w o z w o r k

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

“A number cannot be patented.
A number cannot be copyrighted.”

By Contrary1

1. Thou shalt have fun: If you aren’t having fun while gardening, find another hobby

2. Thou shalt save money, not spend money: If you are planting a frugal garden, the bounty you receive should ultimately save you money over the amount you put into the garden

3. Thou shalt not acquire needy plants: Nothing makes it into my garden if it has specific needs or is just constantly needy (I sat through a garden club lecture & demo once where the speaker included the word critical more than a half dozen times…nothing goes in my garden that has a word like “critical” attached to it!)

4. Thou shalt not acquire fleeting plants: Anything I plant needs to stick with me. In other words, it can’t be a fleeting, flash in the garden bed sort of annual. No spot-of-color sort of event in my garden. Plants have to come back again and again; and on their own too!

5. Thou shalt keep digging to a minimum: The less digging the better. I’m all for raised beds, container gardening and getting anyone else to do any necessary digging!

6. Thou shalt be willing to try new things: I will try anything once. I know, this is a slight contradiction to Commandment #3, but it is my garden & I reserve the right to try anything once. I can always pass it along to someone else if it doesn’t behave itself and it may turn out to be something that is perfect for my garden that I can use again and again.

7. Thou shalt not acquire thirsty plants: Besides my veggie garden area, I don’t want anything in my garden that will expire if it doesn’t get a daily drink of water. Things need to hold their own here as I don’t have a drip or irrigation system and I just don’t seem to be the kind of gardener that remembers to water everything at exactly the right time. Plants with good root systems will win out every time, over those that are more delicate.

8. Thou shalt favor plants with multiple uses: Plants that do two things, instead of just one, will win a spot in my garden every time. Shrubs that are green all year and flower sometime during the year are great, as are trees that show off early spring blossoms as well as provide shade during the summer. Plants that are interesting in my borders or cottage gardens plus provide veggies for the table are favorites and any plant that has a fragrance is a sure addition.

9. Thou shalt not hide your garden in the back corner: The older I get, the closer my gardens get to the house. When I began gardening, most of my beds were in the back forty; nice because there was lots of room and they could be interesting…or not. No one but me usually saw them. With my move to this current property, my gardens are located right outside my front door. This was initially due to not having any other ground ready to plant plus the proximity to a water faucet.

I will never do the back forty kind of gardening again. This is just way too much fun. Everyone that comes to my house, from family to the UPS driver, has some sort of comment about the gardens. And, since people are always visiting; I’m so much more interested in working to keep the gardens up to snuff!

10. Thou shalt disturb weeds often: My last commandment has to be the advice I received from a great old gardener friend: Disturb the little, almost invisible weed seeds on a regular basis (read this as daily) and there will be no need to spend hours weeding. So true. The more time I spend just cultivating the dirt in between the plants & rows, the fewer weeds I ever see, the little weed sprouts just get too discouraged to grow.

Contrary1 is the editor of pfadvice sister site Frugal Gardening

Solid Earnings And Sales Growth Gave Electronic Arts Play

BY VINCENT MAO

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 4/5/2007

Electronic Arts (ERTS) capitalized on the booming video game industry and built an empire. Its EA Sports franchise, along with long-running titles such as “The Need For Speed” and “The Sims” series, are revered by gamers worldwide.

The company was a pioneer in making PC games during the early 1980s. It added console titles to its product line in the early 1990s. That ignited growth and sent the stock on a rampage for more than two years.

In the four quarters prior to its breakout from a proper base, earnings grew 23%, 41%, 57%, and 33%. Sales, meanwhile, jumped 40%, 60%, 40%, and 40%.

Its Earnings Per Share and Relative Price Strength Ratings were 97 and 93, respectively.

A fifth-day follow-through spark- ed a market rally in October 1990. Electronic Arts started its run soon after that. But the stock didn’t form a base until the spring and summer of 1991.

The stock corrected 32% from its April 1991 high and shaped a cup-with-handle pattern over the next 17 weeks. It flashed several up days on big volume just before its breakout 1, indicating accumulation.

A five-day handle took shape on bone-dry volume, a good sign. The game was on Aug. 22, 1991, when Electronic Arts gapped up and vaulted 14% on more than triple its average daily volume 2.

Short interest ran high for the game developer during this time. A ratio of 11.3 days meant that it would take short sellers a little more than 11 days to buy back all of the shares shorted. High short interest should never be the sole reason for buying shares. However, when a stock does rally, short sellers will be often forced to cover their positions, thus driving the stock higher.

The Dow industrials stumbled 4% on Nov. 15, starting a brief correction. Despite the change in environment, many market leaders held their own or even bucked the downtrend. Electronic Arts briefly dipped to its 50-day moving average, but quickly bounced back 3. A few weeks after that, shares hit an all-time high.

Then-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan gave the market and the economy an early Christmas present with a surprise rate cut of one full percentage point. That move sent stocks sharply higher for several weeks.

In January 1992, the market landscape changed for the worse again. The major indexes got hit with multiple distribution days. Many stocks were showing signs of climax runs. New breakouts quickly failed and other signs of a top, including too much optimism, were apparent.

The Nasdaq topped on Feb. 13, then turned tail soon afterwards 4. The market’s change of heart made it a good time to pare holdings and raise cash.

Stocks turned higher in the summer, ushering in a new pack of leaders. Electronic Arts got some bonus play when it cleared a 21-week consolidation in late July 5.

The stock finally peaked in October 2003. Electronic Arts topped the way many leading stocks do: It broke out of a wide-and-loose base 6.

On top of that, the stock had just been through two 2-for-1 splits. The final breakout was also from a fourth-stage base, making it too obvious. In the stock market, anything that is too obvious seldom works. Plus, late-stage breakouts are riskier than their earlier-stage brethren.

Still, investors who bought the initial August 1991 breakout and sold at or near the top would have reeled in profits in excess of 600%.

Electronic Arts tumbled 70% from its October peak. It would be nearly two years before the stock hit fresh all-time highs. But the real money was made at the ground floor.

I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top.
  - An English Professor

  

From IBD…

BY DONALD JAY KORN

FOR INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 3/16/2007

With April 17 — the last date for contributing to an IRA for 2006 — fast approaching, you may want to review some key aspects of these retirement vehicles.

An extension for filing your return does not give you extra time to kick into your IRA.

And upper-income workers have fewer choices. Some points to be aware of:

• Roth IRAs can’t be funded at all if your 2006 income topped $110,000 on a single filer’s return. That cap was $160,000 on a joint return.

With somewhat lower income, you can make partial contributions.

• Deductible contributions to traditional IRAs are not allowed if you were covered by an employer plan and your income for 2006 was over $60,000, as a single filer. On a joint return, that limit is $85,000.

Deductible contributions phaseout as income nears those levels.

• Noncovered spouses of employees in an employer plan are shut out from deductions to a traditional IRA if a joint return shows over $160,000 of income for 2006.

With income of $150,000 to $160,000, some contributions are deductible.

What’s left for taxpayers whose income tops the ceilings? Nondeductible traditional IRAs are an answer. No matter what your income, you can contribute up to $4,000 to a nondeductible IRA for 2006. You can ante up as much as an additional $1,000 if you were at least 50 years old last year.

Bear in mind: Nondeductible IRA contributions count toward overall annual limits. Those are the $4,000 plus a $1,000 catch-up contribution.

True to their name, you can’t deduct contributions to a nondeductible IRA. But earnings inside the account aren’t taxed until withdrawal. And you must start minimum required withdrawals after age 70 1/2.

That’s why some people do not bother with nondeductible IRAs.

But nondeductible IRAs can be more appealing now. That’s because of a law passed last year.

Anyone can convert a traditional IRA to a Roth, starting in 2010, says Barry Picker of Picker, Weinberg & Auerbach, a New York accounting firm. Income won’t matter.

Now you can’t convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA if your income is over $100,000. That will be the law through 2009.

Advantage For Affluent

So upper-income taxpayers may want to contribute $4,000 or $5,000 to a nondeductible IRA for 2006, by April 17. For 2007, the limits are the same.

They will go up to $5,000 and $6,000 in 2008. And that $5,000 ceiling will be adjusted for inflation in later years, in $500 increments.

By 2010, you could put in up to $28,000 to a nondeductible IRA. It could be more if inflation hikes yearly caps. Married couples might contribute $56,000 or more.

In 2010, those nondeductible IRAs can be converted to Roth IRAs, regardless of income.

After five years, all Roth IRA distributions are tax-free, as long as you are at least 59 1/2 years old. But you don’t have to take any distributions.

Roth IRAs aren’t subject to the minimum required distribution rules. So you can pass the account to your beneficiaries free of income tax.

Your beneficiaries also can get tax-free earnings over their life expectancy and tax-free withdrawals.

So if a Roth IRA appeals to you, making nondeductible traditional IRA contributions now can put more money in the account later.

The drawback to conversion: Deferred income tax must be paid. But there’s a special break for conversions in 2010.

“Tax due on conversions may be paid in two equal installments,” Picker said. They can be split between your 2011 and ‘12 returns. You can start earning income in 2010 and not pay the full tax till ‘13.

And you won’t owe tax when you convert nondeductible traditional IRA contributions to a Roth IRA. Those contributions were made with after-tax dollars.

But you will have to recognize any pre-tax and after-tax dollars when you convert.

Look at a hypothetical John Smith, starting at age 52. Say he contributes $28,000 to a new nondeductible traditional IRA from 2006 through ‘10. By 2010, there is $32,000 in this account. That includes earnings. Smith also has $68,000 in a traditional IRA that consists entirely of untaxed dollars.

So Smith has a total of $100,000 in traditional IRAs. That includes $28,000 from after-tax contributions in his nondeductible IRA.

That means any conversion to a Roth IRA he makes will be 28% tax-free and 72% taxable, no matter which IRAs he converts.

Tax Tactic

Why? Because the IRS treats all of your traditional IRAs, deductible or not, as one pool of money for purposes of Roth IRA conversions. Even if Smith converts only the deductible account, the relative-size breakdown applies. In this case, it is 28-72.

That’s also why Smith should keep a running track of pre-tax vs. after-tax dollars. Or he might convert all of his IRAs to Roth IRAs in 2010, to simplify his record keeping.

If you make nondeductible IRA contributions, be sure to file Form 8606 with your tax return. Use that form to keep track of after-tax contributions and avoid paying double tax on a conversion or withdrawals.

Never been paintballing before, so I didn’t know what to expect. Leg one of the bachelor party was at commandopaintballsports.com

What a good sport. He took it like a man.

Tastes just like the USDA approval stamp ink!

Nobody let up on Jeff, that poor bastard.

Good time. If only they hadn’t run out of air.

Spores from a parasitic fungus named Cordyceps infiltrate the Bullet ants bodies and their brains with very CREEPY results. This is something you won't see in your backyard.

http://www.dailybeat.net/media/646/Mind-Controlling-Insect-Parasites.html

This one is fun.  Courtesy of Derek Stark.

smiley () { if [ $? == 0 ]; then echo -e ‘e[32;1m:)e[0m';else echo -e "e[31;1m:(e[0m";fi; }
export PS1="[u@e[36;1mhe[0m W]$(smiley) “

As far as food goes, the less humans have had to do with what you eat, the better.

Jonas Steur - Silent Waves

The UNIX File System (UFS) - i-nodes

• Everything is a file is the guiding principle in Unix-based systems.
• A part of the partition is the i-nodes, which are the data structure used to describe files and their content’s location/s.
  An i-node is made up of four parts:
  1. File Attributes, like owner id, last access time, etc..
  2. n Direct Blocks (where usually, n = 10), which are pointers to the blocks containing the first ( n * BlockSize) bytes of the file’s data.
  3. Indirect Block Pointer, which is a pointer to a block that contains (BlockSize / PointerSize) pointers, each to a block of data.
  4. Double Indirect Block Pointer, which is a pointer to a block that contains (BlockSize / PointerSize) indirect block pointers.
  5. Triple Indirect Block Pointer, which is a pointer to a block that contains ( BlockSize / PointerSize) double indirect block pointers.

  Overall, this means that a file’s maximum size is: BlockSize * (n + BlockSize / PointerSize + BlockSize² / PointerSize + BlockSize³ / PointerSize). If we have 1KB blocks and 4 byte pointers, we can’t create a file larger than ~16GB.
  This structure means that smaller files have the advantage of having to use less disk-reads than the larger files.
  Example: Block size is 1K and pointer size is 4 bytes. Byte 355,000 is in the double indirect’s 80th block (355,000 = (10 + (2¹⁰ / 4) + 80) * 2¹⁰ + 696).

• Hard Links are a way to create more than one file that will reference the same i-node. This i-node will keep a Reference Counter, since deletion of a hard link means freeing of the i-node and blocks only if there are no references left to that file other than the one we have delete now. Hard links to directories are allowed (and will therefore turn the directory tree into a graph), but only for administrators, since it could create a cycle in the graph, when it must remain acyclical (DAG).
• Symbolic Links (or Soft Links) are a file that’s contents if the path to another file. This file is simply a shortcut, but is treated as if it was the original file when executed, read, etc.
• Directories are files (as we’ve stated before), whose contents are simply records of the <i-node number, file name> pair. The root directory is the first i-node.
• lockf is a system call that allows processes to avoid working with the same locations in files, by locking ranges of bytes in a file. Code can decide to not play nice and simply not call lockf and there’s nothing you can do about it, so all code accessing that file needs to know it’s going to use lockf or it’s simply useless.

America must invade itself to prevent us from fighting ourselves elsewhere

Let today, February 20, 2007 mark the day that this fool started dabbling with Vista.  That’s all for now.

You’ve probably read the many home energy saving tips from America. Here’s a change of pace.
from: carbonzero.co.nz

Keeping your home warm, healthy and comfortable is most important. However, there are many ways to make the heating of your home more efficient. You can save money and help reduce CO₂ emissions in the process.

• Damp homes take more energy to heat. Reduce condensation by leaving curtains, windows and doors open on fine days when you are at home. Dry air is easier to heat, and healthier.
• Use thermostats and timers on heaters.
• Use door snakes (draught stoppers) to reduce draughts.
• Block off your open fireplace when not in use.
• Capture as much sunlight as possible. Keep windows clean and remove overhanging branches from trees.
• Close curtains before dark to keep heat in.
• Use heaters away from windows – they are more effective against walls.
• Use an extra blanket or hot-water bottle instead of an electric blanket.
• Put on a jersey instead of a heater.
• Plant a deciduous tree to shade your biggest west- and north-facing windows in summer or use awnings to reduce overheating.
• Check the air tightness of windows, floors and doors. Repairing and replacing faulty seals save an average of $190 per year.
• Use a ceiling fan to distribute heat in winter and cool air in summer.
• Increase insulation in the ceiling and stop 42% of your heat escaping. Walls cause 25% heat loss, floors and windows 12%. Increasing insulation is a very effective way of saving energy. The NZ Building code only specifies the minimum you should have. You can get much better comfort and save a lot of money in the long run with insulation.
• Use a heat pump in winter and save up to $500 per year.
• Double-glaze windows – do the south-facing windows first.
• Install thermal-lined curtains with pelmets and save $60 per year.

“Behold the turtle, he only makes progress when he sticks his neck out.”
- James Bryant Conant

“It’s hard to beat a person that never gives up.”
- Babe Ruth

“No one ever drowned in sweat.”
- U.S. Marine saying

In summary, the manufacture and transport of that one kilogram bottle of Fiji water consumed 26.88 kilograms of water (7.1 gallons) ..849 Kilograms of fossil fuel (one litre or .26 gal) and emitted 562 grams of Greenhouse Gases (1.2 pounds).

What is the cost of a Bottled water that is made in an island and transported to the US? That is what Pablo Päster, an MBA graduate and Sustainability Engineer at Triple Pundit, went to find out and did a exhaustive study of the cost of a litre of Fiji Water to America. The bottles are manufactured in China an taken to Fiji Islands for bottling and found out that the process takes more water to make the bottled water it holds. Once the bottling is done is shipped to the US via a ship and he calculated the amount of fossil fuel and Carbon emissions and came up with the above figure.

This will be true for not only Fiji Water but also for other brands of bottled waters.

from: “http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/108604/
1_liter_Bottled_Water_uses_26_Liters_Water_1_Kg_Fossil_Fuel_1_Pound_CO2″

If you’re a chill/trance enthusiast like me, you may want to check out this up and coming artist. If you like Ulrich Schnauss, Kettel, Cardamar, you’ll enjoy.

I first time I experienced “Marl 1″ was on XM radio while driving down to the 2007 Chicago Auto Show with a few friends. Do check this out at djtrx.com.

More great tracks by Tsewer Beta include:

• 10 Month
• Meint
• Unholy
• Xolution

I detest life-insurance agents; they always argue that I shall some day die, which is not so.
  - Stephen Leacock

Posterity is as likely to be wrong as anyone else.
  - Heywood Broun

Very refreshing to hear something like this. Thanks Dan. Heard this once on some movie or something, at the end in the credits maybe. I saw some post that said it was from Digimon. Best tracks so far: Remind me, What else is There.

I wonder if I’m the only one in the world who thinks remind remind remind me, the mind the mind of mahi, remind remind remind me, da mind da mind of mahi. I dunno. Post if you have thought that.

Summary from the ITSM for SAN for AIX: Storage Agent’s User Guide:

• TSM supports storage agents at the same version, release, and modification level, plus up to two modification levels earlier. For example, TSM v5.3.3 server would support storage agents v5.3.3, v5.3.2, and v5.3.1 levels.
• File library sharing support requires that the storage agent be at the 5.3 level.
• When using the API, it must be at version 5.2 or higher.
• If you are sharing disk storage, Tivoli SANergy must be installed.

restore restore_files_from restore_to_alt_loc -inactive -pick -subdir=y
E.g.;
restore c:cygwin* c:tmp -inactive -pick -subdir=y

I predict…

In the next 50 years, a World War will break out between nations who are suffering the repercussions of other nations' irresponsible pollution.  I have no idea what nations would be involved… ha ha, ugh…

1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone.  I believe that not much happens of any significance when we're in our comfort zone. I hear people say, "But I'm concerned about security." My response to that is simple: "Security is for cadavers."

2. Never give up.  Almost nothing works the first time it's attempted. Just because what you're doing does not seem to be working, doesn't mean it won't work. It just means that it might not work the way you're doing it. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn't have an opportunity.

3. When you're ready to quit, you're closer than you think. There's an old Chinese saying that I just love, and I believe it is so true. It goes like this: "The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed."

4. With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be. Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of "undefined consequences." My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, "Well, Robert, if it doesn't work, they can't eat you."

5. Focus on what you want to have happen. Remember that old saying, "As you think, so shall you be."

6. Take things a day at a time. No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don't look too far into the future, and focus on the present moment. You can get through anything one day at a time.

7. Always be moving forward. Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new. The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die. Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way. Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen. Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.

8. Be quick to decide. Remember what the Union Civil War general, Tecumseh Sherman said: "A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow."

9. Measure everything of significance. I swear this is true. Anything that is measured and watched, improves.

10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate. If you want to uncover problems you don't know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven't examined for a while. I guarantee you problems will be there.

11. Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you're doing. When you look at your competitors, remember that everything looks perfect at a distance. Even the planet Earth, if you get far enough into space, looks like a peaceful place.

12. Never let anybody push you around. In our society, with our laws and even playing field, you have just as much right to what you're doing as anyone else, provided that what you're doing is legal.

13. Never expect life to be fair. Life isn't fair. You make your own breaks. You'll be doing good if the only meaning fair has to you, is something that you pay when you get on a bus (i.e., fare).

14. Solve your own problems. You'll find that by coming up with your own solutions, you'll develop a competitive edge. Masura Ibuka, the co-founder of SONY, said it best: "You never succeed in technology, business, or anything by following the others." There's also an old Asian saying that I remind myself of frequently. It goes like this: "A wise man keeps his own counsel."

15. Don't take yourself too seriously. Lighten up. Often, at least half of what we accomplish is due to luck. None of us are in control as much as we like to think we are.

16. There's always a reason to smile. Find it. After all, you're really lucky just to be alive. Life is short. More and more, I agree with my little brother. He always reminds me: "We're not here for a long time; we're here for a good time."

The above article article is included with the permission of Bob Parsons and is Copyright 2005 by Bob Parsons. All rights reserved.

Here's what you need to do to make Google go crazy (this supposedly works for other websites too, though I only got it to work with Google):

1. Go to Google.com
2. Remove everything from the address bar, then copy & paste the following into it:
   javascript:R=0; x1=.1; y1=.05; x2=.25; y2=.24; x3=1.6; y3=.24; x4=300; y4=200; x5=300; y5=200; DI=document.images; DIL=DI.length; function A(){for(i=0; i-DIL; i++){DIS=DI[ i ].style; DIS.position='absolute'; DIS.left=Math.sin(R*x1+i*x2+x3)*x4+x5; DIS.top=Math.cos(R*y1+i*y2+y3)*y4+y5}R++}setInterval('A()',5); void(0);
3. Hit enter. Enjoy.