the frig blig

> > —– Original Message —–
> > From: capt.charlesdjacoby@gmail.com
> > To: undisclosed-recipients
> > Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 1:40 AM
> >
> > Hello ,
> >
> > I am hoping as well that we can work together on a better and higher
> > platform. I am a war veteran with the United Nations troop in
> > Afghanistan, on war against terrorism.. I served in the 1st Armored
> > Division in Baghdad Iraq.
> >
> > Based on the United States legislative and executive decision for
> > military action in Iraq, I am among the soldiers that have
> > criticized the U.S. policy on Iraq. Based on this, I have been court
> > martial and found innocent as I have a strong opinion towards peace
> > in Iraq. I will need this car for my purposes as I will be
> > relocating to Europe because of some security reasons and this is
> > why I contacted you so that we can put head together towards my
> > plan to invest in Europe. As a result of this,it will be important
> > for me to reveal to you that I have in my possession the sum of
> > $26.2 million USD. which I got from crude oil deal in Iraq. I have
> > been deployed to Afghanistan but I have this box in Iraq and as soon
> > as I hear from you of your reassurance to assist me then I will
> > communicate for the delivery with the help of a red cross cargo jet.
> >
> > I have this money stored somewhere very safe in our camp in Fallujah
> > Iraq waiting for a moment like this to put the money in good use and
> > now that I have been moved to Afghanistan I want the box moved
> > without delay.. I have a very profitable investment plans on hand.
> > Instead of allowing this terrorists to get the money and spend it on
> > purchasing arms from Russia, it is better channeled to saving the
> > world. I cannot move this money to the United states because I will
> > be in Europe for about 3years, so I need someone I could trust. If
> > you accept, I will transfer the money to Europe where you will be
> > the beneficiary because I am a currently settling some scores with
> > the pentagon so I cannot be parading such an amount so I need to
> > present someone as the beneficiary.. I am an American and an
> > intelligence officer for that so I have a 100% authentic means of
> > transferring the money through diplomatic courier service. I just
> > need your acceptance and all is done.
> >
> > Please if you are interested in this transaction I will give to you
> > the complete details you need for us to carry out this transaction
> > successfully. I decided to find someone that is real and not
> > imaginary and that is why I went to a secured site where I can be
> > sure that the person is real. I believe I can trust you. Right now i
> > am very careful with the way i communicate so as to reduce any kind
> > of risk until this money is finally in your custody. i shall be
> > communicating to you through email and would also give you a call
> > when it is necessary so as to inform you on any important
> > information. I want you to be brave as i have everything under
> > control. I have every proof of this fund in my possession to show
> > you that everything is authentic.
> >
> > I can brief you on further inquiry when I am in a secured place . I
> > am writing from a fresh email account so if you are not interested
> > do not reply to this email and please delete this message, if no
> > response after 3days I will then search for someone else. I am doing
> > this on trust,so i would want you to put aside any act of greed or
> > the thought of cheating as we have a lot to gain in this business
> > relationship. 26.2 million USD is a lot of money which is the dream
> > of anyone. I am in Afghanistan right now and need to secure this
> > money and send it to you if we reach a proper agreement.
> >
> > I wait for your contact details so we can go on. In less than 5 days
> > the fund should have been delivered to you and I will come over for
> > my money. I will give to you 30% of the sum and 70% is for me. I
> > hope I am been fair on this deal.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Capt. Charles David Jacoby

Somewhere in the Pacific Northwest…

How many turkeys died over the past week in order for north americans to enjoy their little feast? Could it be… millions?

Monsanto guilty of lying — Read all ’bout it!

Today is Sunday November 15. This morning’s New York Times front page has the following “above-the-fold” articles: one about Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan (the alleged “Fort Hood killer”); one about “more than a dozen” members of the House of Representatives using the same words about health care (courtesy of lobbyist Genentech); one about President Obama visiting China; and one titled High Costs Weigh on Troop Debate for Afghan War.

The Maj. Hasan story speculates about his motives. Since he’s currently alive in the hospital, hopefully his lawyers will give him an opportunity to speak for himself eventually. However, that hasn’t stopped people from coming up with their own theories. One intriguing theory is articulated by the following quote:

“Some experts on terrorism say Major Hasan may be the latest example of an increasingly common type of terrorist, one who has been self-radicalized with the help of the Internet and who wreaks havoc without support from overseas networks and without having to cross a border to reach his target.”

In other words…his actions were a result of his own thinking. He was not following anybody’s orders but his own. Scary.

The ‘House Record … Lobbyists’ story talks about how corporate lobbyists spoon-feed sound bytes to Washington lawmakers. Shocking. By all means, let’s do something about it…oh wait…bribing lawmakers is constitutionally-protected free speech. And writing your own speeches is so last century.

The ‘Obama Visits China’ story talks about how the U.S. President is being oh-so-careful to not do or say anything that might make our Asian Overlords angry. ‘Nuf said.

The ‘Troop Debate’ story contains a very interesting estimate — “… the rough formula used by the White House…about $1 million per soldier a year…”. So it becomes trivial to calculate rough estimates of how much money our government is spending on the war in Afghanistan. I suspect our soldiers might find it interesting too, when comparing it to their salaries.

There are currently roughly 62,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan (according to the National Priorities Project). The current U.S. population is 307 million. Unemployment just topped 10 percent, which comes to 30 million people without jobs. So just by cutting our current troop level in half — not eliminating it, mind you, just cutting it in half — and giving the money saved to all of the unemployed citizens in America — we would instantly turn all 30 million unemployed into millionaires. Some of them might consider starting small businesses, which would hire other people — driving up wages since there would no longer be unemployment. I personally would consider this a good thing for the economy — maybe way better than giving TWO HUNDED TIMES this much money to bail out Wall Street. But I don’t have a degree in economics, and I consider helping out ORDINARY CITIZENS down on their luck at least as important as helping out the millionaires and billionaires who run Wall Street. So clearly I’m out of touch with federal priorities.

Which brings me to a tiny, six-sentence story on page 22 titled Gates Blocks Photographs of Prisoners. This article notes that Secretary of Defense Gates has invoked new powers, granted by Congress and signed by President Obama last month, to block the release of photographs of foreign detainees abused by American captors. This was a result of the ACLU’s having sued for release of the photographs of prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq being abused by Americans, and federal courts having ruled in favor of the ACLU.

Well it’s just another example of America’s proud tradition of censorship and hiding the truth from that most dangerous faction, the public! We certainly don’t want to give our citizens THE TRUTH, especially the UGLY TRUTH! They might start thinking for themselves!

I was down to only 5G freespace on my 80G iPod Video (confession: I’m a hopeless music addict). Google regaled me with visions of a 240G replacement drive and half a dozen websites with transplant instructions. I bit and ordered one. It was delivered in a little over a week. Surgery was performed on my kitchen table. 1. Prep
2. Opening the case
3. An accident about to happen (see the brown clip?)
4. Oh, that’s how they cram it in there
5. Preparing to remove the old drive
6. But they look the same size!

The transplant was a success, but not without a few touchy moments… the first was during reassembly when I couldn’t secure the battery cable in its socket…and noticed the retainer clip was missing…luckily I found it on the floor and got it back on with tweezers!

The second was after installing the Rockbox bootloader when the iPod crashed at boot. Every time. It turns out the default maximum sector size is hardcoded in the Rockbox bootloader at 1024 bytes. The replacement drive uses 4096-byte sectors. I ended up downloading the Rockbox source, modifying the max sector size, rebuilding it and reinstalling it. Hey, now iPod boots again!

And now I have three times the storage capacity as before — sweet!