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Read more . Updated: later in the day ... Dave Cockrum on Wikipedia Dave Cockrum tribute site .

You probably know these ... or not ... but here's 40 facts about sleep from the National Sleep Project in Australia. Notice when I posted? Yes, I'm going to bed now.

Today's Microsoft propaganda is brought to you by the following quote: "The only way to change the world is to imagine it different than the way it is today. Apply too much of the wisdom and knowledge that got us here, and you end up right where you started. Take a fresh look from a new perspective, and get a new result." J. Allard, Microsoft VP of Design & Development Read more .

Malachi Ritscher doused himself with gasoline on the morning of November 3rd, along a busy highway in Chicago. He then proceed to set himself on fire, burning to death. His self-immolation was witnessed by morning commuters. No doubt, Ritscher had issues -- but his suicide message describes his act as one of protest of war, the mayhem the US is perpetrating around the globe and an American culture more concerned with TV and cellphones than the future of the world. Self-immolation doesn't happen everyday -- let alone in protest. Surprisingly, his act has been largely ignored by the media. Ignored that is, until bloggers started protesting the media's treatment of the story. The media's response? Cover the protest by the bloggers. Read more .

Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition was in for a surprise at their latest board meeting. President-elect, Rev. Joel Hunter, declined the job and quit the organization. Why? You're going to love this: apparently, Hunter wanted the organization to focus on issues of poverty and environment, and couldn't get the organization to quit talking about abortion and gay marriage. Ha!

New Scientist magazine has a curious little article about 13 things that do not make sense . Read the details of why these things continue to puzzle some rather brilliant people: The Placebo Effect -- your mind really does work in biochemically mysterious ways. The Horizon Problem -- the universe appears uniform, everywhere you look. Yet it it's so large, there is no way energy could travel from one side to the next to make it so. Ultra-energetic Cosmic Rays -- we're detecting some really powerful particles hitting the Earth from outer space. Only problem is, we can't find the source. Belfast Homeopathy Results -- homeopathy works, and no one really knows why. Dark Matter -- the galaxy isn't falling apart, so there must be something holding it together. Yet we can't find it. Viking's Methane -- in 1976, the Viking lander detected carbon-14 containing methane in the Martian soil. Signs of life? Tetraneutrons -- in 2002, scientists discovered particles

What's wrong with one of these models? Well, in a reality TV show to find the next hot model in the UK, one of these women were described as having a sensational body for modeling, while the other was criticized for being fat, not taking her food and exercise regime seriously, and wanting to prove that large women could be successful models. The anorexic blonde has a body mass index of 16.1, while the "fat" model is a size 12. How fucked up is the fashion industry? Very. And this is what they're selling to females.

15-year-old Asha Katiya of Madhya Pradesh, India, was doused with kerosene and set ablaze by her rapist, as she lay sleeping in her home. Asha comes from a lower-caste family, and she was raped by an upper-caste man in July. She reported the crime to police, and she was set to testify in an upcoming court appearance. The man threatened to kill her and her family if she didn't drop the charges against him. She refused. He murdered her. As Asha laid dying from her burn wounds at home, her family tried to get a car to drive her to the nearest hospital. The cars in her village all belong to upper-caste people. None helped. A vehicle from another village eventually drove her to hospital where she died. As far as India has progressed, the society is still ass-backwards. For all their aspirations to become a prosperous nation, there is still a large portion of the population who are not being included in the benefits of modernization -- who are not getting justice. Asha Katiy

In recent times, there has been a marked shift in the nature of philanthropy . The givers are more wealthy, the goals they are pursuing are larger and their approach is much more than just throwing money at the problem. Philanthropy is no longer about bequeathing wealth to charitable organizations after death -- it has become the pursuit of massive social change in a lifetime. The new philanthropy is money, but money with the know-how that created those riches, focused on the problems of disease, poverty and making the world a safer place for future generations. This year, the new philanthropy was exemplified by Warren Buffett's announcement that he will transfer $31B US in the coming years to the Bill and Melinda Gates' Foundation. The money isn't being doled out without a catch. The Gates', like others, are pursuing their charitable interests in person. They applying their business knowledge to ensure their charitable investments don't just solve tactical p

Product innovation is trouble enough for most companies -- so how does an organization go about innovating strategy? Good question, and it is one that is facing Eastman Kodak . The company was in a death spiral a few years ago, as it watched its film business take beating from digital photography. It undertook a radical organizational shift in response, and came back with a slew of digital camera offerings. Problem is however, the company continued to bleed money. The digital camera business was rapidly commoditized, and margins were nothing compared to what Kodak enjoyed in the heyday of the film business. CEO Perez has a radical idea to pull the company up by its bootstraps -- and it's nothing short of reinventing the company. He wants to remake Eastman Kodak into the Apple of imaging. If he fails, another giant will take a plunge. The odds are against him, with the market already betting that he doesn't have a chance of success. What Perez is trying to get Eastman

There is a darker side to globalization. It's the one that usually get people up in arms, demonstrating at Gx Summits, trashing shop windows and generally acting like terrorists. Manufacturing is now well ensconced in the developing nations, with China owning the bulk of it -- and it being responsible for the Sino ascent to a global powerhouse. That manufacturing however, comes at a price -- one that we like to pay, while we don't like seeing how the transaction unfolds. The labour abuse by Chinese manufacturers have long plagued western companies, as their customers enjoy the low prices and berate their operations for taking advantage of lax labour laws. Social conscience it seems, doesn't always extend down to individual wallets. Meanwhile, to appease customers, western companies have foisted western labour standards on Chinese manufacturers. No child labour. No undercutting of local minimum wage standards. Overtime work for overtime pay. No excessive work hours

Economists are facing a conundrum. National economies are falling more and more under the influence of globalization. In the recent past, the United States was the broker of the global economy, being able to flex its financial muscle to ease the pain not only in the US, but sometimes elsewhere in the world. That elevated the likes of Greenspan to economic godhood. Now however, the US is flexing, but the global economy is no longer responding the way it used to. Welcome to globalization, where it is not only money that is flowing easily around the world, but so is labour, ideas and innovation. A brilliant idea in the US for example, could be funded by Europeans, for prototyping in India and cheap manufacturing in China. What control does governments now have? Individually, just about zero. Future macro economic policies will be dictated by the collective influence of national economies around the world. This is drives a world view with no past precedence. The future stability

Kim du Toit wrote in 2002 that we in the west should just accept that we can't do anything about Africa and let them sink or swim on their own. du Toit claims living in Africa provides one with a casual temperance for death, and that Africans don't value life as much as we do in the west -- so we shouldn't value their lives any more than they do. Du Toit is a twit . The casual disregard we have for our fellow people is not limited to Africans -- it is pervasive across the world. It is in our very backyards. It continues today in conflicts in the Middle East, Asia, the former Soviet Union, and in Europe, in race and religion related violence. In North America we see it in the disregard we pay to our aboriginal population, to the treatment of the poor citizens of New Orleans in Katrina's wake and in way we don't see the homeless begging on our street corners. It is most evident however in the disregard we in the west have for Africans -- and nowhere would you f

Who are these people that are busy killing each other? Surely no one wants to be killed, yet the armed thugs on both the Sunni and Shiite sides in Iraq are busily lowering the population of the country by butchering each other in revenge killings. This isn't just a fight for control, this is a fight of hate. These people hate each other. No one is beyond their reach, as men, women and children are slaughtered. Muhammad would not be impressed. Read more .

The Corporation , a Canadian documentary on "the dominant institution of our time," takes a look at how corporations started, how the evolved and what they've become today. The documentary looks at how corporations gained legal status as an entity -- essentially gaining the rights as a person -- and takes its analysis to the logical end by studying the institution's behaviour from the psychological perspective. The documentary is engaging. I've personally seen it twice in the theatres. It is also very scary, and may be an eye-opener for those working within corporations. Recently, the makers of the Corporation have decided to make a download version of the film freely available online via a BitTorrent download. You can find the torrent here . While the filmmakers are making the film available for free, I do encourage you to purchase a copy -- after you've seen the film and if you think it warrants a purchase.

I have a cat. She meows. A lot. She meows when we're walking down the hallway to our condo unit. She meows hello when we walk in the door, throwing herself on the floor and rolling, begging for petting. She meows when she wants her food. She meows when she wants to play. She meows when we all leave downstairs and come upstairs for the night -- even though she knows where we are, she wants one of us to come get her. One of my daughters eventually calls to her, before walking downstairs to pick her up and bring her up with us. Usually, it's my youngest. My older daughter just went downstairs to get her after the wailing started. I swear, when my youngest get off the bus on the corner of our building, our cat knows and starts meowing for her. Our cat meows for many different reasons, but it all boils down to one thing: she wants us to do something, and meowing eventually gets one of us to do something. With me, it's to chase her around the house so she runs away a

For those of you, for who Christopher Reeve will be the only Superman, there's about to be a whole lot more coming to a DVD release near you. Not content with milking the public on the latest from the franchise, Warner Bros. will be releasing the Christopher Reeve Superman Collection and the Ultimate Superman Collection for this Christmas. What's special about these collections? The latter includes the Richard Donner cut of Superman II , a film that was refilmed, reedited and changed completely from the original filming of Superman II. Yes, there was pretty much two Superman II movies made. One that we all saw, and the other that was lost, until now.

PC World Magazine has a top 13 list of the most embarrassing moments that have made it on to the web. I question the veracity of the list, but nevertheless, it's quite entertaining. Enjoy. The best, IMHO, is the Monkey Boy dance. A classic that I had forgotten about, but enjoyed thoroughly once more.

This was created with maps from WorldMapper. Check out the maps , and try and figure out what's wrong with this picture.

I'm messing around with Google Calendar, and I've just created a new one -- publicly open for everyone to see. It's the Toronto Maple Leafs 2006-07 game schedule. It's really created for my wife, who is the greatest Leafs fan I know. Now she won't miss a game, and I will know which nights I can actually take her out. If you have a Gmail account, you can access Google Calendar, and you can include this one easily into yours. Click the button to see the calendar.

CorrenteWire has a post that should serve as another warning of the continued descent the United States seems to be on -- the descent that will see the merging of the church and state. They already hold the sway in political discourse, and are certainly not afraid to proclaim their allegiance to the church first, themselves second and their constituents third. In the post, a Republican loser in the recent election, congratulates the Democratic winner, and encourages him to bring Jesus into his world and let Jesus guide his path. The only problem is, the Democratic winner is a Hindu.

If you've seen the movie Hotel Rwanda , you may recall the scene where Paul Rusesabagina visits George Rutaganda's camp after the Interhamwe has overrun the country. The camera pauses briefly as Paul sees a cage, where nude women are kept. If I remember correctly, as the camera pans from the cage, it leaves a scream behind. Most will not want to think what that scene was all about. Most will know. It was a silent recognition of what has happened, and what continues to happen in Rwanda and the Congo -- the systematic rape and brutalization of women and girls -- victims of war; hostages of the conflict; possessions; and worse, targets to be sexually neutralized for genocidal and psychological purposes. If there is a hell, these women are living it. If the world has heroes, this is where they are needed. If you're human, you will try and do something to stop this from continuing to happen. Newsweek has a graphic article on the topic. It describes the rape being used

The Conservative government has managed to embarrass Canada on the world stage with their latest misleading messages regarding Canada's support of the Kyoto Protocol. You've got to wonder, what were they thinking? Do they really think the world is as dull as the voters that put them in power? Or is this Harper's effort to continue building his niche in Bush's behind? Because if anything, Canada's back-pedaling on our obligations to the Kyoto Protocol has only served to distract the world from the even more shameful example being set by the United States. Harper's has been demonstrating his diminutive intellect ever since he took over the Tories and started campaigning against the Kyoto Protocol -- vowing that if elected, he would reverse the Liberals support of the Kyoto Protocol and Canada's commitments. Even though the Tories have yet to release their climate change policy , it is quite clear which direction they're heading in -- and their be

Harper is a strange man . He is quicker to pucker at the mere whiff of George W.'s dusty Texan, yet continues to do his best to be a nag at Jintao's capitalist excursion at every opportunity. Doesn't he realize that Bush has two more years in office? Which if the Democrats have their way, will be keep Bush quite subdued -- yet Hu will be in power for, well, as long as Hu damn well pleases. Doesn't he realize who the next superpower is going to be? And that China will emerge as the leading economic power within his political career? Why does he continue to do it? I for one find it hard to believe that Harper gives a rat's ass about human rights in China -- so I'm at a complete loss.

Mostafa Tabatabainejad is a UCLA student, who was tasered repeatedly by police when he didn't leave the library immediately after he was told to. He was told to leave the library after he couldn't produce his student ID card during a random police check. He's a UCLA student who just happened to forgot his student card. There isn't much more detail available, as neither Tabatabainejad or the police are talking. If I can hazard a guess however, I'd say the name says it all: Mostafa Tabatabainejad. Update: Here's a six-minute video of the whole incident.

Really, only stupid people ever end up on TV. Take this interview that CNN's Glenn Beck did of the newly minted congressman, Keith Ellison. The following transcipt is posted on Media Matters , along with the video: BECK: History was made last Tuesday when Democrat Keith Ellison got elected to Congress, representing the great state of Minnesota. Well, not really unusual that Minnesota would elect a Democrat. What is noteworthy is that Keith is the first Muslim in history to be elected to the House of Representatives. He joins us now. Congratulations, sir. ELLISON: How you doing, Glenn? Glad to be here. BECK: Thank you. I will tell you, may I -- may we have five minutes here where we're just politically incorrect and I play the cards face up on the table? ELLISON: Go there. BECK: OK. No offense, and I know Muslims. I like Muslims. I've been to mosques. I really don't believe that Islam is a religion of evil. I -- you know, I think it's being hijacked, quite fran

The Executive Colouring Book -- I'm not saying anything else. Click the damn link.

Business Process Improvement , Process Reengineering or Business Process Management -- by whatever name you call it, it's the same thing -- the systematic and continuous improvement and adoption of processes throughout an organization, aimed at efficiency, flexibility and adaptability. First introduced in the 1990s by Michael Hammer and James Champy, BPI had its time in the limelight, and faded like a fad. Under the new moniker of BPM however, the fad is back, as consulting and software vendors attempt to sell more products and services. BPM has its promises, but I'm a skeptic of its potential, as it aims to do something almost inhumane to people. That hasn't stopped the sales people from calling however. One such salesperson is Roger Burlton, who seemed to have had his way with CIO Magazine 's Meridth Levinson, because her article in the November 1st issue is nothing more than Burlton's sales pitch -- which Levinson backs up with selected evidence from succe

You can't get anywhere in business without the ability to influence people -- convince them -- to follow, to lead, to just do what needs to get done. This may be obvious to a whole lot of us on reflection, but you'd be surprised how many of us don't actually practice the art of influence to get things done. Often, due to time constraints or impatience, we fall back to the standards that should work, but hardly ever. Appealing to logic, correctness and authority often fails, and the reason it does, is because people are naturally distrustful of change. Whatever you're trying to convince them to do is not something they're already doing, so why should they do it now because you want it done? People do what you want them to do because they trust you -- and trust doesn't come free, it comes with work -- it's earned. The only way to earn trust is by establishing relationships with individuals -- which takes time. Trust is capital that you need to have in t

What do you expect of America when you travel from across the world to spend six months as a foreign exchange student with an American family? For 19-year-old Michael Gromek, he certainly didn't expect the family to try and banish the devil from his soul -- but that was exactly the hell that greeted him when he landed at the airport in North Carolina. Little did he know that his host family's only interest in him was to use him to spread the fundamentalist baptist word -- Gromek was supposed to go back to Poland to help build the church and spread the faith.

Want to waste some time? Just a little time? Then checkout Angry Alien Productions ' recreation of some famous movies, lasting 30-seconds and starring bunnies. 'Nuff said.

PocketMod -- who needs a PDA when you have this nifty little application, built on Flash, that allows you to create your own paper-based PDA. You can equipe your new analog PDA with pages to write on, games to play, yearly calendar and more. And just like a digital PDA, when you get back to your computer, you can sync it up with an analog to digital converter: your fingers and the keyboard. You can also find a PDF-to-PocketMod converter that will convert any PDF file into the PocketMod format, allowing you to carry around large documents in an easy to manage PDA format. This is absolutely cool!

The face of globalization continues to evolve. First, it was low cost manufacturing from the developing nations of the world -- cheap labour, low quality. Well, the quality has improved, and so has the skills of the labour. China is now looking beyond manufacturing. What's next? Innovation. A combination of ruthless capitalism, still cheap labour, lax intellectual property protection, government encouragement and national pride is transforming China . While the masses aren't being educated to challenge the world, there's enough up and coming with a University education that have the potential to take initiative and be creative. China is rapidly changing from a country with no only a large manufacturing base, but also a growing niche in technology innovation.

A lot of people seem to be wondering just what Jeff Bezos is doing with Amazon. BusinessWeek has the scoop on Amazon's services play that has been evolving over the past few years. Amazon is betting that it can turn the powerful infrastructure that runs its online retail store into a services offering, and in so doing, make a play as a utility company of the internet. Think of it as Amazon wanting to be the equivalent of the electric, water, gas, etc., company for your home and business. They've had to develop the infrastructure for their online store, with excess capacity to handle the spikes in their business -- most of the time however, a fair bit of that capacity sits idle. What Amazon is going is turning their excess capacity, which more or less is the utility for online businesses, into services they can sell. It's catching on -- slowly -- and if Bezos' bet pays off, the long term windfall will be huge.

The UK Times has an entertaining psychobabble analysis by Andrew Sullivan, of George W. and the fate that has brought him where he is today. Sullivan focuses on Bush's relationship with his dad, Poppy -- as Bush Sr. is known to family members. As Sullivan puts it, it's a tale suitable to a Shakespeare drama.

Left Behind: Eternal Forces has hit the shelves just in time for Christmas. In the videogame, based on the popular novels by Tim Lahaye, gamers will take on roles in either the Tribulation Forces, a Christian army, or Global Community Peacekeepers, a UN like peacekeeping force led by the anti-Christ. As a Christian soldier, your goal is to attempt converting those who are not Christian, to save their souls for when the Christian god returns -- failing that, fragging their asses is justified. Who needs saving? Well, the usual heathen suspects: Jews, Muslims, Hindus -- basically, anyone who isn't Christian. All of this takes place in the oft battered New York City. Christian mythology has always been good fodder for entertainment, and I'm quite sure the premise of the Left Behind story makes for a great videogame. I am concerned however about the marketing of the game. The game is being pushed heavily to Christian kids via evangelical channels. Christian parents concern

My wife introduced me to Operation Christmas Child a few years ago -- and for the second year, my team at work has taken on this annual form of giving as our year end "team event." As most teams in the workplace, we usually participate in the annual ritual celebration -- Christmas time is the time of the year when most of us let go of the grinch, and extend ourselves to others. Instead of doing the usual however -- lunch or dinner -- we've decided again, to pool our resources and send gift boxes to children in developing nations. This year, I had a larger team than last year -- so while we managed around 25 boxes last year, this year, we're sending 40 boxes to children in impoverished nations. The Operation Christmas Child program is operated by the Samaritan's Purse Christian charity organization. Now I have to state up front that they really do push the Jesus thing. And if you don't already know me, I should tell you that I'm very, very far from b

Not that it actually means much, but Rumsfeld will probably not be traveling to Germany any time soon. Germany's top prosecutor will be seeking a criminal investigation and prosecution of Rumsfeld , Alberto Gonzales, George Tenet and others in the US military, for their part in the torture of 11 plaintiffs who were prisoners Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. With Rumsfeld resigned, he's no longer accorded immunity granted to senior government officials. Getting the US to take the case seriously however, is another matter. First, the US is one of the few countries that don't adhere to the International Criminal Court -- and second, if the US allowed the prosecution, it would set a precedence for future legal action against other US government officials. Lest we forget, there are those in the world who are way beyond the reach of the law.

The United Nations just released the 2006 Human Development Report -- subtitled, Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis . As the subtitle implies, the focus of the HDR is on clean water and sanitation in the third world. According to the UN, 5,000 children die every day due to inadequate water supply. The UN sets a target spending of at least 1% GDP on improving water and sanitation -- recommending that governments provide at the very minimum, 20 litres of clean water per day for every person. In comparison, Canadians user on average, 575 litres of water per day per person. Improving water and sanitation conditions in developing nations is one quick way of combating a host of diseases. It is also a direct contributor to nations achieving the eight UN Millennium development targets. Unfortunately, at the pace currently underway, the targets, including those related to clean water, will not be achieved. When you look at the extreme poverty of some developing

The Fraser Institute recently completed their 16th annual survey on wait times experienced by Canadians at hospitals across the country -- and the news just isn't good. On average, from a GP's referral to treatment in a hospital, it takes 17.8 weeks. The survey focused on 12 specialities and the 10 provinces. I'm sure the numbers are even worse for the territories. Wait times increased overall in BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI -- while Alberta, Ontario and Newfoundland, fared better. At the extremes were Ontario and New Brunswick, coming in at 14.9 and 31.9 weeks. When you look at the details, the reality of health care in Canada becomes a scary prospect. Health care spending has been increasing, but improvements just aren't being seen. Either the population or the population of sick people, is growing faster than the spending increase, or after years of neglect, the cash infusion is being swallowed up to bring the health

Since the ousting of the Taliban by the American invasion, the plight of women in Afghanistan has hardly changed. America has all but abandoned Afghanistan to a slow return to Taliban rule -- and for the women of the country, their fate remains to live in hell. Women are not human in Afghanistan. Females are sold, traded and bartered. Girls are married off as young as six, to settle scores -- and if they protest, if they run away, they are beaten, murdered or suffer fates worse than death. For women, today's Afghanistan is no different than when the Taliban ruled. Burqas remain the least of their problems.

Here are some selected quotes from Emma Goldman : We Americans claim to be a peace-loving people. We hate bloodshed; we are opposed to violence. Yet we go into spasms of joy over the possibility of projecting dynamite bombs from flying machines upon helpless citizens. We are ready to hang, electrocute, or lynch anyone, who, from economic necessity, will risk his own life in the attempt upon that of some industrial magnate. Yet our hearts swell with pride at the thought that America is becoming the most powerful nation on earth, and that she will eventually plant her iron foot on the necks of all other nations. As to killing rulers, it depends entirely on the position of the ruler. If it is the Russian Czar, I most certainly believe in dispatching him to where he belongs. If the ruler is as ineffectual as an American President, it is hardly worth the effort. There are, however, some potentates I would kill by any and all means at my disposal. They are Ignorance, Superstition, and Bigo

For those who haven't seen the movie, I would like to introduce it to you. By way of introduction, I give you the following quote, which I'm afraid, is unfortunately, too appropriate for our times. Good evening, London. Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of every day routine- the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration, whereby those important events of the past usually associated with someone's death or the end of some awful bloody struggle are celebrated with a nice holiday. I thought we could mark this November the 5th, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat. There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the

In a story broken on Daily Kos , an editorial to be published in military papers serving the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force, is calling for Donald Rumsfeld to step down -- despite Bush's continued support of Rumsfeld and Cheney. Not only is the American public -- including Republicans -- wanting the man to go, but so is the military. After losing over 2,800 American soldiers in Iraq -- along with much, much more Iraqis -- maybe the tide is finally turning for the insanity that's governing the United States to end. How will American voters vote?

What happens when you're detained -- sometimes called arrested -- charged, but you aren't allow to know by what evidence -- then taken to a secret prison, and tortured to confess -- then after you've confessed, you're taken to another prison, to be tried by a court where you can't actually defend yourself -- where the laws of the nation don't actually apply, and the case may never be shared with the public. If you're found guilty, you could face lifetime in prison -- or execution. If you're set free, you're not allowed to talk about the experience -- or it may happen to you again. Reasonable people have been led to believe that this only happens to the guilty. Reasonable people want to believe that, because reasonable people don't put a lot of stock in being confrontational. Shit only happens to those who actually deserve it -- were up to no-good anyway. The end justifies the means. But torture someone long enough, they will confess of bei

These days, it must really suck to be Redhat. I was at the Oracle conference last week, when Uncle Larry scared the penguins off the stage with his laugh, as he promised to offer support for Redhat's Linux at prices Redhat couldn't touch. Redhat had a booth at the conference, and was most likely in the audience to hear the keynote announcement. Immediately after the announcement, Redhat's shares dropped $5. Now an assault from a totally unexpected front. Microsoft is apparently set to ink a deal with Novell that will see SUSE Linux have greater interoperatablity with Microsoft Windows. The market gave it to Redhat again, as its stock lost another $2. Microsoft's moves of course, is an acknowledgement that Linux is here to stay. Combined with the Oracle announcement however, it's just another sign that the industry is consolidating around the big players. I expect Oracle will acquire Redhat when shareholders can no longer take the pain, and are willing to

According to estimates just published, the world's seafood catch continues to decline , and if the trend isn't reversed, a total collapse of the world fisheries will occur by 2048. The analysis looked at historical data dating back 1,000 years to come to this conclusion. The findings show that 91% of commercially important species have declined by 50%, while 38% of the species have almost disappeared entirely. It just not the marine species that are disappear, but so is their habitats. The same thing that humans have been doing to terrestrial species, we're also doing to marine species -- and in the process, we're slowly sowing the seeds our own species demise.

You've got to wonder when the Republican debacle in the US will come to an end. Are people in America so unaware that will continue to vote Republicans into power? The latest salvo to bring an end of the tyranny is news that the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction will be closed in 2007 . Why? Who knows. Chances are however, that its findings of corruption in the reconstruction of Iraq may be embarrassing for the presidency of George W. Bush. What could be so embarrassing? How about 14,000 weapons that were destined by Iraqi forces, that simply disappeared while in possession of Halliburton? The weapons are believed to have fallen into the hands of the insurgents. Then there are the 25 criminal cases that the audit office has referred to the US Justice Department -- and the withholding of information from the auditors by Halliburton. The list goes on. But will Americans wake up?

Elephants demonstrate subjective self-awareness, a trait that until recently, was reserved for humans and apes. This degree of self-consciousness is believed to be a prerequisite for animals to demonstrate empathy and altruism -- behaviour which may be demonstrated by elephants that live in complex societies and have a reputation for helping each other. This newly discovered self-awareness in elephants was observed in a mirror-test that was performed in the Bronx Zoo. Elephants were placed in front of a large mirror and their behaviour was observed. Elephants not only recognized themselves, but they also used the mirror to examine hidden parts of themselves. As the lines blur between humans and other life that share the planet, more species, like the elephant, are moving closer to extinction everyday.