Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Geoengineering Away Global Warming

Paul Crutzen, the 1995 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry for his work on the ozone layer, has proposed injecting sulfur into the atmosphere so less sunlight will penetrate it. Artillery guns on high-altitude balloons would be used to fire sulfur into the atmosphere. There is historical precedent. "When Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines erupted in 1991, it sprayed millions of tons of sulfur into the atmosphere. Much to scientists' surprise, the sulfur reflected so much sun that the Earth’s surface cooled by almost one full degree Fahrenheit in the year following the eruption." This could work, but only temporarily since sulfur only stays in the atmosphere for a couple of years while carbon dioxide lingers for over a century.

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Sunday, May 06, 2012

An Amazing Collection of Free Photo Sites for Your Blog


Just having text in your blog posts can be a bit dry. Photos help to liven things up, giving visitors something colorful to look at, but it's often difficult to track down a photo that matches your post. It's even more difficult sometimes to tell if you're even allowed to use the photo once you've tracked down one that you like. A good rule of thumb to follow is that images found in government sources like NASA Images are likely in the public domain since they can't copyright their work.

Luckily, Lorelle on Wordpress has done a lot of hard work and assembled a very comprehensive list of photo sites that are likely to be freely usable by anyone. Gimme sites like Flickr are listed, but there are dozens of more obscure sources as well.

Warning: Restrictions may apply in some cases so look for information about usage rights. Sometimes, you'll have to give a link back to the source where you got the image or register at the site.

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Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Clear Private Information from Firefox

If you want to remove all user preferences and private data like cookies or web history from Firefox, there's a very simple way.

1. Go to C:->Documents and Settings->Your User Name
->Application Data
2. Delete the Mozilla folder.

That will wipe everything, and when you restart Firefox, it'll create a new Mozilla folder.

If you aren't able to find the Application Data folder, it is probably because it is hidden. To make it visible, open up a folder and go to Tools->Folder Options->View.

Click on Show hidden files and folders and click OK. Then go back to step 1 and complete the process.

This method is only effective against casual privacy intrusions by nosey friends or parents. The data can still be retrieved through more sophisticated methods.
If you only want to delete the cache, cookies, and web history and not your custom browser settings, go to Firefox and go to Tools-> Clear Private Data. You can tweak the settings for this tool by going to Tools-> Options-> Privacy-> Settings.

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Monday, April 30, 2012

Zamzar: Free Online File Converter

Zamzar lets you upload files up to 100MB and convert them into one of several dozen file types. Documents, audio, video, and images are supported. The UI is simple with four steps to completion. One neat feature is that you're emailed the link to the converted file once the file conversion is completed so you don't have to check back to the site.

You can also convert multiple files at once although then you can only do one kind of file conversion.

Zamzar

[via]

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Sunday, April 15, 2012

Billster Helps You Track Your Spending

Billster is another site that helps you organize your finances. It's not as socially oriented as Wesabe, but it does have a Connections panel that keeps track of who you've had transactions with. Helpfully, Billster will send invite emails to your friends if you include their address when you add them.
Under the Bills tab, you can add personal expenses, group expenses, what's owed you, and what you owe. You can also tag your bills. A weakness is that, unlike Wesabe, you can't import your data directly from your bank. Manually entering your transactions data will probably get tiring although you can mark recurring payments as such, which reduces the burden slightly. The interface is similar to the one you use when doing e-banking (making single/recurring payments, etc.).The most helpful screen is the Dashboard where you can visualize the flow of cash in and out of your account. If you use tags carefully, you can also get a sense of the relative proportions of your spending. Do you spend a lot on haircuts? How much of your income goes to rent? There's also a half-baked six degrees-ish graphic that shows how many connections you have, how many your friends have, and so on. Maybe more social features will be added soon, and this feature will have added significance.

Once financially oriented sites start appearing, it's usually a sign that the market is maturing. I suspect we'll see several more popping up soon. Certainly, there have been a fair number of social stock-picking sites launching recently along with impressive rallies in the market.

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Thursday, November 05, 2009

Rihanna Good Morning America Interview (Video)

Rihanna was interviewed on "Good Morning America" today. The 21-year-old singer spoke with Diane Sawyer about her relationship with Chris Brown, her former boyfriend who assaulted her just before the Grammy Awards in February. In the video excerpt, Rihanna explains her decision to forgive Brown, and her subsequent decision to end the relationship:

When I realized that my selfish decision for love could result into some young girl getting killed, I could not be easy with that part. I couldn't be held responsible for telling them, 'Go back.' Even if Chris never hit me again, who's to say that their boyfriend won't? Who's to say they won't kill these girls?

Explaining her decision to vacation with Brown only weeks after the beating, Rihanna said, "But I'm a human being, and people put me on a very unrealistic pedestal. All these expectations - I'm not perfect." The full interview with Rihanna will air on "20/20" this Friday.

For his part, Chris Brown has expressed confusion at the incident, asking himself, "What was I thinking? What is wrong with you?"

Rihanna's next album, titled "Rated R", will be released on November 23.

Rihanna Good Morning America Interview Video

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Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Raquel Houghton: Dane Cook's Former Girlfriend (Photos)

Raquel Houghton is Dane Cook's former girlfriend and a contestant on season eight of "American Idol." The 28-year-old singer is part of the band, The Valli Girls. Their MySpace says, "Raquel Houghton is our fearless lead singer who always brings the funk when we're jamming. Plus she has the best reflexes of anyone in the Valley. Not sure what that means but its gotta be good."

Dane Cook and Raquel Houghton were first seen together at the premiere of the 37-year-old comedian's 2006 movie "Employee of the Month." Cook at the time called her "my baby" and "independent and funny - two things I like in a woman."

Houghton's appearance on "Idol" was controversial since she already had a studio contract with Sony Columbia through her band, The Valli Girls.

Raquel Houghton Video Interview

Raquel Houghton Photos

The Valli Girls

The Valli Girls with Raquel Houghton

More Shots of the Valli Girls

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