Oracle 10G Oracle will soon be releasing their new DB, and boy oh boy, are IT shops in for a load of change. To start with, the database has been optimized for grid computing - the term used to describe parallel, distributed and dynamic sharing, selection and aggregation of geographically distributed, autonomous data sources (where geographic can be vast distances or the database in the box a few feet away). 10G will also host a web development environment to allow ease of application development. It will contain both the repository to hold metadata and the engine that renders and process the code. For those who are greeting this as a big wow, be aware that Domino has had this for quite some time now - though the Domino database is architected in a completely different way. Clearly Oracle is out to milk the mid-market playing field with 10G, and naturally, Oracle will be going around touting their new inventions: grid computing and html databases.

2 More Uranian Moons Two tiny moons have been found orbiting Uranus with the Hubble Telescope, bringing the total of known moons Uranus has to 24. The moons are tiny, about 12-16 km in diameter. Currently, Jupiter leads the pack with 50 known moons.

Ontario Election So, we're headed into an election this week, and I've been trying hard to ignore any media coverage of the whole spectacle. I don't need the aggravation - I don't mean the aggravation of the electoral process - we live in a democracy and everyone should exercise their democratic rights - by God, it's the only time the bastards listen to us anyway.

Liberals - 47.5%

Dalton McGuinty

PC - 31.3%

Ernie Eves

NDP - 17.3%

Howard Hampton

(data of the voting intentions of Ontarians, as per the latest EKOS poll)

What a poor and limited choice. I'm leaning more and more towards the NDP - not that I think they have a chance in hell of forming the next government, but because I really have no idea what Howard Hampton looks like. In my self-imposed media exile, I've managed to avoid seeing the man's face completely. Because he's the incumbent, Ernie Eves has suffered the worst of my wrath. I don't like the man. Let's see - his government has managed to fuck up health care and education in the province. They've taken the power industry and done more to it than Ralph Klien in any drunken stupor could have managed. Just about everything the PCs have touched have rotted away from their right wing, capitalistic-commercialization that translated to lucrative deals for their business friends. Don't get me wrong, I've nothing against capitalism or commercialism - in moderate doses - our province, our country, has managed in the past to take that harsh medicine of democratic success and tempered it with some socialism. It has resulted in strong government, with moderate and caring policies. Yes, that meant we debated issues to death, and talked more than acted, but it also meant that more or less, the right choices were made. The PCs turned us into Americans. Then there is the Dalton McGuinty. I had high hopes for this boy before the campaign got into full swing. Then I saw a Liberal commercial recently on TV. McGuinty was talking on stage, and he was being oh, so sincere - and the audience erupted into loving applause as he finished his sentence - and my stomach turned. I don't need to be treated like an idiot by politicians. I don't need to be lied to so blatantly. Let's face it, all politicians are the same. They're like evil used-car-salesmen - and I'm sorry for insulting used-car-salesmen like that. At least with used-car-salesmen, you can see the act coming a mile away - the cheap suit; the "I'm your buddy" smile that tells you this guy is going to tell you whatever you want to hear cause he needs to make a buck. And that's OK, cause we know, and he knows, that it's all just an act to get you to part with just a little of your hard earned cash. Politicians on the other hand - they act like it's not an act. They put on the expensive suit and actually believe some of the shit they're saying - or at least, they want you to believe that they believe. They aren't smart enough to see through the act - the cheap prostituting of themselves to get your vote. It's gotten to the point where I get this unclean feeling after watching political debates now - and a shower just can't get rid of the dirty feeling, cause it's inside - it gets into the bones and flesh and reeks of black-oil-sludge-lies. I have a theory - politicians start out being genuine (yes, I know, you have a few that are just evil bastards from the start), but the political apparatus corrupts them. They all get merged into this disgusting layer that floats on top of the black-oil-sludge of lies. They were all born into nice, caring families for sure, but if you extend a straight line back from where they are after about two years into power, to their families, you find that they must have been hell spawns - only the demons of the underworld could have produced such fetid, disgusting, flotsam, that swims at the top of our society, blocking out the light and relief, that we, the folks below are looking for - and every four years or so, they descend down upon us in an orgiastic feeding frenzy that leaves the landscape dead and barren with broken promises. Good Mrs. Eves wouldn't recognize her son today. That's why I'm voting NDP. They don't have a chance in hell of becoming the fetid flotsam of government. But they will be in the legislator like those annoying little dogs, that yap and yap at dogs fifty times their size - making that incessant noise that you can't ignore, until you just want to kick them until they shut up - but you know you can't do that, because it's cruel and everyone is watching. I want to put them in there to annoy the hell out of McGuinty when he forms the next government. And if we're lucky, McGuinty may actually believe in some of the shit he's spouting, and we may get some good governing out of him for the first couple of years.

The Pioneer Program I was just surfing through the Pioneer Project's site. Reading through some of the material there made me think of how challenging, amazing and adventurous working on those missions must have been. The human race has come a long way, the world is much smaller, and the legacy of those baby steps into the solar system are still going. Pioneer 10 is now about 7.8 billion miles away (Voyager 1 passed it in 1998), and the last attempt to contact the spacecraft failed in Feb. of this year, most likely due to low power. Pioneer 11 last transmission was received in 1995, and it hasn't been heard from since. Pioneer 10 and 11, will take 2 & 4 million years respectively to reach the stars who's direction they're heading in. I wonder if they will be remembered then ... I wonder if people will be around to remember them then ... and more optimistically, I wonder if we'll be there to watch them arrive at their destinations - now that would be cool!

Can Weblogs make money? Some people are betting on it, and are willing to make a go at it, but acknowledge that it's going to be hard. There are two ways to generate revenue from blogs: 1) ad revenue, or 2) syndication. Both requires traffic to driven to the blog site, which in turn requires compelling content. With the amount of free content out there however, the road to riches will be hard. Still, others dream. (I'm not dreaming however.) Apparently, the key to making cash at this is filling a niche market, and making this your full time job. Being a journalist doesn't hurt either.

Virtual Prison Tours Some US prisons are offering online, virtual tours of their prisons - the message being sent to think twice before you ever do anything wrong. Some sites include photos and criminal records of inmates on death row, as well as high resolution images of the electric chair. I don't think that would be much of a deterrence though ... most criminals commit crimes because they think they can get away with it.

IBM vs. SCO It's about time. IBM has fired back a volley in the continuing saga of SCO trying to steal money from Linux users. IBM claims that SCO has misued or is misusing it's supposed rights to the UNIX OS.

UofT Colloquia If you like to keep up to keep up with the latest in the research arena of various subjects, there's no better place than the free talks sponsored by the local universities. Here's what UofT has to offer:

Physics Colloquium - talks range in topic, and carry titles like, 'Quantum control of photons and atoms', 'Neutrino Astronomy at the South Pole: First Light', and 'Self-Organization of Atomic Samples in Resonators and Collective Light Forces.' For the schedule and details of the talk, check out the site.

Anthropology Colloquium - if things long dea is your cup of tea, check out talks with titles like, 'Health and Civilization - Another Look', 'Isotopic and Dental Evidence for Diet from the Necropolis of Isola Sacra, Italy', 'The Evolutionary Biology of Menstruation', and 'Studying Early State Formation in Mesopotamia and Madagascar.'

Applied Mathematics Colloquium - check out the talks at this site. Not only do they list upcoming talks that you can attend live, they also keep an archive of past talks with slides and audio accompaniment. Cool! Topics carry such titles as, 'Formation of sharp fronts in 2D incompressible fluids', 'Cosmology, Black Holes, and Shock Waves Beyond the Hubble Distance', and 'Remarks on Rotating Fluids.'

Mathematics Colloquium - here are the talks the Math department is hosting this year. This stuff will blow your mind. Sample titles: 'Recent Developments in the Anderson Localization for Quasi-Periodic Schroedinger Equations', and 'Magnetic Field Lines and Invariant Torus Destruction.'

Astronomy Colloquium - here's the cool stuff. Astronomy! If that ain't enough to excite you, try this on for size: 'New features in the inner and outer Milky Way', and 'Mining for metals in the early universe.'

Centre for International Studies - this department caters to those wanting a more global, scio-political view.

Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations - if you're into history, or things Arabic, this might peak your interest. Topics that interest me: "From the City of Kish to the Heavens: The Story of Etanna and the Eagle;" "Temples of Ancient Egypt: Homes for the Gods;" and, "The City of the Hawk: Recent Excavations at Hierakonpolis"

Top 10 Richest Forbes magazine has released it's top 400 list - the annual ranking of the 400 richest Americans. The top 10 goes like this: Bill Gates ($46BB), Warren Buffett ($36BB), Paul Allen ($22BB), 5 of the Waltons siblings (total of $100BB amongst them), Larry Ellison ($18BB) and Michael Dell ($13BB). Together, the top 10 richest Americans account for $955BB in wealth!

Hitler in Homes & Garden Here's how it went ... Simon Waldman finds an article in Homes & Garden, written in 1938, that idolizes and fawns over Hitler. He puts it on his blog. Homes and Garden demands he removes it from his site. He does. But it's too late. It gets mirrored. And a debate starts.

Space Elevator - Critics welcomed From Wired Online: The Space Elevator movement is actively seeking critics of the idea, in order to scrutinize the concept for practicality. The Space Elevator is basically a long cable, secured on Earth, and attached to a platform in orbit. An elevator would then ride the cable up, giving us extremely cheap access to space. Over the next couple of years the Space Elevator movement would like to secure the concept as practical or not, in order to either shelve the whole idea or move ahead with developments.

Amazon had large cities Just when you thought we had been everywhere, seen everything and know it all about our world, along comes a discovery like this. Or, just blame it on our Eurocentric view of the world. After all, there was no civilization before Rome. Right. A new report, published in the journal Science, used archeological and satellite evidence to conclude that the northern Amazon was densely populated with an advanced and complex society, that used the forest withour destroying it. They found nineteen evenly spaced villages, that were linked by parallel, straight roads - implying use of mathematics.

Goodbye Galileo Today, the Galileo spacecraft will complete its final task of its eight year long mission to the outer planets. Its final task will commence with a skip across Jupiter's atmosphere, before plunging into the gas giant. Galileo will continue sending data as long as it can. Despite early problems with the spacecraft, Galileo has performed exceedingly well, and it is probably one of NASA's most successful spacecraft. It has sent back a wealth of information that still hasn't been sifted through by researchers yet. Some highlights include its witness of the largest recorded explosion, with a comet plunging into Jupiter; the first picture taken of an asteroid with a moon; many close flybys of the moons of Jupiter, including one where it flew through a volcanic plume. But, like all human made things, it must come to an end ... and today, it's the end for Galileo. (I wonder what Galileo would have thought of his namesake?)

Microsoft vs. Google The battle lines haven't drawn. The war hasn't really been declared. But Microsoft has said enough. MS wants a search engine, and aren't willing to buy. They're going to build it, in the hopes that it will surpass Google's. We've all seen it before. I'm not sure if we should start mourning Google now or not.

Changes for Importers The US Homeland Security bureau has rapidly been embarking on a number of initiatives to secure the US borders, and just about everyone of their initiatives would have an impact to Canadian importers and exporters. This is an old article, written in July, but it's still quite on topic. The direction the US is heading in is to get advanced notices of importing cargo before they arrive on US soil ... seeing that a hell of a lot of Canadian imports come through US ports, this will have an impact to Canadians. But not a bad one from a business perspective. It will cost money in the short term to implement new processes and associated systems, but the long term efficiencies that business will obtain from having more data before a shipment lands will more than pay for the money spent today. Especially with the direction the CCRA is pushing Canadian importers in.

Does the world need another SUV? Well, yes! Especially when it's from Porche. At $100K, this beast is only for those with money. So why are they doing it? Well, $100K a pop - whadda you think?

Sleeping Positions Reveal Here's one that I don't necessarily buy ... but OK ... some professor type bloke (he's British) has tied personality types with sleeping positions. Check out the article and figure out who you are.

Hello Artisies Here's a site that keeps tabs on Toronto's Art scene - full listing of events, festivals, etc. Check out what's on this upcoming week as part of ArtsWeek. Go get cultured!

HelioDisplay This seems too hard to believe. IO2 Technology boasts the ability to display 27-inch images, full video, that is interactive (ie. you can reach out, touch it, and manipulate it) in thin air. Check out the site and pictures.

Al-Qaeda today An article from Time Magazine: it's incredible to see the changes in the US media two years after the 9/11 attacks in the US. Immediately after 9/11, and then with the Bush administration's "war on terror," the media didn't question, didn't raise doubts, didn't argue ... nothing ... now, after two years, the questions are being asked. But what if the media had been objective in the beginning - would Bush had been successful in mounting a campaign in Iraq? A campaign that's bogged down US forces, and lend support to terrorists and anti-Americans? Had the media questioned - had American's questioned - Bush's motives were hardly for the good of anyone other than himself. He stated it clearly that he was after the man who tried to kill his Dad. Like that's an excuse for the thousands of Iraqis dead, or the daily deaths of US soldiers in a war that really wasn't just.

MIT OpenCourseWare Check this out. I first heard about it from a friend reading the Toronto Star - which probably got the idea for the article from Wired Magazine ... MIT has a pilot project in the works to put their entire course materials online, free for the world to access. They're doing it to advance knowledge. Noble. Incredible. Amazing. Free information for the masses. And it's true.

Are you a model? "Wait until she's more experienced." "He doesn't know how to shoot black girls." "No Asians." "Caucasians only." You will find those words in this Time Magazine article about the fashion industry's closed mindedness and racist practices. Racism still hasn't been stamped out.

Europe to Iraq I had this debate with an American colleague at work last week ... what to do in Iraq ... how the world perceives the US ... etc., etc. The US is finally realizing that while they carry the sledgehammer, they will find it difficult to operate the delicate operations of a scalpel. They're asking for help ... even if it's a bit reluctant. George W. does have some face to save. Remember, the boy is from Texas. This is where it would have important if Canada had an army, and not just a few people with the wrong uniform and hulking, rusting, old equipment (but I digress). Looks like the Europeans (eastern) are willing to send people though - although for various political reasons that are nothing more than selfish opportunism ... but hey, the Bush administration isn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. This is more about image than anything else. The promise if only for about 10,000 troops. It's nothing compared to the 150,000 American troops already there, and it certainly doesn't compare to the 10,000 troops the British have there (better trained and equiped). Not only that, but the soldiers from eastern Europe may be in over their heads - few in numbers, ill equipped, and a little scared of the overwhelming responsibilities. Their leaders are sending them to Iraq to gain prestige ... but the cost may be blood. Read the Time article ... the saga continues, and Washington is again dealing with devils in order to gain consensus and solve other problems. I just have this sinking feeling that all of this will come back to bite them in the ass like it has in the past. There seems to be little strategic thinking in the most powerful country in the world.

Nefertiti a man? Discovery channel aired a special on the dead Egyptian Queen a few weeks ago. It was bad. Filled with commercials, and a lot of 'drama.' The multitude of Bristish accents added to the pain. All the hubbub was over the supposed finding of Queen Nefertiti's mummy. 'Yeah, right!' to paraphrase Egypt's antiquities chief, who contends that the mummy might actually be that of a male, and therefore not Nefertiti. Hmmm ... maybe Nefertiti was a man, and not actually a woman. Has anyone ever thought of that? Maybe her and Akhenaten were just gay, but had an empire to run. Makes perfect sense for me. In fact, we have absolutely no proof that Nefertiti should have been a female. We're simply imposing our assumptions on the past.

SIRTF NASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility is finally running through calibration. The telescope is the last of the large observatories NASA had planned. The telescope took its first image recently as part of getting its system shaken down. The telescope promises sharper, richer images of the universe as it comes online.

The Wee Free Men It's the latest Terry Pratchett book, and it was written for kids. Personally, I don't think it's for kids. Kids will miss much from this book. The legions of Pratchett fans however will enjoy every bit of it. The book is set on Discworld, but introduces a completely new land and new characters. Here's what the cover flap says about the book:

There's trouble on the Aching farm - a monster is in the river, a headless horeseman in the driveway and nightmares spreading down from the hills. And now Tiffany Aching's little brother has been stolen by the Queen of the Fairies (although Tiffany doesn't think this is entirely a bad thing). Tiffany's got to get him back. To help her, she has a weapon (a frying pan), her granny's magic book (well, Diseases of the Sheep, actually) and - 'Crivens! Whut aboot us. ye daftie! - oh, yes. She's also got the Nac Mac Feegle, the Wee Free Men, the fightin', thievin', tiny blue-skinned pictsies who were thrown out of Fairyland for being Drunk and Disorderly ...

Check out the site above for an excerpt from the book.

Mental Health and Well-being Here's another survey from StatsCan that was conducted in 2002 with over 36,000 repondents. The survey looked at the health status of the population, the use of mental health care services and what factors influenced mental health. The findings are not that surprising for me ... Canadians are just as likely to suffer from major depression as they are from other illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes. The survey looked at the differences between males and females, different age groups, and those that sought professional help. The survey also tried to correlate the findings with socio-demographic information, income, stress, medication use and social support. Take a look - you probably know someone who suffers from depression, and this just goes to show you ... they're not alone.

Immigrants to Canada face a hard time I'm an immigrant - my parents came here when I was young, so this one I can vouch for personally. A recent survey of immigrants to Canada by Statistics Canada shows that it just about sucks to be one. The biggest conclusion for me is that finally, there are numbers to prove what immigrants have been saying for a long time - their qualifications are usually dismissed by Canadians, and they find themselves in entry level jobs in sales or general labour. Alarmingly, over half the immigrants surveyed, did not find jobs in the same field after immigration ... which goes against the work our foreign embassies do to get certain skills into Canada. The survey looked at other aspects of immigrant lives, such as where they moved to in Canada, what kind of help they got, what education they brought, etc. The conclusion states that "starting life over in a new country is not always easy." NSS. Read the brief for yourself, it's available online.

RIAA grants amnesty The RIAA continues their stupidy ... now they're granting an amnesty from lawsuits to anyone who admits that they've been pirating music online, deletes their library and promise never to be naughty again. Amusing. Who's going to admit? Well, for a start, there will be a few morons. They always are. Probably the kids of music execs. But why bother? The RIAA can continue to sue their customers or embrace the new medium. One way they win, the other they lose.

Synthetic Diamonds I recently bought my wife a diamond right. It was painful. The research, then the search. I was looking carefully trying to find Canadian diamonds, yet wanting to stick to one of the established jewellers, as I wanted the warranty, and someone to sue if they screwed me over. I ran into excuses after excuses for not having Canadian diamonds, and eventually, I had to settle for a diamond from somewhere in Africa. I was trying my best to avoid blood money diamonds - diamonds acquired by exploiting people in Africa, and the money used to fund wars. de Beers. They control the diamond trade, as they've controlled the diamond trade since the Europeans wandered into Africa and started the slow rape of the continent. It continues today. Diamonds are not precious. Diamonds are not rare. Diamonds are actually plentiful and that makes them less precious. It's a supply and demand issue. de Beers has a strangle hold on supply - as they have a strangle hold on third world countries, diamond distributors, wholesalers and the entire industry. I've known this now for quite a few years. I also know that they are the ones who came up with the marketing scam, "Diamonds are a girl's best friend." So, it was with a whole lot of pleasure that I read the cover article from the latest Wired Magazine. Artificial diamonds have been around for a while, lacing many industrial cutting machines, diamond tipped drills, etc. But two companies have perfected a method of creating diamonds in the lab, that are indistinguishable from the ones in nature. They're planning to make a run at the de Beers cartel ... but not to just make money ... but to fund their interest in bringing diamonds to the chip manufacturing business. You think we have speed today? Wait till you see what the diamond processors can do! It's an excellent article - enjoy!

Univerity of Toronto's various Speaker Series

University of Toronto's Centre for the Study of the United States: Speaker Series - this is mostly politics, economy and societal differences between Canada and the US.

UofT's Centre for Innovation Law and Policy is a great site for a look at global political issues. They also have a speaker series (that has nothing booked right now) with archives containing the PowerPoint presentations.

UofT's Bookstore Speaker Series - usually talks by an author who has just published a book. There are sometimes interesting speakers.