Modern Security:Encryption...

I have found that I have too many passwords to remember so I have put to work Truecrypt which is a great encryption package. 
Another benefit is that I can save important info like my resume and all my contacts on my computer, cellphone, work computer and pocket thumbdrive.  That way if I have a fire at home, a flood at work, have my wallet stolen then I still have all of my information yet no-one but me has access to the information.  It is also a legitimate excuse to have porn, see if you can guess how... (hint you might need to use it a few times first!).

Truecrypt is freeware but it is so good that I have actually donated to them, Scrooge that I am.
http://www.truecrypt.org/

Get it, use it.  Be safe from forgetfulness, theft, tornados, flood, fire and computer glitches.  Keep your encoded data in multiple locations for proper protection.

Man not killed in Cinema.

How could this happen??!!  A man goes into a cinema and starts shooting everyone and yet no in the audience in a country "awash with guns" shot back?

The victims, despite seeing their loved ones getting killed and seeing the gunman's gun jam do not jump him and choke him into unconciousness??!!

Citizens interviewed later about whether the gun laws should be tightened say that what they really want is the current laws enforced.  Good on them.  Perhaps their nanny stae will put cops everywhere at once to enforce the law 'cos there's no way the citizens are going to do it themselves!  Listen folks, when there isn't a doctor around then it's up to you to do the first aid.  Except the doctors won't let you have the instruments or the drugs.

“All weapons he possessed, he possessed legally. All clips he possessed, he possessed legally. All ammunition he possessed, he possessed legally,”said Aurora's mayor.  Aurora is the only district in Colorado that has tried to ban concealed carry of firearms by qualified citizens.  In the rest of Colorado this killer could have been taken down by a shot from the gun of an otherwise normal looking citizen.

Holmes appeared drugged when he attended court.  Hmmm, just like Martin Bryant.  I wonder who knows about this.

Kudos to the cops for working out Holmes wasn't a SWAT member.  He might have gotten away with it otherwise.  Seems like the cops managed to get there in a hurry too.

Make your blade shaving sharp!

There are lots of gadgets to sharpen knives.  Why?  Because most folks don't know how to do it without the gismos so the marginal improvement the thingamabobs do seems like magic.
To do it right you need three things: your blunt knife (derp!), a two sided sharpening stone. a sharpening steel.  There are alternatives that work almost as good like I have often sharpened a blade using wet and dry sandpaper.
So, firstly your abrasive, Use a 2 sided carborundum (silicon carbide) sharpening stone.  Place it flat on a suitable surface or hold it in your hand.
Place the side of the blade against the rough side of the stone.  Lift the back of the blade just off the stone.  The correct angle is when the centre of the blade is 11 degrees to the surface of the stone.  Work the blade and stone against each other being very careful to keep the blades angle constant at all times.  It does not matter which way you work the blade.  Round and round, back at forth or along the blade they will all work in this stage of the process.  This stage is the most labor intensive but don't worry: the other stages are much shorter and the whole process will be quicker next time.
As you remove metal from the blade there is also the wearing away of the carborundum.  These worn, gritty substances wear down the edge you are trying to create.  The standard solution is to wet the abrasive with oil and such.  I recommend not using oil or kerosene as it allows the grime to work its way into the pores of the abrasive.  I use a steady stream of water or regular dunking of the stone in water.  You want to wash away the grime not lubricate the abrasive.

The most important thing in this stage of the process is to keep the blade at 11 degrees.  Any less and you are wasting your time and trying to remove, very slowly, a large amount of metal which is the side of your blade.  Any more and you will be rounding the edge which will compound in the later stages of sharpening to a stumpy, rounded edge instead of the fine, thin edge you are after.
Do not swap over to the other side of the blade until you can feel a burr along the entire edge.  This burr is felt on the non honed side of the edge and feels like a find wire sitting along the edge.  To feel the burr run your finger from the side of the blade to the edge and off the edge.  If you run your finger along the edge or from the edge to the side you risk breaking the burr off prematurely, cutting yourself and imbedding the burr in your finger.  Metal splinters are not what we are trying to achieve here.

When you can feel the burr along the entire length of the edge it is time to hone the other side of the blade at 11 degrees.  It is important to not go above 11 degrees even if you feel that you could get rid of the burr faster this way.  Stay at 11 degrees!  Keep honing on this side until you can feel the burr along the length of the other side of the edge.  You should have spent this entire time on the coarse side of the stone (or a sheet of 80 grit wet and dry carborundum paper laid flat on a flat hard surface).

Now for the easy bit where we are going to be really careful and gentle!  Switch to the fine side of the stone (or switch to 240 grit or finer paper) and carefully apply the burr side of the edge to the abrasive at 23 degrees.  Keeping it at this angle move the blade in the direction of the edge (edge first) as if you were shaving the stone.  Only apply gentle pressure and lift the edge between strokes for two strokes only.  Turn over the blade and repeat the two gentle strokes on the other side.

Your blade is now SHARP!  Try and shave some hairs from the back of your wrist.

To get sharper than this can try 1) use a harder metal for your blade, 2) a finer smooth abrasive like jewelers rouge on a sheet of glass, 3) a harder surface for the smooth abrasive like a diamond hone.

Commercial razor blades are sharpened either using electroerosion or ultrasonic honing against a hard surface like glass in a jeweler's rouge suspension.

These are the dudes looking after your security...

It would be funny if it wasn't so sad.
http://www.zdnet.com/oz-govt-loses-stay-smart-online-user-details-via-australia-post-7000000398/
Imagine - whoever made this blunder goes home and tries to make sure their kids are safe online.
I laughed when they included in their apology advice on how to protect yourself online.
At least it was followed up by a reporting team that covers and reports in Australia.  What is the bet that this doesn't make it to the mainstream media?

Australians control the world's weather.

As of the 1st of July this year Australia has adopted a "Carbon Tax"
The price of carbon under this scheme is set at $23AU (about the same in Euro and $US, about 15 pounds Stirling) per tonne.  Other carbon schemes in the world price carbon at $5/T.
So how does Australia control the weather?  Well calculations show that in 300 years the effect of the tax will reduce the heating effect of atomospheric carbon dioxide by 0.2 degrees centigrade.  All for the bargain price of $300 million per year!
The opposition party, the Liberals (it's just a name, it doesn't mean the believe in liberation) promise to remove the carbon tax if it gains office at the next election.  The problem is that if they get in then the removal of the sweeteners of increased benifits for the sheep and increased tax free threshold for the productive class will be immensly unpopular.  I forsee another broken election promise.
Should the carbon tax remain for any reason the next problem will come in 2015 when the $23 per tonne is ditched and the market opens up to international trade.  If the world price is still around the $5/T mark the the government will run out of money (just like Greece except much faster).
Hooray for our intelligent and noble masters!  The world is once again a safe and enjoyable place to live!(TWITS!)

Stolen from Bigpond.com

and reproduced here due to concerns that this article could also be censored:
<<
Google has reported a 'troubling' rise in requests from governments to remove political blog posts and videos from search results, and hand over user information.
The search engine said it continued to see an increase in requests to take down 'political speech', as it released its fifth Transparency Report, covering the last six months of last year.
Dorothy Chou, Google's senior policy analyst, said: 'It's alarming not only because free expression is at risk, but because some of these requests come from countries you might not suspect - Western democracies not typically associated with censorship.'
Countries including Germany, Spain, the UK and Canada all asked Google to take down content. The amount of requests from the US more than doubled compared to the previous half year.
Ukraine, Jordan and Bolivia showed up for the first time on the list of countries out to have online material removed, Google said.
A total of 640 videos were removed by Google amid official complaints that they encouraged terrorist activities.
In the UK, Google closed five user accounts that the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) alleged were promoting terrorism.
The company acceded to a request to block more than 100 YouTube videos in Thailand which allegedly insulted its monarchy - a crime in the country.
Around 93% of requests from the US were successful, according to Google's figures.
But the company stressed that not all requested content is removed.
Canada's passport office asked for a YouTube video of a Canadian citizen urinating on his passport and flushing it down the toilet to be removed, Google said, adding: 'We did not comply with this request.'
And an appeal from the government of Pakistan to take down six clips that satirised the country's army and senior politicians was not followed through, the company added.
From the start of July to the end of December, Google's figures show it complied with an average of 65% of 467 court orders, and 47% of 561 more informal requests.
'We realise that the numbers we share can only provide a small window into what's happening on the web at large,' Ms Chou said.
'But we do hope that by being transparent about these government requests, we can continue to contribute to the public debate about how government behaviours are shaping our web.'>>

To some extent Google complys.  I don't think they have changed their motto from"Do No Evil".  Who gets to decide what is evil anyway?

Telstra whoring off all their customers information.

Telstra is the major Australian communications carrier with telephone, mobile (cell) phone and is also an ISP (Internet Service Provider).  All new email accounts are being hosted by Windows Live.  All current account holders are being rolled over to Windows Live too.  Do they get a choice?  No!  Customers (and slaves) are sold. 
Who the hell do they think they are allowing a conglomerate form overseas to handle all their Australian customers information?
I'm sure Obamanation grubbimint loves having all the "Ossie" emails going through the CIA proxy "Macrohard".
FFS, if you want some privacy, or at least the illusion of privacy you'd have to stay offline.