Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Ancient language mystery deepens
A linguistic mystery has arisen surrounding symbol-inscribed stones in Scotland that predate the formation of the country itself.
The stones are believed to have been carved by members of an ancient people known as the Picts, who thrived in what is now Scotland from the 4th to the 9th Centuries.
These symbols, researchers say, are probably "words" rather than images.
But their conclusions have raised criticism from some linguists.
The research team, led by Professor Rob Lee from Exeter University in the UK, examined symbols on more than 200 carved stones.
They used a mathematical method to quantify patterns contained within the symbols, in an effort to find out if they conveyed meaning.
Professor Lee described the basis of this method.
"It I told you the first letter of a word in English was 'Q' and asked you to predict the next letter, you would probably say 'U' and you would probably be right," he explained.
"But if I told you the first letter was 'T' you would probably take many more guesses to get it right - that's a measure of uncertainty."
Using the symbols, or characters, from the stones, Professor Lee and his colleagues measured this feature of so-called "character to character uncertainty".
They concluded that the Pictish carvings were "symbolic markings that communicated information" - that these were words rather than pictures.
Professor Lee first published these conclusions in April of this year. But a recent article by French linguist Arnaud Fournet opened up the mystery once again.
Mr Fournet said that, by examining Pictish carvings as if they were "linear symbols", and by applying the rules of written language to them, the scientists could have produced biased results.
He commented to BBC News: "It looks like their method is transforming two-dimensional glyphs into a one-dimensional string of symbols.
"The carvings must have some kind of purpose- some kind of meanings, but... it's very difficult to determine if their conclusion is contained in the raw data or if it's an artefact of their method."
Mr Fournet also suggested that the researchers' methods should be tested and verified for other ancient symbols.
"The line between writing and drawing is not as clear-cut as categorised in the paper," Mr Fournet wrote in his article. "On the whole the conclusion remains pending."
But Professor Lee says that his most recent analysis of the symbols, which has yet to be published, has reinforced his original conclusions.
He also stressed he did not claim that the carvings were a full and detailed record of the Pictish language.
"The symbols themselves are a very constrained vocabulary," he said. "But that doesn't mean that Pictish had such a constrained vocabulary."
He said the carvings might convey the same sort of meaning as a list, perhaps of significant names, which would explain the limited number of words used.
"It's like finding a menu for a restaurant [written in English], and that being your sole repository of the English language.
Victoria Gill @'BBC'
Phelps 'Catfish' Collins RIP
Growing up in Cincinnati, Catfish inspired Bootsy to outfit an old guitar with bass strings, helping to define Bootsy’s signature funk sound. Catfish also introduced his brother to the music of Indiana blues guitarist Lonnie Mack. The siblings first played together in the Pacemakers, a funk act, in 1968. One year later, James Brown recruited them to join the original lineup of the J.B.'s, Brown's touring band. Catfish's clean, funky strumming was integral to Brown classics like "Super Bad," "Get Up," "Soul Power," and "Give It Up." "It was like playing a big school with James [as the teacher], like psychotic bump school, only deeper," Bootsy told Rolling Stone in 1978.
When the original J.B.'s split from Brown in 1971, the Collins brothers joined Parliament-Funkadelic, playing on albums like 1972's classic America Eats Its Young. (Catfish also played in Bootsy's side project, Bootsy's Rubber Band.) In 1983, Catfish split from Funkadelic, remaining mostly quiet until 2007, when he contributed guitar to the Superbad soundtrack.
Collins' death comes just one month after fellow Parliament-Funkadelic guitarist Garry Shider passed away from cancer at 56.
Patrick Doyle @'Rolling Stone'
SageFrancisSFR If the artist has to wear multiple hats in order to survive but the middlemen refuse to work extra angles then #KillEmAllAndLetGodSortEmOut
Thom Yorke plays new Radiohead song
Radiohead front-man Thom Yorke played a surprise gig at the Big Chill festival, and during his set, the man performed a brand new Radiohead tune called “Give Up The Ghost”. This wasn’t, however, the first time Yorke has played “Give Up The Ghost”.
via prettymuchamazing
download link for another live version of "Give up the Ghost"
Everyone goes on holiday in Britain...
Even Hells Angels.
I've just found a wonderful, very funny documentary made in 1973 about a group of British Hells Angels.
It's about their daily life and culminates in them going on a weekend mini-break on a derelict barge in the pouring rain near Aylesbury.
They're obviously not very nice people (especially as they tend to go on about Nazis). And the film has a disapproving commentary that talks about their "psychotic tendencies" and their "empty daily existence". But as you watch the film you begin to realise that the director (or possibly the editor) was making a completely different film.
It uses the Hells Angels as a comic and exaggerated parody of the emptiness of the daily life for everyone in Britain.
The film is full of wonderful moments. The lead character - Mad John - goes round to see his wife, but completely ignores her because he finds a letter to him from the fountainhead of Angeldom - the California Angels chapter.
His wife stomps off leaving Mad John with his suitcase of memorabilia. Inside the suitcase is a magazine called "Big Chopper" and a real chopper. He sits with his only real friend - his alsatian dog called Hitler.
And the Hells Angels' holiday ends with all them all sitting together on the barge in the rain watching Dr Who on television drinking cans of lager.
Not much change there then.
Here are the stars of the film:
"Mad John" the Vice President of the Chapter. He was named "Mad John" by "Buttons" who was the first official Hells Angel's leader in Britain. (You can see Buttons' legendary autobiography - Buttons, The Making of a President - briefly in Mad John's suitcase.)
Karl - the Sergeant at Arms of the Chapter. He has been cross-eyed ever since his eyes were knocked out of their sockets in a fight.
Mad John's dog called Hitler plus a great carpet and some fantastic wallpaper.
And Angel member Mick's mum who comes round to lend them a portable TV for the weekend. She is asked what she thinks about her son being a Hells Angel - and she gives one of the best quotes I have ever heard. It is brilliantly comic.
Adam Curtis @'BBC'
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
Wyclef Jean Marks Haitian Presidential Campaign with First Ad
If Wyclef Jean announcing his foray into Haitian politics wasn’t bizarre enough, the hip-hop star’s first campaign ad will get your heads scratching in bewilderment.
The first spot for the Fas A Fas campaign follows Jean during a campaign trail, with fanatic supporters rallying around the star, much like at a hip-hop concert.
There’s no dialog involved either; there’s just celebrity posturing with the thumbs-up signs and posters of Jean’s face being touted all through the two-and-a-half minute ad. In fact, the whole thing looks and sounds more like a music video than anything else.
Sure, it’s not that bad, but the ad doesn’t answer any questions or give any information on Jean’s campaign. So after watching it, we’re still unconvinced if Jean can run a country as he can a stage.
Watch the above video from HipHopWired and tell us what you think of the ad.
The first spot for the Fas A Fas campaign follows Jean during a campaign trail, with fanatic supporters rallying around the star, much like at a hip-hop concert.
There’s no dialog involved either; there’s just celebrity posturing with the thumbs-up signs and posters of Jean’s face being touted all through the two-and-a-half minute ad. In fact, the whole thing looks and sounds more like a music video than anything else.
Sure, it’s not that bad, but the ad doesn’t answer any questions or give any information on Jean’s campaign. So after watching it, we’re still unconvinced if Jean can run a country as he can a stage.
Watch the above video from HipHopWired and tell us what you think of the ad.
ubuweb An anthology of the cut-up tapes of William S. Burroughs, rare & unpublished, of over 3 hours duration [MP3]: http://is.gd/ebzgz
♪♫ Grinderman - Heathen Child
Thu 11 November - Phoenix, Toronto, ON
Fri 12 November - Metropolis, Montreal, QC
Sat 13 November - House of Blues, Boston, MA
Sun 14 November - Nokia Theatre, New York, NY
Tue 16 November - 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
Thu 18 November - Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA
Fri 19 November - Cannery Ballroom, Nashville, TN
Sat 20 November - Minglewood Hall, Memphis, TN
Mon 22 November - Riviera Theatre, Chicago, IL
Tue 23 November - First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN
Fri 26 November - Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC
Sat 27 November - King Cat Theater, Seattle, WA
Mon 29 November - Warfield, San Francisco, CA
Tue 30 November - Music Box, Los Angeles, CA
Wed 1 December - House of Blues, San Diego, CA
Monday, 9 August 2010
As The Drug War Rages On, Will Mexico Surrender?
Mexico is in the midst of its most violent confrontation with drug traffickers, with an estimated 28,000 people killed since President Felipe Calderon declared war on drug cartels soon after he took office in late 2006.
But drug trafficking has long gone on in Mexico, and for many decades operated under the eye of the government, according to analysts. Mexico changing politics has, in effect, changed the way drug cartels operate.
The Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, ruled Mexico for most of the 20th century. After 71 years in power, the party finally lost the presidency in 2000.
From the 1960s through the '80s, organized crime was intertwined with the government, according to Diego Enrique Osorno, a Mexican journalist and author of the recently published history, The Sinaloa Cartel.
"In this period, you have to remember that the PRI had control of everything," Osorno says. The PRI controlled the press, the oil fields, politics and even the narcotics trade.
Osorno obtained the memoires of Miguel Felix Gallardo, the founder of the Guadalajara cartel. "Gallardo viewed himself as essentially a soldier of the PRI," Osorno says. "He worked for the system to maintain order. Back then, the PRI had a monopoly on power."
George Grayson, a professor at the College of William and Mary, says the PRI covertly cut deals with the criminals to allow a particular trafficker to operate in a particular part of Mexico.
"The capos would pay bribes to local, state and federal officials; in return, the government would turn a blind eye to their activities," he says.
But Mexican drug gangs under the PRI had to follow strict rules. They were supposed to act discreetly, spurn kidnapping, avoid killing civilians and not encroach on another cartel's turf.
"If in fact the cartels broke the rules of the game, the PRI had the capacity to come down on them like a ton of bricks," Grayson says.
A major narcotics trafficker at the time was Pablo Acosta. In the mid-1980s, Acosta controlled smuggling along a swath of the Texas border south of El Paso.
Terrence Poppa, a reporter at the El Paso Herald Post, wrote a biography of Acosta titled Drug Lord to try to explain how the Mexican drug trafficking business worked. What he discovered shocked him.
"It was an organized type of protection that ran all the way to Mexico City, and involved the top layers of government, including the president of Mexico," he says.
Poppa found that the governor's office in Chihuahua state had sold Acosta the right to control drug smuggling around the border area adjacent to the Big Bend area of Texas.
Each month, Poppa says, Acosta paid the local police, military and particular PRI officials a cut of his profits. Those PRI officials in turn sent money each month to their bosses further up the governmental hierarchy.
"It was a protection set-up. And this is what Pablo Acosta benefited from. And that was how he was able to operate, and all other traffickers in Mexico — it was like a universal system," Poppa says.
With so many people in government getting bribes, there was little incentive to crack down on the narcotics trade. The PRI's kickback system even encouraged the cartels to expand, Poppa says.
The cartels ramped up their arms smuggling networks. They diversified into legitimate businesses to launder their profits. They recruited special forces soldiers to be their muscle.
Then the PRI lost the presidency in 2000 to Vicente Fox and his National Action Party, or PAN, and Mexico was left with a monster it couldn't control.
"The PRI gave an enormous amount of space for organized crime to flourish," Poppa says. "An enormous amount of space."
Calderon, also of PAN, won election in 2006 and succeeded Fox. Calderon's government is working to crack down on the cartels, but organized crime is fighting back with heavy weapons, grenades and even car bombs.
The offensive has destabilized parts of the country, scared away foreign investment and left thousands dead. And despite the deployment of thousands of federal forces, some of the corrupt structures established under the PRI still exist, analysts say.
Calderon has blamed the United States and its appetite for cocaine, marijuana and other substances for stoking the conflict through drug consumption. "It's as if our neighbor were the biggest drug addict in the world," he wrote in an editorial printed in Mexican newspapers in June.
In the Mexican Congress, there have been calls for the country to give up the drug war entirely and legalize all narcotics.
Poppa says that if the United States were to decriminalize drugs it would help eliminate the huge profits garnered by the brutal cartels.
"In my view, the best reason for ending drug prohibition is to save Mexico, to save the democracy of Mexico that the Mexican people have struggled so hard to gain," he says.
Ironically, one of the effects of the drug violence has been a resurgence in popularity for the PRI, says Denise Dresser, a political scientist in Mexico City.
The PRI is seeking to shed its past image as corrupt and authoritarian. The party has made gains in recent local elections and is seeking to regain the presidency in 2012. It has promised it can manage the cartels far better than Calderon.
"It's as if the Communist Party were resurgent in Russia. We're witnessing, in many ways, the return of an authoritarian party that governed Mexico for 71 years," Dresser says.
The drug war has dominated Calderon's term in office, but despite his declarations to the contrary, there are few signs that he's winning.
Whoever wins the 2012 elections is expected to take a new approach toward the cartels. Many voters may even hope for a return to the days when the PRI let organized crime run drugs unfettered up to the U.S. border, but kept the violence off the streets.
Jason Beaubien @'npr'
'Straddling' bus – a cheaper, greener and faster alternative to commute
A big concern on top of urban transportation planner’s mind is how to speed up the traffic: putting more buses on the road will jam the roads even worse and deteriorate the air; building more subway is costly and time consuming. Well, here is an cheaper, greener and fast alternative to lighten their mind up a bit: the straddling bus, first exhibited on the 13th Beijing International High-tech Expo in May this year. In the near future, the model is to be put into pilot use in Beijing’s Mentougou District (bjnews). (The official site of the high-tech expo put it as 3D fast bus, which I think is more confusing, for now I’ll just call it the straddling bus.)
Proposed by Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Co., Ltd, the model looks like a subway or light-rail train bestriding the road. It is 4-4.5 m high with two levels: passengers board on the upper level while other vehicles lower than 2 m can go through under. Powered by electricity and solar energy, the bus can speed up to 60 km/h carrying 1200-1400 passengers at a time without blocking other vehicles’ way. Also it costs about 500 million yuan to build the bus and a 40-km-long path for it, only 10% of building equivalent subway. It is said that the bus can reduce traffic jams by 20-30%.
Here is the presentation by Song Youzhou, chairman of Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Co., Ltd.
Translation:
What you can see from the video is traffic jams, what you can hear is noise, and there is also invisible air pollution. At present, there are mainly 4 types of public transits in China: subway, light-rail train, BRT, and normal bus. They have advantages and disadvantages, for example, subway costs a lot and takes long time to build; BRT takes up road spaces and produces noises as well as pollution to the air. How to develop environmental-friendly public transportation? Straddling bus provides a solution. Let’s watch a demonstration.
The straddling bus combines the advantages of BRT, it is also a substitution for BRT and subway in the future. As you all know, the majority vehicle on the road is car, the shortest vehicle is also car. Normally our overpass is 4.5-5.5 m high. The highlight innovation of straddling bus is that it runs above car and under overpass. Its biggest strength is saving road spaces, efficient and high in capacity. It can reduce up to 25-30% traffic jams on main routes. Running at an average 40 km/h, it can take 1200 people at a time, which means 300 passengers per cart.
Another strength of straddling bus is its short construction life cycle: only 1 year to build 40 km. Whereas building 40-km subway will take 3 years at best. Also the straddling bus will not need the large parking lot that normal buses demand. It can park at its own stop without affecting the passage of cars. This is what the interior looks like: it has huge skylight that will eliminate passengers’ sense of depression when enter.
There are two parts in building the straddling bus. One is remodeling the road, the other is building station platforms. Two ways to remodel the road: we can go with laying rails on both sides of car lane, which save 30% energy; or we can paint two white lines on both sides and use auto-pilot technology in the bus, which will follow the lines and run stable.
There are also two ways in dealing with station platform. One is to load/unload through the sides; the other is using the built-in ladder so that passengers can go up and to the overpass through the ceiling door.
Straddling bus is completely powered by municipal electricity and solar energy system. In terms of electricity, the setting is called relay direct current electrification. The bus itself is electrical conductor, two rails built on top to allow the charging post to run along with the bus, the next charging post will be on the rails before the earlier one leaves, that is why we call it relay charging. It is new invention, not available yet in other places.
The set here is super capacitor, a device that can charge, discharge and store electricity quickly. The power it stores during the stop can support the bus till the next stop where another round of charging takes place, achieving zero toxic gas throughout the process.
About the ultrasonic waves put forth from the end of the bus, that is to keep those high cars or trucks away from entering the tunnel. Using laser ray to scan, cars get too close to the passage will activate the alarm on the bus end. Inside the bus, there are turning lights that indicate a the bus is intending to make a turn to warn the cars inside. Also radar scanning system is embedded on the walls to warn cars from getting too close to the bus wheels.
Nowadays many big cities have remodeled their traffic signaling system, to prioritize public buses, that is to say when a bus reaches a crossing, red light on the other side of the fork will turn on automatically to give buses the right of way. Our straddling bus can learn from this BRT method. The car can make the turn with the bus if that is the direction it wants to go too; if not, the red light will be on to stop the cars beneath while the bus take the turn.
The bus is 6 m in width and 4-4.5 m high. How will people get off the bus if an accident happens to such a huge bus? Here I introduce the most advanced escaping system in the world. In the case of fire or other emergencies, the escaping door will open automatically. I believe many of you have been on a plane. Planes are equipped with inflated ladder so people can slide down on it in emergency. I put the escaping concept into the straddling bus. It is the fastest way to escape.
The bus can save up to 860 ton of fuel per year, reducing 2,640 ton of carbon emission. Presently we have passed the first stage demonstration and will get through all of the technical invalidation by the end of August. Beijing’s Mentougou District is carrying out a eco-community project, it has already planned out 186 km for our straddling bus. Construction will begin at year end.
Thank you.
Annie Lee @'China Hush'
Indonesian Muslim preacher Bashir in terror arrest
Indonesian police have arrested the controversial Muslim preacher Abu Bakir Bashir on terror charges.
Officials said they had proof he was linked a training camps recently discovered in Aceh, West Sumatra.
Mr Bashir is known for fiery anti-Western rhetoric but proof of direct engagement in attacks has been elusive.
The discovery in February of training camps in Aceh showed the opening of a new front in the country's often successful campaign against extremism.
The anti-terror police unit Detachment 88 detained Mr Bashir because of links to Islamic militant training camps, a government official said.
He is believed to be the head of a hardline Islamist group, the Jema'ah Ansharut Tauhid.
Mr Bashir's lawyer, Muhammad Ali, said his client was arrested in the Ciamis district of West Java.
Founder of the Ngruki boarding school in East Java, he was the spiritual adviser to young men who went on to mount the Bali bomb attacks of 2002 which killed 202 people.
Mr Bashir was released from prison in 2006 after serving several years for involvement with Jemaah Islamiah, the group responsible for the Bali bombings.
His history of activism goes back to the 1980s when then-President Suharto imprisoned him for advocating that Indonesia should be an Islamic state.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group has reported a general decline in violent extremism across Indonesia but has stressed the ability of the remaining small groups to commit terrorist acts.
It said in a report last month that some members of JAT were involved in violent plots foiled by police.
This weekend, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he had been saved from an attack on his life by anti-terror police.
Last July, simultaneous suicide bomb attacks on two five-star hotels in Jakarta killed nine people.
DooneyStudio RT @mediahunter Family First candidate Wendy Francis y'day compared gay marriage to “legalising child abuse'' [More Oz election weirdness]
Digg me but don't bury me...
I don't know how much truth there is behind this story, but I do know this: there's nothing uglier than a mob of angry teabaggers, on and offline...
A group of influential conservative members of the behemoth social media site Digg.com have just been caught red-handed in a widespread campaign of censorship, having multiple accounts, upvote padding, and deliberately trying to ban progressives. An undercover investigation has exposed this effort, which has been in action for more than one year.
"The more liberal stories that were buried the better chance conservative stories have to get to the front page. I'll continue to bury their submissions until they change their ways and become conservatives." -phoenixtx (aka vrayz)
More @'MikeTheMadBiologist'
Dirk57 W.S. Burroughs: "The question, "why did you start using narcotics in the first place?" should never be asked. It is irrelevant to treatment"
Psychic Octopus Begins Advertising Career
Paul the psychic octopus may have retired from predicting football matches, but his advertising career has just begun. The eight-legged oracle recently appeared in an advertisement for a German supermarket chain and has received more than 160 endorsement offers, including a book deal, according to the mollusk's agent.
From the depths of the ocean to the height of stardom, Paul the octopus' star hasn't gone dim yet. After shooting to fame this summer by correctly predicting the results of each of Germany's World Cup matches -- including tipping Spain to beat Netherlands in the final -- the cephalopod oracle from the Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen was featured in recent print ads for the German supermarket chain Rewe.
The ads, which were shot about a week ago, show Paul in his trademark pose atop a transparent box after snatching a mussel from inside. Naturally, Paul chose the Rewe box.
How long did it take Paul to choose the mussel from the Rewe box? "Instantly," the mollusk's England-based agent Chris Davis told SPIEGEL ONLINE. Neither Rewe nor Davis would disclose the amount Paul earned from the ad, but the agent would only say that it was "substantial" sum. Paul's income will go to a turtle sanctuary in Greece, according to the agent.
"Paul has turned into a million-plus brand instantly," says Davis, noting that Paul has so far received more than 160 offers to hawk products. "I have had 37 offers just this morning," he said on Friday.
Rewe is so far undecided on whether it will continue its work with the cuddly octopus. "It cannot be ruled out that we will use the well-known octopus again in our advertising," Rewe spokeswoman Julia Robertz told SPIEGEL ONLINE in an e-mail. Robertz added that Paul's image will only be used in the short-term.
Paul may have bigger fish to fry, anyway. The octopus also has his eight arms wrapped around a book deal, a plush toy contract and will swim alongside David Beckham to promote England's bid for the 2018 World Cup, says Davis.
Nevertheless, campaigning for a supermarket chain may be problematic for the mollusk. On Rewe's own website, the Cologne-based supermarket calls octopus "tasty" and says that "especially coveted are their meaty arms, which also come deep-frozen and pre-fried."
A Fatwa for Paul?
The limelight has come with unexpected perils for Paul. Recently, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Paul of spreading "western propaganda and superstition" and posing as a symbol of "decadence and decay," according to the British daily, the Telegraph. Davis even claims that he needs a security detail as Paul's agent following Ahmadinejad's comments.
Even so, Paul is no stranger to danger. During the World Cup, disappointed fans from Argentina to Germany threatened to roast the octopus after he correctly foresaw losses by their squads. And in China, a movie is about to hit the big screen entitled "Kill Paul Octopus," whose fictional plot reportedly revolves around gambling and match fixing at this year's World Cup.
But Paul has a legion of protectors in Spain. Shortly after the nation's World Cup victory, the city council of Carballiño, a town of 14,000 in northern Spain, made Paul an honorary citizen. Carballiño Mayor Carlos Montes traveled to Oberhausen last week to hand-deliver the honor to Paul.
(Eric Kelsey - Der Spiegel)
Hawaii implements a "put your money where your mouth is" law
The persistent quest for President Barack Obama's Hawaii birth certificate has died down since the state passed a law allowing it to ignore repetitive requests for the document.Far fewer "birthers," who claim Obama is ineligible to be president, have asked state officials to provide the document since the law was enacted in May, according to the state.
The law has never even been put to use, said Department of Health spokeswoman Janice Okubo. The number of people seeking proof that Obama was born outside of Hawaii and the United States diminished without the law being invoked.
Continue reading@'AP'
Sunday, 8 August 2010
Freedom to Fail
Google espouses a culture where it’s OK to be wrong. This is along the same lines as the difference between following your passion and bringing your passion with you. The former is just a dream (the so-called American Dream) and the latter is actually performing work and making progress. 
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