Who invented spaghetti?

AJ: Is it true that the chinese invented spaghetti?
Tony Soprano: Now think about it, why would people who eat with sticks invent something that you need a fork to eat?*

Oh man, I am loving every bit of The Sopranos.

* s1e08

Bird watching
A new and rather different version of the Big Brother reality show is drawing large audiences in Norway.

The show's contestants are not young or famous people, but a tight-knit family of birds.

And they are proving to be the saviours of Norwegian reality shows. [BBC]

Sounds interesting, I would prefer watching the birds over those idiots in Big Brother anyday...

Schlosser is back..
In his new book, "Reefer Madness," Eric Schlosser rips into the American hypocrisy that drives pleasures of the flesh underground -- and turns a blind eye to exploited labor. [Salon]

IT is getting older
Today, everybody is older and wiser. Given the current recession in IT, the idea of a parallel digital universe where the laws of economic gravity do not apply has been quietly abandoned. What has yet to sink in is that the current downturn is something more than the bottom of another cycle in the technology industry. Rather, as this survey will argue, the sector is going through deep structural changes which suggest that it is growing up or even, horrors, maturing. Silicon Valley, in particular, has not yet come to grips with the realities, argues Larry Ellison, the chief executive of Oracle, a database giant (who at 58 still sports a youthful hairdo). "There's a bizarre belief that we'll be young forever," he says. [Economist]

Some really good reads about how the IT industry is getting older and wiser from the Economist in their survey on the IT industry.

MS Passport flawed
Microsoft has admitted that for the last seven months up to 200 million Passport accounts have been vulnerable to plundering by thieves and malicious hackers.

The loophole in the online identity service only seems to have been exploited in the last month and Microsoft said it had locked all compromised accounts and fixed the bug. [BBC]

I read a gem of a statement some days ago while browsing The Hundredth Window

Dont say the word secure, if you are talking about computer systems. - Donald H. Rumsfeld

Laughter - The Best Medicine
I recieved the following as an email forward today...

This story was told by a nurse who was on duty at the SARS ward in Tan Tock Sen Hospital, Singapore and she swears this really happened in her ward. A man suspected of SARS was lying in bed with a mask over his mouth. A young intern nurse appeared to sponge his face and hands.

Patient (wearing a mask): Nurse, are my testicles black?
Intern Nurse (embarrassed): I don't know, and I'm here only to wash your face and hands.

Patient (struggling from behind the mask): Nurse, Are my testicles black?
Nurse (still embarrassed): I can't tell. I'm here only to wash your face and hands.

The Head Nurse was passing and saw the man getting a little distraught so she marched over to see what was wrong.

Patient (to the Head Nurse): Nurse, Are my testicles black?
Being a nurse of long-standing, the Head Nurse was undaunted. She whipped back the bedclothes, pulled down his pajama, had a right good look, pulled up the pajamas, replaced the bedclothes and announced, "Nothing wrong with your testicles!!!"

At this the man angrily pulled off his mask and barked, "I SAID.... Are my TESTS RESULTS BACK!! ???"

Hehehe...

A different kind of animal


cypherpunk becomes the Ullu man... read more here

Defender of Democracy Award for Dr Chee
Dr Chee Soon Juan has been given the 2003 Defender of Democracy Award by the Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA). Dr Chee was informed on 1 May 2003 of the PGA’s decision to award him the prize in a letter by the organization’s President, Mr Kenneth Dzirasah (see below).

The PGA is an international association made up of parliamentarians from across the world. It is supported by the United Nations, European Commission, the Governments of Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom as well as private foundations and universities (see website at www.pgaction.org). Its stated goal is to strengthen individual legislators’ capacity to pursue international peace, social justice and development.

In his letter to Dr Chee, Mr Dzirasah said that the “PGA admires your lifelong commitment to promoting democracy in your country.” The award ceremony will take place in Washington DC on 16 September 2003. [Singapore Democrats]

Last night I was talking to a friend of mine about the general state of affairs in Singapore. I told her how there is only one party that has been ruling since independence etc. etc.

cypher: Only one party has been in power since independence here and they are quite authoritarian...
friend: ic, what is the name of that party
cypher: PAP, Peoples Action Party
friend: hmmm, Peoples Action Party. How ironic...

Well said my friend, well said...

25yrs of SPAM
One of the most annoying aspects of the internet, spam, is 25 years old this weekend. Net historians have trawled records and found that the first junk e-mail message hawking a company or its wares was sent back in 1978. Coincidentally, the first commercial spam sent to Usenet discussion groups was sent a little over 10 years ago. Now spam is thought to account for up to 40% of all e-mail messages sent across the net and many industry groups, companies and technologists are uniting to fight the flood. [BBC]

Brotherhood
Web log writers around the world are joining forces to protest against the detention of a fellow blogger. Iranian Sina Motallebi has been held by the authorities on, so far, unspecified charges and now fellow web users are banding together to press for his release. An online petition has been set up calling for the release of Mr Motallebi and for a halt to harassment of journalists by the Iranian Government. The cause has been picked up by other bloggers, who are also calling for his release. [BBC]