And I have a sore throat, for the first time in over a year I think it is. All through my horrendous itching period of 8 months, I didn't get sick once, that I remember anyway.

http://grouphug.us/

AC just got a whole new meaning.

Now I'm a bit saddened that I own a Sony VCR, and am going to be watchful so that I don't buy any Sony music CDs. They've harmed thousands of their customers by installing malware onto their computers, and have a draconian EULA for their music CDs even! If your house burns down, and you have saved your music on a rescued iPod, Sony requires you to delete "their" music off your iPod!

Please don't buy any Sony Music BMG CDs, and support their demise in the coming court battles. Fight Digital Right Management infections, and don't put existing Sony CDs into your computer.

A NASA report lays out the risks of exploring Mars and considers how to mitigate them. "According to Murphy's Law, whatever can go wrong, will go wrong, and presumably this applies on Mars as well as Earth. So if things go wrong on Mars, are we ready for them? What do we need to know about Mars before we send people there? That question is what NASA's Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG for short) addressed in its report [PDF] dated June 2, 2005." Topping the list are dust, dust storms, water and biohazards like alien infections.
  http://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/reports/mhp_ssg_(06-02-05).pdf

I was hit by a van yesterday, while I was on my bike. Don't ever try that by the way. I'll be OK, but my bike won't be. Bruised leg and smashed helmet later = stiff but not a stiff.

It will be fun to see tomorrow the rule of law in action. Hopefully not inaction, as the Daily Show pun goes...

ABC News reports that some trees are poisoning the saplings of competing trees. Pretty red leaves are doom-from-above for encroaching plants. "Scientists call it 'allelopathy'."

Space Weather gives viewing instructions for tonight's partial lunar eclipse.
"According to folklore, October's full moon is called the "Hunter's Moon" or sometimes the "Blood Moon." It gets its name from hunters who tracked and killed their prey by autumn moonlight, stockpiling food for the winter ahead. The Hunter's Moon of 2005 is due on Oct. 17th. Creatures of the forest, beware!"

CBC News brings word about Samsung's guilt in a price fixing scheme designed to make you pay more for DRAM.
"The fine that Samsung has agreed to pay is the second-largest criminal antitrust penalty in U.S. history."
Is it possible that RAM prices will drop because of this ruling?

This time the Riders lost in the last minute to Montreal, who went up 38 - 34 and the Riders never marched down the field to go ahead with a touchdown.
The Riders can reclaim 2nd place by beating Edmonton next week in Alberta's capital. The last time the Riders played Edmonton, we beat them on the last play by blocking a field goal attempt.

I saw the bestest football game this season, at Taylor Field on Sunday. The Riders beat Edmonton 37-36 on the last play of the game when Omar Morgan blocked a short field goal attempt by Edmonton. Since it was 3rd down, even though Edmonton recovered the football it appeared, they let the clock run out since the Eskimos didn't gain a first down on their recovery to try again.

http://www.spaceweather.com/ Spaceweather.com [Sept. 10th] is reporting, "solar activity is very high. Earth-orbiting satelites have detected six X-class solar flares since Sept. 7th, including one X17-class monster-flare. NOAA forecasters say there's a 75% chance of more X-flares during the next 24 hours, possibly causing radio blackouts and radiation storms."
        The massive "Sunspot 798" is rotating into the direction of Earth this week, so keep your eyes skyward at night for Northern Lights, and keep your fingers crossed that no blackouts or satelite damage is triggered by the possible radiation storms.
An X17 class flare is very powerful. Back in January 2005, a powerful solar storm ripped past Earth. A list with some of the most powerful solar flares since 1976 is here.

Today I had another article posted to the front page. Again it's a NASA story about polymers, and how they will help on our first human flight to Mars and beyond.

This is a somewhat relavant link, since the PFHT with Peanut Butter came with a polymer layer to increase EM radiation scan blocking.
http://mirrors.meepzorp.com/ebay/pet-foil-hat/

It seems I started a flame war too, over the definition of "podcast".

[Edit: I didn't know until today that I can edit my journal here, I never bothered looking but today I spotted the link for it.]

Today I wrote my radio station, and my email was read on air by the radio host Murray Wood.

Hi Murray,
In regard to your Liberal topic, I'd like you to ask the Prime Minister or the Heritage Canada minister why they are letting the beauracracy and the American music and movie industry dictate to Canadians the freedoms they have with regard to copyrighted materials. Canada currently has a very progressive Copyright Act, which is ironic because it hasn't been updated in quite a while. But now Heritiage Canada is pushing parliament to introduce new legislation that will give more power to corporations, and take rights away from the consumer.

The new act will do things such as make it a crime to backup your personal CD collection to your Ipod, charge libraries and schools huge fees to have photocopiers available to the public, and force Internet Service Providers to record your Internet activity which will increase the cost of your monthly bill and cost you privacy.

Saskboy

If you want to read more about the details of this, to verify what I'm saying, have a look at my letter to my MP about this at http://slashdot.org/~saskboy/journal/111842
====
Here are the details:
Now Google.ca is threatened by the Bill C-60.

My lazy MP is too busy crusading against homosexuals to reply to my letter :-@

So I'll have to email him for a 3rd time, and if he doesn't reply it will just be good fodder to defeat him in the coming 2006 election.

DMCA for Canada is not acceptable
Written Friday March 25 2005

Please write your MP on this matter. Use my letter below if you don't want to write your own.
                                Send your letter for free (no postage necessary when parliament is in session; But in Summer send it to their constituency office I'd reason), to your MP at the following address:
[your MP's name] M.P.
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6

Find their email address, but write by paper mail too.
[fix URL gap] http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/house/PostalCode.asp?lang=E

Dear Mr. Breitkreuz
                                                                To summarize the issues in this letter:
1. Internet Service Providers should not be required to keep extensive logs of private and legal online communications.

2. The government must not stop Canadian citizens from making personal-use copies of their legally purchased software, music, and movie media.

3. Internet Search engines such as Google.ca, and Libraries must not be subject to penalties for providing direction to copyrighted materials.

                                                                Background:
http://pch.gc.ca/progs/ac-ca/progs/pda-cpb/reform/statement_e.cfm

                                Here is the reasoning:
                    The purpose of the Copyright Act is to support creativity and innovation in the arts and culture. To design a new Act on the failed and draconian Digital Millennium Copyright Act of the United States of America, would be a disaster for Canadian culture, and innovation. Also our court system could become clogged with law abiding citizens who make personal use copies of their music, software, and movie collections for no personal financial gain. An implementation of the proposed changes to the Copyright Act would unleash another "Gun Registry boondoggle" onto the Canadian people - creating criminals out of law abiding citizens at the expense of Canadian taxpayers.

            Internet Service Providers like Sasktel should not be made to keep extensive client usage logs for possible future prosecution by various copyright-based industries. I don't want to pay for that system to be put into effect, and I don't think most people do. The phone companies are not forced by the government to record the content of phone conversations, only police can do that with a proper warrant. ISP logs are going to be equivalent to phone-taps, and that's a violation of my privacy. It's doing the job of the police, and is for the sole benefit of an industry basing its profits on an outdated business model that is no longer realistic for the Canadian government to protect.

                        The current version of Bill C-60 suggests it could be illegal for anyone to provide copyrighted information through "information-location tools," which includes search engines like Google.ca. This anti-business, and anti-information clause, is very un-Canadian.

                        It is completely unfair to be paying a levy to artists organizations for purchasing blank CD media to make home-use private copies of legal CD music, and now to also be unable to legally copy the music I've paid for off of Digital Rights Managed CDs. If copying CD music is going to be illegal, why is the government collecting money from the product for an illegal activity? I'm satisfied that the current levy is helping to compensate artists from illegitimate copying, and no new law is required to prevent me and other people from making sensible backups of our legal music, software, and movie collections.

Your representation in the House of Commons on this matter is greatly appreciated by me, and other supporters of personal liberty and innovation in the arts. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
my name