TheTechStop.net is getting a  brand new FACE!

In case you haven’t noticed, TTS has moved to a database backend in order to facilitate faster posting and easier access to our not-so-nerdy editors who don’t like posting in hardcore HTML and XML code.

Be set to get a crap-ton of content as we ramp up our reviews, release our new IPTV show ‘gadget’, and move Padre’s blog to DigitalJesuit.net

Daily Waste of Time

15-Year Old Steals Bus — and Passengers

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Intrusion Detection for Dummies

Vatican uses Web to Discuss Priesthood with Priests

From the article: “As he settled into his new role as prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes used the congregation Web site to greet the world’s priests. “Ours is not an easy mission,” he told priests in the message posted Jan. 24 on the Web site www.clerus.org.”

Exxon Mobil Rakes in $39.5 BILLION for 2006

From the article: “Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. on Thursday posted the largest annual profit by a U.S. company – $39.5 billion – even as earnings for the last quarter of 2006 declined 4 percent.

The 2006 profit topped the previous record of $36.13 billion which Exxon set in 2005.”

China’s Anti-Satellite Test Causing Space Chaos

From the article: “When the Chinese government destroyed one of its weather satellites in a military test last month, it sent a chill through the U.S. military. And engineers say it had a serious side effect — it increased the amount of orbiting space junk by about 10 percent. That could mean danger — to other satellites, and even, possibly, to astronauts on the International Space Station and future space shuttle flights.”

Daily Waste of Time

Mentally Ill? — At least ONE therapist will treat you like a dog. — for $225 an hour.

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iPhone – eat your heart out! — The World of Hong Kong Cellular

Reporter Fakes Confession for Tabloid Story

From the article: “The Vatican newspaper denounced an Italian journalist who posed as a penitent and confessed fake sins in order to write an expose on the sacrament of reconciliation. “Fake confessions in search of a shameful scoop,” the newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, headlined a commentary condemning the cover story of L’Espresso magazine, one of the country’s leading weeklies.”

Hmmm… let’s see… what exactly did this reporter “expose?” — That priests are human? That the sacrament of reconciliation can be abused? That reporters can be completely unethical? — Nothing new really.

France to US – “Sign Climate Treaties OR ELSE!”

From the article: “President Jacques Chirac has demanded that the United States sign both the Kyoto climate protocol and a future agreement that will take effect when the Kyoto accord runs out in 2012. He said that he welcomed last week’s State of the Union address in which President Bush described climate change as a “serious challenge” and acknowledged that a growing number of American politicians now favor emissions cuts. But he warned that if the United States did not sign the agreements, a carbon tax across Europe on imports from nations that have not signed the Kyoto treaty could be imposed to try to force compliance.”

Ohhhhhh France…. Silly France… I forget… weren’t you the country that did above-ground nuclear testing in a natural paradise when the rest of the world had banned such practices? How much pollution did those tests release? Why is it that your European neighbors are so pissed at you for insisting that French pollution was better than THEIR pollution?

Daily Waste of Time

Icy Meteor, or Toilet Droppings?

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Sex Research Technology

NFL forbids Church to Show Superbowl

From the article: “Pastor John D. Newland said he told the NFL his church would not charge anyone and that it would drop the use of the forbidden words. But the NFL objected to the church’s plans to use a projector to show the game, saying the law limits it to one TV no bigger than 55 inches.”

Hey NFL… I showed the SUPERBOWL on my 56” screen — sue me!

BP to Fund Biofuel Research

From the article: “The Energy Biosciences Institute will be funded by a $500 million grant from BP over a 10-year period as well as smaller matching grants from California. Scientists at EBI will explore such issues as carbon dioxide sequestration, transportation fuels produced out of or by microbes and crops that can be turned into transportation fuel.”

Ok… hold up…. The gas companies pumped $100 Million into the “No on 87” proposition in California that would have funded alternative-energy research. Now BP drops $50 Million a year into Alternative Energy and we’re supposed to be happy?

I applaud BP for doing the right thing (especially after they took their record profits and decided NOT to repair their leaky pipes in Alaska), but seriously… when are we going to do something concrete to take the power back for the people?

China Criticizes Bush’s lack of Respect for Religious Diversity

From the article: “President Bush should scrap his unilateral approach and respect religious diversity in his “war on terror” to resolve troubles in Iraq, a senior Chinese official said in comments published on Thursday.”

Uhhhmmm… Did I miss a meeting? Isn’t China the country that first pushed religion underground, then tried to subvert them by electing state-puppet leaders? (See Penchant Lama & Catholic Bishops)

Daily Waste of Time

Man buys surgery for Second Wife…. To make her LOOK like his FIRST wife….

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The Twin Server

Facing Death with Dignity and Grace

From the article: “There is no cure. But how could they explain that to their eldest son, the first in the family to notice his mom’s slurring, when she read him bedtime stories?How, they wondered, do you tell a child that his mom is dying?”

Public School bans Recordings after Teacher Caught Condemning Kids to Hell

From the article: “After a public school teacher was recorded telling students they belonged in hell if they did not accept Jesus as their savior, the school board has banned taping in class without an instructor’s permission, and has added training for teachers on the legal requirements for separating church and state.”

When I was a grade-school kid taking summer classes at a Jesuit High School in San Jose, one of the teachers separated the Christians from the non-Christians during class and told the non-Christians that they were going to hell after they died. That teacher was fired immediately. — If a CATHOLIC school takes a complaint of proselytizing in class that seriously, why does a public school instead turn on the student who is making the complaint?

This is NOT like the case a few months ago when a few teenage girls deliberately provoked their teacher to get upset so that they could capture his venting on a camera phone. The school has a right to request that students ask permission to tape classes, but the timing of their decision seems so…. ill-intentioned.

Daily Waste of Time

How to drive more traffic to your Website

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The “Magic” Behind “Industrial Light and Magic”

IBM-Led Consortium creates Flash Memory Alternative

From the article: “Flash memory and hard disk drives could face a challenge from a new chip technology, dubbed phase-change memory, being developed by a group of companies led by IBM. The companies on Monday announced the results of their latest research into the technology, which they say will do a better job of storing songs, pictures and other data on iPods and digital cameras than current flash memory and could someday replace disk drives. Among the advances, the companies have built a prototype device that runs 500 times faster than today’s flash memory while using half as much power to write data to a memory cell, they said.”

Google to build $600 Million Data Center in New York

From the article: “Search engine giant Google Inc. plans to spend $600 million to build a data center in North Carolina, state officials and the company said Friday.”

Atlanta ready for Earthlink WiFi

From the article: “Internet service provider EarthLink will be providing citywide Wi-Fi access in its hometown of Atlanta. EarthLink announced on Thursday that it’s negotiating a contract with the city to build, own and operate a municipal Wi-Fi network throughout the city.”

Daily Waste of Time

Publicity Stunts gone Bad

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Ultra Mobile Media Centers

Apple gets slapped on the Wrists for Blogger Suits

From the article: “Apple was suing to limit the speech of a group of industry bloggers. My guess is that Apple thought the tiny publications would cave quickly rather than incur massive legal expenses, with Apple gaining the added benefit of scaring away any other writers from digging too deeply into the company’s inner workings.That’s why it’s good news that Apple lost its fight and even better news that the tech and media giant has been forced to cough up $700,000 to pay the legal bills of the bloggers.”

Of course Apple HASN’T learned its lesson… they are currently in the middle of suing several websites for simply LINKING to “skins” that make other phones look like Apple’s not-yet-released iPhone. Sometimes I wonder if Apple inherited their legal team from SCO — or do ALL big companies one day decide to turn around and sue their fan base? — On second thought… I better not post that comment… I could get sued.

S. Korean Duo busted for 1.6bln SPAM emails

From the article: “Two South Korean computer programmers have been arrested on suspicion of sending out 1.6 billion spam e-mail messages in violation of the country’s commerce laws, police said on Tuesday. The two men, one aged 20 and the other 26, are suspected of sending out the unsolicited e-mail messages between September and December last year in what police describe as one of the biggest spam blasts in the country’s history.”

Daily Waste of Time

The latest in Hair Care — BULL SEMEN!

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Six Top Automotive Engines

SanDisk to Release Security-Focused USB Products

From the article: “Flash memory maker SanDisk next week plans to announce a product designed to help businesses manage and control the use of USB drives. The Milpitas, Calif., company has scheduled the announcement for the RSA Conference in San Francisco, the annual bonanza of security products for businesses. “SanDisk will unveil a comprehensive solution for the enterprise security market, providing protection and control for USB flash drives,” the company said in a statement.”

With so much attention of late being on high-profile losses of laptops and network penetrations, it’s easy to forget the #1 threat to secure data is an employee with a USB storage device. With capacities heading into double-digit Gigabytes, a single disgruntled employee with access to the company network could steal company secrets, expose sensitive documents and compromise customer data.

Is Vista More Secure? We’ll soon know.

From the article: “”For sure, people are hammering away on it,” said Jeff Moss, the organizer of Defcon, the world’s largest hacking convention. “If you are a bad guy and you find a problem, you have a way to spread your malware and spyware.” Most security experts see Vista as a more secure operating system than its predecessor, Windows XP, but even Microsoft acknowledges it’s not impenetrable and attackers will undoubtedly look for a way in.”

Both white and black hat hackers have been hammering away at Vista for quite some time now. The consensus is that Vista is more secure… kinda — It is by no means a bulletproof security product, but some simple changes, like not defaulting to root access for EVERY user, are making it more secure that XP right out of the box.

Daily Waste of Time

Man Bets wife in Card game… and LOSES!

uberGeek Candy

Car Tech Awards

Critics Scoff at report that Nuclear Reactors are “Safe Enough”

From the article: “The commission specifically rejected ordering plants to erect so-called “beamhenge shields” — steel I-beams and cabling — that are designed to keep planes from hitting nuclear facilities. Critics slammed the commission’s decision, saying it “jeopardizes the safety of millions.””

Slashing Children’s Foreheads in the name of a Saint?

From the article: “The 6-year-old boy screamed and shook his head to avoid the razor blade. But his father held him firmly as Hajj Khodor parted the boy’s black hair and sliced his forehead three times with the blade.Ali Madani’s cries became more violent as blood gushed from the wound, covering his small, terrified face. His father and a few other men, waving daggers, broke into a religious chant, recalling how the 7th-century Shiite Muslim saint, Imam Hussein, was decapitated, his head placed on a lance.”

Daily Waste of Time

Porche + Bird @ 155Mph

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Hubble’s Best Shots

California Looking to Ban Incandescent Bulbs by 2012

From the article: “A California lawmaker wants to make his state the first to ban incandescent lightbulbs as part of California’s groundbreaking initiatives to reduce energy use and greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.”

Bishops call for end to Death Penalty in Maryland and S.D.

From the article: “In separate actions the Maryland Catholic Conference and Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Rapid City, S.D., have called for an end to the death penalty in their states. Both states currently face a de facto moratorium on executions because of legal difficulties over the use of lethal injection to carry it out.”

THAAD Intercepts Test Missile

From the article: “The U.S. Missile Defense Agency and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT – News) conducted a successful flight test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon system on January 26, intercepting a unitary target in THAAD’s first flight test at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kauai, HI. This hit-to-kill intercept demonstrated THAAD’s precision against in-bound threats and its ability to provide increased protection for troops and assets.”

I remember a few years ago when such a test would have been denounced by the liberal media as a complete waste of money and resources — now with N. Korea’s version of G.W. having his very own set of Ballistic toys which he is threatening to share with some other kids in the Middle East, I don’t hear the same cries of “why?!?!” This is not to say that I am for a military buildup, but it WOULD be sweet if, say the next time N.K. decides to lob a few over the Pacific, their vehicles just happened to fall out of the sky.