pug

American recipies somehow never fail to fascinate me... What on earth is a "German chocolate cake mix"? Not that I even know of a typical "German" chocolate cake, but assuming that they mean a "Sacher" cake (which is Austrian), the recipies I have look somewhat different. Amongst other things, they list ingrediences such as flour, sugar, egg yolk and egg albumen, chocolate coating (that's the closest term I can find -- basically it's a standardised coco solids / coco fat / sugar mixture, melting at a specific temperature), and butter... Whatever happened to good old baking?

Sorry, but I have to disagree here -- invalid comparison. What is seen on the screen is a sexual act, that it constitutes a rape is a separate component. Your concious thought processes are influenced by the second part, but the more primitive parts of your brain will still show some sort of reaction to the first part as well. Basically, if you showed the subjects homo- and heterosexual rape videos, the results would be similar; althought one hopes that the general level of arousal would be lower overall, as the concious mind does play a part as well...

...but isn't the issue that it is not always necessary to label the stuff? While the prepackaged products you buy in the supermarket do tend to give you an overview of what impact they may or may not have on you health, your average restaurant will not. The consumer doesn't always have all the power. I'd argue that the general premise of the ban is a good one, but that some restraint has to be exercised (i.e., that any attempts similar to the prohibition are bound to fail, and therefore a total ban is illusionary). Although stuff like this does make me want to reconsider that...

I'd fully agree to that statement in the context in which you put it. That being said, the article quoted in the original post specified homophobic men... The text does not necessarily apply to all those who rant and rave against homosexuals, but only to those who's behaviour is typical for someone with a phobia. That's the guys who fear to enter a room with an openly gay man present; or, if they don't have a choice, don't move away from the wall, and always stand facing the gay person. Sounds somewhat silly, but I've actually worked in a company where the head of our department was openly gay, and the CEO of a daughter company acted in precisely the above manner... Given the circumstances outlined above, I wholeheartedly buy into the article.

Godwin's Law

A nice, albeit slightly expensive, seafood place is the Seastar Restaurant in Bellevue. Last time we were there a crab cake mad colleague remarked that they had just served him the best ones he ever tasted.

I think you view of "multiculturalists" may be a bit more narrow than it should be -- none of the ones I know condone such practices... Just to set the record straight, FGM is illegal in most African countries. That is not to say that there are no die-hard traditionalists left in those countries that nevertheless continue with the practice, but there are now at legal instruments in place to prosecute them. The countries that have passed such laws are (without any claim of completeness): Egypt, Tansania, Kenia, Sudan, Togo, Nigeria, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, and Djibouti. As can be seen from the attached map (from Wikipedia, FGM/C countries are labelled in red), that actually already covers a great deal.

Found another interpretation of the same song... I'd say it also belongs in the category. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yobh0tZerfM

Keeping it in line with the prize: "The Turn of a Friendly Card" - Alan Parsons Project ?

Alternatively, just press and hold the "Windows" key and hit "e". This will open the Explorer, showing your folder structure on the left hand side, and the contents of the selected folder / drive on the right hand side. If you want to create a new folder simply do a right click in the right hand side and select "New" -> "Folder"...

Going through the thread, and reading the closing statement from his daughter at the end, really emphasises the tragedy of this event. My heart goes out to his family and friends.

There have been various instances in the past where vulnerabilities in other applications have impacted the browser (irrespective of whether it was IE, Firefox, or Opera). A prime example would be the WMF issue that arose toward the end of last year. Although it was originally cited as an IE bug, it turned out to affected all browsers, as it associated with a completely different component. The current issue seems to be associated with Oulook Express, and not IE7. Basically, the browser is passing a request over to OE, so far so good, but then OE seems to mess things up. Truth be told, I don't really see IE7 at fault here, as I don't its security model to take care of things that happen after it has correctly passed something along. [lecture mode] Nowadays, security in PCs cannot be lain down at the feet of a browser anyway, or an operating system for that matter. It requires the system to be updated regularly, the use of some sort of firewall, and anti-virus software. [/lecture mode]

One machine with Firefox, another with IE7, and I have to admit that I'm sorely tempted to move to IE7 completely. Typically it's small fry stuff that tends to influence my decisions in these matters, and I really appreciate things like the close button on each tab and the url indicator for pop-ups – YMMV, of course. As for compatibility – no issues to date, not even in the corporate environment, although I'm not so naïve as to delude myself that this will always be the case. Just my two cents.

Oh you HAVE to get some more of his early stuff Done. I just ordered "Low" and "Heros"...

AFAIR, Buffett's donation should almost double the foundation's funds, but for now it's just the $ 1.6 billion of the total of $ 31.7 billion that they currently have available. With the Gates also continously adding to the funds, I wouldn't be surprised if the funds hit the $ 100 billion mark within the next 5-10 years -- even if no one else joins the fray. All that aside, I wish you the best of luck with the scholarship!

Just last Monday I grabbed a copy of David Bowie's 1995 album "Outside" on a whim. Actually my first album from Bowie. Must say I'm quite hooked now.

Depending on what you and the kick-ass research team are working on, it is actually possible to get some of Bill's money (well -- part of it is from Warren Buffett, but only USD 1.6 billion to date ). So if you're serious about looking for funding for a reasearch project, you might want to try http://www.gatesfoundation.org/ForGrantSeekers/...

*cough*splutter* Errrrrrr... Nope. Not going there. I actually thought that the title was intended as a joke, and that thread drift had taken it off to god-knows-where (starting at page 29 after all...).

Probably redundant, but maybe give the following a try: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolism There are some good links toward the bottom of the article (including one to an interactive flow chart); and, depending on what exactly you're looking for, a nice follow-on article on the cell metabolism (also linked from the original). Greetings, Julius

...not that it wasn't obvious from my first post. -> no jumps to date -> planning on starting AFF when the DZs open their gates again -> a German sitting in Germany, hence the pause in DZ activity (AFF in the snow doesn't sound too enticing anyway) -> managed to squeeze in five tunnel sessions last Sunday, equalling 15 minutes of free-fall (more falling than free though...) – and yes, I'm still somewhat sore! -> one of those terrible people who try to know as much as possible about anything they're even considering to attempt (although jumping is way beyond the mere consideration stage by now) -> actually I'll have to correct the last point to read: "trying to know as much as possible about everything" (over the years three co-workers at three different companies independently of each other designated me as a walking encyclopaedia; albeit one that IMHO stores way too much useless information) Greetings to all.

Try giving it a pill... (Originally found this on the website of one Geoff Kay, but the site has since vanished. Variants of the story can still be found on various sites though.) Enjoy... INSTRUCTIONS FOR GIVING YOUR CAT A PILL: 1. Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow. 2. Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process. 3. Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away. 4. Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of 10. 5. Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden. 6. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, holding front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold cat's head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat's throat vigorously. 7. Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines from hearth and set to one side for gluing later. 8. Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with its head just visible from below spouse's armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force cat's mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw. 9. Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink glass of water to take taste away. Apply band-aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap. 10. Retrieve cat from neighbour's shed. Get another pill. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band. 11. Fetch screwdriver from garage and put door back on hinges. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Throw T-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom. 12. Ring fire brigade to retrieve cat from tree across the road. Apologise to neighbour who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrap. 13. Tie cat's front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table. Find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed. Force cat's mouth open with small spanner. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of fillet steak. Hold head vertically and pour a pint of water down throat to wash pill down. 14. Get spouse to drive you to emergency room; sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Stop by furniture shop on way home to order new table. 15. Arrange for RSPCA to collect cat and call local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters... ________________ No sig yet.

*YIKES* May I suggest that, in the future, including an NSFW warning in the thread title might be a good idea? Jumping in on page 29 and clicking on one of the images, thinking that I'd see anything from a motorbike to a picture of a foreign city, was, in retrospect, probably not the best of moves – especially considering that I was sitting in front of the company notebook at the time… Admittedly, the title does indicate that something strange might be going on, but I didn't really think to take that literally. (…and before anyone gets any ideas – I'll participate when hell freezes over ) _________________________ Suggested music: From the album "Outside" by David Bowie -- "We Prick You"