Standing in the way of control!

Yesterday I read about a new feed reader created by two South Africans here. I was apprehensive at first but decided to try it out anywayand was mightily surprised by what I found at Feed Me. I am a sucker for cool, clean cut and stylish interfaces. My current reader just cannot seem to produce the same type of eye candy. Currently Feed Me! is looking for a new name so it is a work in progress.

I contacted one of the developers Leroux Bodenstein and he supplied me with the following answer to my question at to how they came about the idead of creating a new feed aggregator:

 I noticed that Newshutch had been down for a while. I stopped using it
during a period of time when they had performance problems and they
made some interface changes I didn’t like, but early on I was
completely blown away by the interface. I thought it was a bit of a
shame that they were no longer online. Then I realised that using all
the free libraries that are available for python nowadays it shouldn’t
be too difficult to write something like that as a pet project, so I
built one in my free time. The initial version only took a few
evenings.

Long ago I used bloglines, but I find their interface horrible. I have
tried some other feed readers, but none of them ever really impressed
me.

I primarily built it for myself, but it is a web app so it is easy to
let others use it and if someone else finds it useful, then that would
be nice. I’m not planning to ever make money from it and I can’t think
of any viable business model for a feed reader anyway, plus it is
essentially a rip-off of Newshutch. So.. because of that and the
remote possibility that someone might find the code useful I decided
to opensource it. This way others can run their own feed readers if
they want to.

Initially I mostly copied ideas from Newshutch, but I also copied some
from tank and incorporated some of my own ideas. The shades of gray is
because I’m no designer. That’s basically why I kept it so simple.

I find that it saves me lots of time. I’m going to procrastinate
anyway and at least this way I get it all done in one go and I don’t
have to go look at all the sites that get updated infrequently. (This
isn’t for keeping up to date on sites that get updated 20 times per
day. If you’re into reading techcrunch or engadget, then you’re
probably on those sites refreshing all the time anyway)

thisarmy is Alan Alston and myself. We build http://withtank.com/

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From: The Telegraph

Hiroko Yoda says she made several attempts to sign up to the popular social networking site but her applications were always met with an error message.

The Japanese author suspected that her distinctive surname – which she shares with the wise, green Jedi Master of the Star Wars film series – may be at the root of her problem.

Her suspicions were confirmed when her attempts to sign up using other anglicised versions of her surname, including Youda and Yohda, proved successful.

After contacting Facebook she claims she was told that Yoda had been placed on a name blacklist because so many members pretended to be the fictional three-fingered seer. The website only allows people to join under their real names.

“Facebook blocks the registration of a number of names that are frequently abused on the site,” the website’s message read.

“The name ‘Yoda’, also being the name of a popular Star Wars character, is on this list of blocked names.”

Under Facebook’s terms and conditions, users must agree not to “impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent yourself”.

The rules also dictate that members must not “register for a User account on behalf of an individual other than yourself”.

Facebook has now relented and allowed Hiroko Yoda to set up a profile on the site.

Yoda is a fairly common surname in Japan, and a search of Facebook reveals dozens of apparently genuine members with the name.

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From News24: A Durban card cloning kingpin found guilty of 157 counts of fraud as well as 28 counts of card cloning was sentenced to 2 000 hours of periodical imprisonment by the Durban Commercial Crime Court on Wednesday….

….With his sentence, the court said Mcanyana would also pay compensation of R175 000 to the financial institutions - R80 000 by August 29 this year and R5 000 per month thereafter.

This is totally absurd….This person acted with the knowledge of the crime and full well knew that was making card holders’ life one big misery. That’s Justice in SA. Steal now and pay back later…get it on credit if you need some more…ridiculous…this shit never gets old!

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Once you’ve spotted a great job anywhere online and figured out how much moolah to ask for, you need to get your foot in the door. In most cases, your foot is your resume, and every person you’ve ever met with a job has sincere, if contradictory, advice on making yours shinier than all the others. We’ve picked out five bits of advice that actually help you plan, write, and present your resume, rather than rely on oldie-but-goody generic advice. Follow along and dig up that dusty old Word file to see what you can do to make yourself more appealing the next time you’re stopping at the post office on lunch break. Photo by ceeb.

Start with a big, big list

Far too many of us know the feeling of staying up late the night before a job packet is due in the mail, staring into that blank white word processing window and wondering just what the heck we’re going to write. Next time you’re starting fresh-slate or revamping, The Simple Dollar blog recommends opening up a plain text editor and just smacking away, entering in everything you could possibly consider a job asset or great resume line:

List the details of every job, including every possible relevant accomplishment at each one. List every organized activity you’ve ever participated in, and every noteworthy honor you’ve received in your life. List everything.

It doesn’t sound all that simple, until you realize how it ties in with the most powerful part of writing—editing. Run through that gigantic list and kill out the weakest or least-relevant pieces, leaving you with only the strongest stuff you can fit into the smallest spaces. Give an employer condensed flavor instead of a weak one-page broth, and you’re a lot more appealing as a hire.

Kill the fluff for more powerful stuff

When you’re asked by strangers what you do, do you respond with, “Work in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment providing reliable solutions for clients”? Then you probably shouldn’t put that on your resume, either. Too many of us have been trained with Pavlovian passion to jam as many “power words” into our resume as possible. This CareerBuilder article on CNN lists 25 words you should scan your resume for, and, once found, think about what they really say, and whether you can put it in more common-sense vernacular. Saying you’re a “people person” doesn’t carry as much weight if your resume makes people scratch their heads and yawn.

Use a good template (or grab a friend’s)

If you’re re-writing your resume for the first time in a long time, or just the first time ever, it can help you move a lot quicker and know what goes where if you’ve got a solid example to work from. The emurse blog has a helpful set of entry-level samples for most types of jobs.

If it’s a higher-level job, however, our commenters suggest (most of them, anyway) skipping the eye-popping design and over-worked objectives and just focusing on experience and accomplishments. If you need a guiding example, why not hit up a friend or contact who’s in a position similar to the one you want? Most people are less scared to send you a resume they aren’t actively using, and at least you know it worked with one hiring manager.

Make your resume “one page,” add more if needed

Ask your fellow Lifehackers if a resume really, truly needs to be just a single piece of paper, and you’ll generate some serious discussion, with a lot of supporters on either side. The best advice, though, is summated by tk3nomanser:

The first page of your resume should be complete in and of itself. That is to say, it should be a convenient splash page that summarizes your skills and desirability.

After that first page, feel free to append as much supporting documentation as you like.

Sound advice. You won’t be able to fit your full resume onto one page, but pretend the employer loses all the rest of your packet (and, trust us, they do)—would your first page still work on its own? If you’ve got references and C.V. material galore, just put it on separate sheets.

Skip the resume entirely (or write from a different angle)

Marketing guru Seth Godin asked us all a few months ago, “Why bother having a resume?” To our ears, it doesn’t sound like a crazy question. If you can pitch yourself on the strength of a complete, relevant project or a reputation you can call on, putting together a resume might not only be unnecessary, but it might prevent you from being a distinguishable pick in the eyes of a manager.

If you’re not quite there yet, or feel bound by honor or HR requirements to put something together, consider re-writing it from a new perspective, as suggested by the Brazen Careerist blog. That means focusing on what you actually did rather than what your responsibilities were, and giving the employer a reason to ask follow-up questions in an interview.

[Lifehacker]

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John McCain sure won’t be seeing any of Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour, which began with a bang this weekend.

Always controversial, Madonna irritated the presidential hopeful when she and her team played a video tacitly comparing McCain to horrible dictators, like Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and the incomparable Adolf Hitler.

Amid a four-act show, a video interlude carried images of destruction, global warming, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, Zimbabwe’s authoritarian President Robert Mugabe - and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Another sequence, shown later, pictured slain Beatle John Lennon, climate activist Al Gore, Mahatma Gandhi and finally Barack Obama.

Furious over Madonna’s hyperbolic act, the McCain camp used its reply to cast a shadow over Obama.

Said a spokesman: “The comparisons are outrageous, unacceptable and crudely divisive all at the same time. It clearly shows that when it comes to supporting Barack Obama, his fellow worldwide celebrities refuse to consider any smear or attack off limits.”

[Queerty]

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Hungry? Why wait? Especially since the food being offered at the Olympic venues apparently sucked so bad that Snickers became the number two chocolate bar in China this quarter, either for lack of better options, the fact that Chinese officials kept visitors away from the Olympic Green, or following a deal chocolate maker Mars signed to make the deliciously nutty snack the official chocolate of the Beijing Games.

Snickers, known over there as “Shilijia,” has been around in China for the last fifteen years, but it took the giant marketing tie-in of the games for the Chinese to come around on the junk-food. Or rather, it took the build up to the giant marketing tie-in to get the Chinese on the road toward the ambitious goal of obesity.

The game plan for introducing the East to a snack that costs about half of what the average Chinese teen spends a day? Only a little gimmick that definitely wouldn’t fly in the U.S.

Earlier this year, Mars hosted a Snickers Street Olympics tournament in Beijing of “hybrid sports” events like Basoccer, a mix of basketball and soccer with trash cans for goals, and Streetminton, a combination of badminton and break dancing.

Also offered was Snickers Jump Satisfaction, an event in which participants jumped over as many Snickers bars as possible to win them. Mars offered tickets to the real Olympic Games as prizes.

Cute! Clever! Genius! But it sure as hell would never work here!

Americans love corporate sponsored contests as much as the next guy, and there is that Red Bull flying machine contest every year to get kids out of their houses, but America’s youth are more interested in getting their corporate exercise by playing Rock Band and finding viral video endorsements on YouTube. Going outside to participate in made-up sports? They barely go outside to participate in real sports.

But at least our fatness has plateaued. So there’s that.

[JOSSIP]

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Group Dating isn’t new in Japan, where compa or gokon parties have become a regular part of their dating scene. The word compa comes from the word companion and gokon is a combination of the words goudo (group) and compa (companion). It is said that this practice evolved from the difficulties of finding a partner due to the pervasive shyness that exists in Japanese society.

Group dating gatherings usually take place at public venues such as restaurants where each attendee brings a couple of eligible friends. The thing that people seem to like best about this concept, besides the whole law of averages, is the fact that if all else goes wrong and you don’t find a match you still wind up having a good time out with your friends. (Traditionally, compa isn’t for one-night stands but obviously there are many that will seek this type of experience.)

The trend has become a cultural phenomenon, gaining popularity in the UK and now the US. Here are some popular online services that cater to the group dating/compa concept….

More at Mashable!

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The other night I had the tv on and CSI Miami was showing. Could it be the worst show ever with Horatio Crane?

I rest my case…

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So after much surfing and blogging and dropping entrecards I have been convinced to get my own domain. That was easy, now the whole design process starts and wow! it can keep you busy. which theme, plugins etc to choose from.

In one day I have learnt a lot…from web hosting and the hundreds out there but most of all I am impressed with the service I received…amazing

So, while that site is still under construction I will still be here since I have other ideas for that blog/site….

I love this journey…

To all my entrecard droppers I will reciprocate from tomorrow again…bit tired today!

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Roseanne Barr has been having a lot to say on her blog the past few days. Here is her opinion on the Republican Party in the USA:

the party that told everybody to let the “freemarkets” rule and everything would be alright. If we just took the inhibitors off of business we would all be rewarded. Big government was our enemy, and would make us lose jobs. Well, Mccain’s party raped and looted every dime they saw, and now people are losing their homes, jobs, country, schools, hospitals, benefits, retirement, and civil rights. Mccain’s party is the “let the rich have their way” party. This is where reaganomics took us. neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother, rich against poor…ARMAGEDDON. Again mccain’s party will appeal to the lowest in people…their secret racism, their secret fear of women’s reproductive rights, their fears of homosexuality, and devils and spooks from other religions. I hope it doesn’t work this time. I hope this time the voting public cannot be turned against its own best interests. I hope that voters vote for community instead of consolidation of power. community is key.

Read more of her diatribe here

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Vials of human blood have been grown from embryonic stem cells for the first time, in research that promises to provide an almost limitless supply suitable for transfusion into any patient.

The achievement by American scientists could lead to clinical trials of the artificially produced blood within two years, and ultimately to an alternative to donations that would transform medicine.

If such blood were made from stem cells of the O- blood type, which is compatible with every blood group but is often in short supply, it could be given safely to anybody who needs a transfusion.

Supplies of synthetically made O- blood could be kept for emergency situations in which there is insufficient time to check a person’s blood group, such as following a train crash or terrorist attack. It would be particularly useful to military doctors treating battlefield trauma injuries.

Stem-cell derived blood would also eliminate the risk of transmitting the pathogens that cause HIV and Creutzfeld Jakob Disease (CJD) through transfusions, as it could not originate from people who carry these infectious agents.

Scientists behind the advance said that it had huge therapeutic potential, and could easily become the first application of embryonic stem cell research to enter widespread clinical use.

“Limitations in the supply of blood can have potentially life-threatening consequences for patients with massive blood loss,” said Robert Lanza, of Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) in Massachusetts, who led the experiments.

“Embryonic stem cells represent a new source of cells that can be propegated and expanded indefinitely, providing a potentially inexhaustible source of red blood cells for human therapy. The identification of a stem cell line with O- blood type would permit the production of compatible ‘universal donor’ blood.”

The work also has more immediate clinical promise that efforts to turn embryonic stem cells into other types of tissue, for treating conditions such as diabetes and Parkinson’s.

One of the biggest safety hurdles that must be cleared before stem cell therapies enter clinical trials is the risk of uncontrolled cell growth causing cancer. Red blood cells, however, do not have nuclei that carry the genetic material that goes wrong in cancer, and thus should not present this danger.

“This could be one of the biggest breaks for the early clinical application of embryonic stem cells,” Dr Lanza said. “There is still work to be done, but we could certainly be studying these cells clinically within the next year or two.”

While a few red blood cells have been created from embryonic stem cells before, the ACT team is the first to mass-produce them on the scale that would be required for medical use. The scientists grew between 10 billion and 100 billion red cells from just six wells of stem cells…

Read on..

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