schrödinger's Cat. I am assuming your eyes glazed over and you read about four or five words of the previous post. Most people would skip it.

Ok, some guy called Schrödinger has a cat, big deal.

Ah, but Schrödinger was an evil bastard, theoretically speaking, because he devised an experiment which involved a cat, a box, deadly poison and radioactive isotope. My kinda guy! (see Bloody Cat). Anyway, back to Schrödinger's Cat and the theoretical experiment;

• place one cat into a soundproof box
• add canister of cyanide
• add radioactive-isotope-triggered release mechanism (50% chance of triggering cyanide)
• wait

Now, without opening the box, is the cat alive or dead?

This is what's called a closed quantum system. One where every possibility exists. So the cat is either alive, dead, or both.

Once measured (the box opened), then a definite state exists, so the cat is either alive, or it is dead. Prior to that, the box is said to be 'superpositioned', meaning that all conceivable options are still in existence, so the cat may be both alive and dead.

Quantum mechanics in action.

Quantum Computing

Quantum Qubits and Quiet Reflection

Quantum computing is set to revolutionise the way we work. Trouble is, it could crack any of today's security codes in a fraction of a second, says Charles Arthur

26 January 2005

When bankers and spies begin to worry about advances in computing, the rest of us would do well to take notice. What makes them edgy are the advances being made in "quantum computing", which is, as might be expected from the name, as entangled and confusing a field to understand as the branch of physics on which it is based - quantum mechanics.

But a banker doesn't need to be able to understand quantum physics to know that a computer capable of breaking any of the world's encryption codes as soon as it is turned on could mean serious problems for the bank's financial system. Systems used to transfer funds around the world every day rely on encryption that takes milliseconds to encode, but, in theory, millions of years to crack, by even the most powerful computers. And governments routinely use encryption to pass on secret messages.

Quantum computing threatens that, which is why bankers and governments are paying particular interest to a field that barely existed a decade ago. Although the physicist Richard Feynman put forward the ideas that are the basis of the subject in 1982, the wider interest took off only after a researcher called Peter Shor demonstrated - theoretically - in 1994 that a computer with enough "quantum bits" could effortlessly crack modern encryption.

Interest in the field has now taken hold across the world. Professor Apostol Vourdas, of Bradford University's computing department, has just won a £62,000 grant to co-ordinate a network of universities and companies including HP and Hitachi in a quantum computing project. He is working with five PhD students. "The computing side is just one aspect of the field," he says. "The whole field of quantum technology is growing, taking in communications, computing and cryptography."

The reason for this burgeoning interest is twofold. First, computers as we know them can't keep getting faster. "Moore's Law", which was coined in the 1970s at Intel, predicts that every 18 months the number of transistors (the building blocks of processors and memory) doubles in any given area of integrated circuits, making the machine more powerful. But eventually physical reality will intervene; at some point between 2010 and 2020, the transistors will no longer be shrinkable, because the electrons that carry the signals will leak out. Some of that effect is already visible. In the past two years, Intel, IBM and Motorola, the biggest chip-makers, have had problems with the reliability of chips with 65-nanometre parts.

Second, quantum computing and calculation offer a whole new approach to solving problems. That's because quantum computing uses some of the weird aspects of subatomic particles such as electrons and photons to do its calculations. Both electrons and photos can have a quality called "spin", which is either "up" or "down"; in the quantum computing field these are often used as the "0" and "1" of conventional binary calculation.

What marks out quantum computers is that they don't have to proceed through their calculations step by step. Physicists say that any closed quantum system has a "superposition" of all possible states. Remember "Schrödinger's Cat"? This is a theoretical experiment about a cat trapped in a soundproof box with a cyanide canister that would be let off if a radioactive particle decayed, of which there is a 50-50 chance. Clearly, when you open the box, the cat is either alive or dead. But is it alive or dead before you open the box? Arguably, it is both; by opening the box, you "collapse" its alive-and-dead state into one or the other.

A quantum computer takes this idea to the extreme. The "quantum bits" (qubits) are, in theory, in every possible binary configuration, all at the same time. It's as though your computer was simultaneously doing every calculation you'd ever asked it, or ever would, or could.

If you were very determined, you could create a quantum computer using cats in boxes with radioactive particles and cyanide. When the time came to see what the answer was, you'd open the boxes. Let alive be your "1", and dead be your "0", and you'd have the beginnings of a quantum machine. Two problems, though: the RSPCA wouldn't like it, and what calculation would it be answering?

The problem of getting quantum computers to give the correct answers has stumped researchers in recent years. Yes, you can set up lots of "qubits", but getting them to collapse into the answer you want is harder.

The first working quantum computer, which was able to make calculations with two qubits, was demonstrated in 1998. IBM's Almaden Research Center then made the running for the next three years, demonstrating a three-qubit machine in 1999, a five-qubit one in 2001, and then a seven-qubit version - using 10 billion billion molecules, each of seven atoms, to show factors of the number 15.

How useful is that, you might wonder? But 15 is special, as the product of two prime numbers. Most modern cryptography encrypts data by wrapping it in a huge, unique number, produced by multiplying two large prime numbers together. While standard computers are good at multiplying, they are not so good at the reverse, called "factoring" (you can see the challenge: try working out the factors of 221).

But quantum computers, directed correctly, are able to produce instant answers to enormous factorisation challenges. They don't have to go through any intermediate steps, because one of the superposed states already holds the correct answer.

Which is where the banks and governments begin to take fright, and seek newer forms of cryptography to defend against this. Happily, the same technique that cracks the old system produces a newer, even more powerful one - much to the relief of the financial institutions that rely on secure transactions. Quantum cryptography has already moved from theory into the real world; in April 2004, Bank Austria Creditanstalt used quantum cryptography to make a real bank transfer to the city hall of Vienna.

Quantum cryptography really is unbreakable between two points. It uses a peculiar property of quantum particles - if they are generated together, they will be "entangled". This is rather like identical twins. Look at one, and you know what the other looks like. The result is that you can create two identical cryptographic keys. Send one to your recipient, and be certain of two things: their key really will be the same, and, if someone tries to tap your transmission of the key, they will collapse the system so that the recipient won't get a working key. Trying to tap quantum cryptography will prevent it being sent, but the tapper will be none the wiser about the content.

Yet some might say that quantum computing is not making the progress that was expected of it. In 2000, Brian Oakley, who chaired a European study group into the possibilities of such machines, said: "I wouldn't be surprised to see applications [of quantum computing] in five years' time." Well, 2005 has dawned, but the machines haven't.

Vourdas, however, is confident that their time will come - eventually. "In the 1940s, electronic computers were thought to be an intellectual exercise that wouldn't really be made in practice. Yet 30 years later, you could buy them in shops. Quantum computing isn't an outgrowth of classical computing, but a revolutionary step forward." The first transistors, made at AT&T in 1947, were huge. Now they're so tiny you might be surrounded by hundreds at any given moment.

Vourdas adds: "Remember that, 40 years ago, computers needed huge rooms. Presently, a quantum computer might need to be cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero [to control the photons] and a huge space. But that will change. It will go mainstream."

For People Who Have No Life

I came across this on Dave Barry's blog

For people who have no life, I give you; The Airline Napkin Wipeoreum

Make Love Not War: Strange Sex Laws

Abnormally Normal People: Make Love Not War: Strange Sex Laws

I was rummaging around and came across this on Abnormally Normal People, a blog on MSN Spaces:

In Ventura County, California, cats and dogs are not allowed to have sex without a permit.

A law in Oblong, Illinois makes it a crime to make love while fishing or hunting on your wedding day.

In Ames, Iowa a husband may not take more than three gulps of beer while lying in bed with his wife.

A law in Alexandria, Minnesota makes it illegal for a husband to make love to his wife if his breath smells like garlic, onions, or sardines.

Hotel owners in Hastings, Nebraska are required by law to provide a clean, white cotton nightshirt to each guest. According to the law, no couple may have sex unless they are wearing the nightshirts. (Does this replace the customary paper bag placed on the head?)

In Nevada sex without a condom is considered illegal.

In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania it is illegal to have sex with a truck driver inside a toll booth.

In Kingsville, Texas, there is a law against two pigs having sex on the city's airport property.

In the state of Washington there is a law against having sex with a virgin under any circumstances.

In Connorsville, Wisconsin no man shall shoot off a gun while his female partner is having a sexual orgasm. (Did they mean, gun as in "firearm" or ...)

The only acceptable sexual position in Washington D.C. is the missionary-style position. Any other sexual position is considered illegal.

In Bakersfield, California, anyone having intercourse with Satan must use a condom.

In Minnesota, it is illegal for any man to have sexual intercourse with a live fish. (Must kill them first, apparently)

Bozeman, Montana, has a law that bans all sexual activity between members of the opposite sex in the front yard of a home after sundown -- if they're nude.

In hotels in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, every room is required to have twin beds. And the beds must always be a minimum of two feet apart when a couple rents a room for only one night. And it's illegal to make love on the floor between the beds!

An ordinance in Newcastle, Wyoming, specifically bans couples from having sex while standing inside a store's walk-in meat freezer!

A state law in Illinois mandates that all bachelors should be called master, not mister, when addressed by their female counterparts. (Why isn't this the law everywhere???)

In Romboch, Virginia, it is illegal to engage in sexual activity with the lights on.

In Merryville, Missouri, women are prohibited from wearing corsets because "the privilege of admiring the curvaceous, unencumbered body of a young woman should not be denied to the normal, red-blooded American male."

It's safe to make love while parked in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Police officers aren't allowed to walk up and knock on the window. Any suspicious officer who thinks that sex is taking place must drive up from behind, honk his horn three times and wait approximately two minutes before getting out of his car to investigate. (Plenty of time for the entire act and cigarette. Isn't it ...?)

A law in Helena, Montana, mandates that a woman can't dance on a table in a saloon or bar unless she has on at least three pounds, two ounces of clothing.

Anywhere in the U.S., it's illegal to use any live endangered species, excepting insects, in public or private sexual displays, shows or exhibits depicting cross-species sex. (Altogether now: eeeeeeewww!)

Lovers in Liberty Corner, New Jersey, should avoid satisfying their lustful urges in a parked car. If the horn accidentally sounds while they are frolicking behind the wheel, the couple can face a jail term.

In Carlsbad, New Mexico, it's legal for couples to have sex in a parked vehicle during their lunch break from work, as long as the car or van has drawn curtains to stop strangers from peeking in.

Women aren't allowed to wear patent-leather shoes in Cleveland, Ohio - a man might see the reflection of something "he oughtn't!" (Heh! Wonder if mirrored footwear would ever become a fashion?)

No woman may have sex with a man while riding in an ambulance within the boundaries of Tremonton, Utah. If caught, the woman can be charged with a sexual misdemeanor and "her name is to be published in the local newspaper." The man isn't charged nor is his name revealed.

It is illegal for any member of the Nevada Legislature to conduct official business wearing a penis costume while the legislature is in session. (One can only wonder!)

Now Call Me Paranoid If You Like

Call me paranoid if you like, but this technology thing is starting to get a bit spooky.

Now my own blog won't publish my comments! I just noticed I am several comments short of a blog.

Oh, oh, and see below bemoaning how Blogshares stole my um, blogshares This could turn into an obsession ...

It gets spookier, still! After writing this ... the blog published my comment ... creepy huh?

Man and Machine

This year seems to have started off on a technological sour note. Not only did the squirt-happy cat fry the USB ports but it seems the ignomy of being moved was too much for the power unit on my trusty-steed (I'm hoping if I refer to it by animal references, the you-know-what will keep running without any further problems).

Yesterday, the cooling-fan began to sound like a psychotic wasp on steroids. Today the painful squeal meant thinking anywhere within 20 metres of base unit was out of the question. I replaced the power box and it is now purring away happily.

The car has decided it is not co-operating. It tried playing dead but a new battery foiled its wicked plans. Then it decided to refuse to heat the inside of the car; never a good thing in a Scottish winter -- but some replacement electrical connectors got the heater going again. The boot (trunk) locking mechanism is now playing possum and the gearbox suddenly developed a loud crunch when going into 3rd.

The mechanic assured me the car is not;

1. haunted
2. cursed
3. "Christine" from the Stephen King novel of the same name
4. developing a rebelious artificial intelligence which will go on to take over the world
5. in a huff

He says it's a synchro-whatchamacallit and he can fix it "nae bother".

Yes, man and machine -- a harmonious union so long as the machine is ok about it.

Bloody Cat - Update

Well, I've replaced my fried computer components which now allows my computer to talk to my printer. Wonder what they talk about? The weather? Cats? Dunno. Anyway, they are speaking again and I can print stuff.

As a final insult, the cat, knowing he had been rumbled and too wary to come near my computer, decided the plant in the other corner was the perfect place to spray. Only after making certain I was watching him, did he release a volley onto the unfortunate plant. Yuk. The cat got launched out the door.

The Bloody Cat!

Several years ago, myself and my family rescued a starving, pitifully thin, flea infested, wretch of a cat. One day, my wife fed the birds with some stale bread and a short time later, noticed a miserable looking scrap of a cat eating the bread.

Taking pity on its plight, we started giving it some food whenever it came around. It was very suspicious of our motives but since it was starving, it would snaffle the meat, always keeping one eye on the person feeding. It had to be hand-fed as the other cats in the area would get to it first otherwise.

This went on for some months and even as winter deepened, the cat refused to enter the house, preferring instead, to be thrown scraps of meat a little ways from the back door.

The tom had taken to coming around every day when all of a sudden, it disappeared one New Year's. Several days went by without seeing the cat, each bitterly cold, particularly at night when the temperature gauge would plummet to well below zero degrees C.

Around the 4th or the 5th of January, the cat reappeared at the back door; weakened, dehydrated, coughing and shivering with cold. I didn't hold out much hope for him but I brought him indoors. A week earlier, I would not have been able to get near enough to pick him up. Stroke with arm outstretched, yes. But pick him up? No way, no how, no sir.

By this time, the tom cat was so ill and exhausted, he was past caring. He had obviously been accidently locked in an outbuilding or a shed and had spent almost a week without food or water and in sub-zero temperatures.

A hot-water bottle was hastily filled with warm water and wrapped in a towel. Careful not to make it too warm, I added another towel and then got a third which I placed around the cat once he was sitting on the wrapped hot-water bottle.

A little saucer, with just a touch of water was brought to his lips and he sipped weakly. Some scraps of cooked meat were carefully broken into tiny pieces and placed to his lips. He managed a few small chunks before he fell asleep. He survived the night, using up at least one life and we were now 'adopted' as his family.

And how does the bastard repay me? By defiling my computer with his tom-spray! The evil feline, neutered as he is, still sprays from time to time. When he gets pissed off about something he shows his displeasure by pointing his back end at my computer and looking me right in the eye.

Have you ever tried reasoning with a cat? Exactly. For some reason, his majesty was ticked off about something and since I was out at the car and not around to chase him, he squirted the foul-smelling kitty-spray all over the base unit of my computer.

The bastard! Before I figured out what the nasty smell was, one of my USB connectors got fried and despite my best efforts of a total dismantling and thorough cleaning, I keep getting an intermittent message that one of my USB devices has malfunctioned.

Bloody cat!

Blogshares stole my blog ... er, shares, um, blogshares

Yes, the evil "System", stole my Blogshares and I am not a happy bunny. I scrimped and scraped to earn enough B$ to buy and own my own blog; wheeled and dealed, traded and triumphed, and now, while 'cleaning up the database' , the evil "system" sold my own blog out from under me!

Of course, I have complained bitterly to the 'powers that leave strange messages in the status line and at the bottom of the screen', but I think it is part of a sinister plot to thwart my unstoppable march to Bloggal domination ... mwhaaahahahahahahaha.

10 Things We Learned About Blogs

Blogging Can Get You Fired
When Delta flight attendant Ellen Simonetti, 30—a leggy blond and self-styled "queen of the sky"—began her blog, she thought it would be fun to post pinup snapshots of herself in uniform. Delta wasn't amused and promptly fired her. Undaunted, Simonetti retitled the blog Diary of a Fired Flight Attendant and detailed her legal battle to get her job back.

GO TO: queenofsky.journalspace.com

Bloggers Get Scoops Too
After book editor Russ Kick read that the U.S. military was clamping down on press photos of coffins coming back from Iraq, he didn't just pen an angry rant on his blog, the Memory Hole. He filed a Freedom of Information Act request—and embarrassingly for the Pentagon, was mailed a CD from the Air Force with 361 coffin snaps, which he promptly posted. The national press, which hadn't thought to ask whether the military had pictures, beat a path to Kick's door.

GO TO: thememoryhole.org

Bloggers Keep News Alive
So your blog hasn't succeeded in getting national attention for your pet issue? Don't lose heart. Just blog, link and repeat. It worked for conservative bloggers like Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit, who trumpeted the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's claims this summer, as well as for liberal blogs like Daily Kos, which investigated evidence that President Bush wore a wire in his first debate. Some of the issues had questionable merit, but persistent bloggers made the subjects tough to ignore. Say it enough times online, and someone is bound to hear you.

GO TO: Instapundit.com, dailykos.com

Bloggers Can Be Titillating
In May a blog graphically detailing the sex life of an anonymous Capitol Hill staff member prompted D.C.'s most intriguing game of guess-the-author since Primary Colors. Jessica Cutler, a.k.a. Washingtonienne, was later outed and fired by her boss, Ohio Republican Mike DeWine, for "inappropriate use of Senate computers." (Her site is not for kids.) In another sign of the times, her first postfiring interview was with Wonkette, another Washington blogger.

GO TO: washingtoniennearchive.blogspot.com, wonkette.com

Bloggers Can Be Fakers
Plain Layne, a highly personal blog supposedly belonging to a Minnesota lesbian named Layne Johnson that drew thousands of fans over 3 1/2 years before mysteriously disappearing, was revealed to be a hoax. Hundreds of fans helped track down the real author, Odin Soli, 35, a male entrepreneur from Woodbury, Minn. Later in the year, fake Bill Clinton and Andy Kaufman blogs became hits.

GO TO: plainlayne.dreamhost.com, billclintondailydiary.blogspot.com

Bloggers Make Money
Earn a living in your pajamas! Online ads (along with Google's automated ad server) allow popular bloggers to go pro. Joshua Micah Marshall of talkingpointsmemo.com, a political blog, says he makes $5,000 a month from banner ads—enough to hire a research assistant.

GO TO: talkingpointsmemo.com

Most Bloggers Are Women
Men may have taken the lead in the early (read: geeky) days of blogging, but that's not the case now. According to a survey of more than 4 million blogs by Perseus Development, 56% were created by women. More bad news for the boys: men are more likely than women to abandon their blog once it's created. Call blogging a 21st century room of one's own.

GO TO: blogsisters.blogspot.com

Candidates Love Blogs
O.K., so Howard Dean never wrote his blog. But his campaign workers posted a surprisingly intimate online diary of life on the road, and Dean had collected $20 million in contributions via the Internet alone by the end of January 2004. It didn't take long for other politicos to catch on. When New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer announced that he was running for Governor this month, he did so on his blog.

GO TO: blog.deanforamerica.com, spitzer2006.com

Pets Have Blogs Too
It started as an in-joke among feline-friendly bloggers: why not post pictures of their cats every Friday afternoon? Friday catblogging became a hit, and soon even NASA was playing along by posting pictures of the Cat's Eye nebula.

GO TO: carnivalofthecats.com

Anyone Can Do It
Blogs wouldn't be such a democratic medium if they weren't so easy to set up. The most popular service, Blogger, owned by Google, boasts features like push-button photoblogging. Microsoft has launched a trial version of its own blogging service.

GO TO: blogger.com, spaces.msn.com

Ahem, 'reproduced' from Time Magazine

Blogger Fired For Comments In Blog

Edinburgh Man Fired For Blog Comments

"Shortly before Christmas, in the spirit of that season, my manager at Waterstone’s asked me to come into the office. Within a few, short moments I was told that for comments I had posted on this web site I was now subject to an enquiry to determine if I should face a disciplinary hearing for ‘gross misconduct’ because I had ‘brought the company into disrepute’. I was informed (more than once) that this could cause my dismissal. I was suspended on pay and escorted from the premises of the bookstore I had worked in for eleven years."

What a FABULOUS way for the company to get free publicity!

I really should have some sympathy but to be honest, I don't. Not a bit. When you are an employee of a national chain of bookstores; in this case, "Waterstone's", and you whinge about your work online in a blog read by ... wait for it ... work colleagues and probably your boss, one thing you don't do is comment on your workplace by calling it "Bastardstone's", and expect to get away with it. It has taken them years and years and probably millions of ££'s to build their brand.

Smart move on the part of the management, I say. Fire the twerp-employee and wait for the story to get taken up by the media. Oodles and oodles of free publicity and the unspoken message that brand will be defended. Overall Brand-Reputation up and more customers.

Or maybe they didn't think quite like that were just pissed. Either way -- his loss, their gain.

Antibiotics may 'block nerve damage'

Antibiotics 'block nerve damage'

A family of antibiotics including penicillin may help prevent nerve damage in a variety of neurological diseases, research has found.

In lab tests on mice a team from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found the drugs turn on protective genes

In the brain, a chemical called glutamate normally excites nerves so that electrical signals can travel from one to the next.

But too much of the chemical can over stimulate and kill nerves, leading to disease.

Antibiotics appear to tackle the problem by triggering genes which control production of a protein called GLT1, which can transport excess glutamate away from nerve endings.

Researcher Professor Jeffrey Rothstein said: "It would be extremely premature for patients to ask for or take antibiotics on their own.

"Only a clinical trial can prove whether one of these antibiotics can help and is safe if taken for a long time."

Premature? With ALS - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) - on average, the progression from diagnosis to complete paralysis occurs in three to five years. How long should someone wait, I wonder?

Woman Tore off Ex-Lover's Testicle

Woman Tore off Ex-Lover's Testicle, Court Told

A jilted woman today admitted ripping off her ex-lover’s testicle with her bare hands after he refused to have sex with her.

Amanda Monti, 24, flew into a rage after her ex-boyfriend, 37-year-old Geoffrey Jones, rejected her advances at the end of a drunken house party.

She yanked off his left testicle, which was later handed to him by a friend with the words: “That’s yours.”

Monti, of Birkenhead, Merseyside, pleaded guilty to wounding at Liverpool Crown Court today and will be sentenced next month.

Mr Jones threw petite Monti, who is little more than 5ft 2ins tall, out of the house. She then smashed a window and confronted him on the doorstep as he went to investigate.

“Suddenly she grabbed my genitals and pulled hard. That caused my underpants to come off and I found I was completely naked and in excruciating pain.”

Monti initially tried to hide the testicle by putting it in her mouth, but released it. Doctors were unable to re-attach the organ.

shudder

Google exposes web surveillance cams

Google exposes web surveillance cams

Blogs and message forums buzzed this week with the discovery that a pair of simple Google searches permits access to well over 1,000 unprotected surveillance cameras around the world - apparently without their owners' knowledge.

Who could resist?

google search of surveillance cams

Secunia warns of flaws in IE

Secunia warns of flaws in IE

Secunia have warned of multiple vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer (again).

Considered Extremely Critical, the advice from Earthtimes.org is to do the following:

"Disable Internet Explorer Active X support, turn off the "drag-and-drop" or "copy-and-paste files" option across a domain, or switch to another Web browser unless you want to face a Hack attack on your PC, warns the security firm Secunia. They have discovered three very critical flaws in the IE and have issued security notice on its website."

Do yourself a favour and switch browsers now!

Well, that sucks!

Previously, I had dumped most of the premium channels on Sky, such as Movies and Sports because they were absolute crap; no Scottish premiership football, out-dated movies regurgitated ad nauseum, movies which were low quality in the first place ... what's the point of paying for a service you don't get?

Now, Sky have taken the decision to move WWE Wrestling from Sky One to Sky Sports and the only way to watch it is if you stump up for the full sports package. My son is a huge fan and has been for years as the huge pile of WWE merchandise he owns testifies to.

It's a low-down, dirty trick to move WWE to premium. Loads of kids are going to be disappointed. Maybe if Sky addressed the crappy programming schedules we are subjected to week after week instead of using kiddie-nag-factor-marketing to squeeze more money out of parent customers, they would have a stronger, long-term support base, instead of long-term grudge-bearers?

Burning Man 2004 Temple of Stars - Fullscreen QuickTime VR Panoramic image

Burning Man 2004 Temple of Stars - Fullscreen QuickTime VR Panoramic image

This thing is soooooo cool!

The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog

The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog

This blog is for information pertaining to the tsunami disaster and includes news, information, resources, aid, donations and volunteer efforts.

Additionally, there are enquiry links and also missing person links.

Wikipedia Tsunami Help/Image Galleries

Wikipedia - Comprehensive List of Helpline Numbers