Richard Dawkins interview

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“Well, I say, the bit I was thinking about was when you said how you hated it when young children are described as Muslim or Jewish or whatever when they’ve had no say in the matter. He grins, and says it’s pure Monty Python. ‘It’s like saying the three-year-old child is a neo-Gramscian Marxist child, we wouldn’t do that.’” Guardian Unlimited, Simon Hattenstone meets Richard Dawkins

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Using search engines to look for people

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Searching for people is one of the most difficult problems for search engines. “Surnames cause the biggest problems in genealogy… In one document, my ancestor’s surname appeared as Mury, Murry and Murray. Samuel’s surname is Murry on his headstone. On the stone of his son Levi, it’s Murray.” The most widely used standard for searching for name variants is Soundex, however this does not take account of non Anglo-Saxon sounding names and does not work with a thesaurus of known variants. NameX, which was developed for use on Originsearch was designed specifically for looking at the name variants used historically, as well as phonetic variants. For example, it picks up 56 variants of Mury. It would be interesting to take the Namex concept further and allow you to choose name variants based on the ethnicity or language of the search. Floridian: How well do you know your name?

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Weblog bandwaggon tool

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Hey, a weblog tool specifically for people who create bandwaggons. What’s the bet that Imakenews’ weblog tool offers less than existing software. iMakeNews – Create newsletters and email marketing campaigns – trackable HTML email

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Cheapo Tivo – fifty bucks

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“SnapStream’s primary product is the Personal Video Station, which can turn any computer with a TV tuner card into a device that, like TiVo or Replay, can pause and record live television. SnapStream’s product is inexpensive, about $50 for the software” Dwight Silverman: Hybrid products living up to hype

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How can Apple increase market share

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“Apple has to come up with something, a product, an app, a gadget of some kind, that will put a crippling hurt on another established technology or company.” Why don’t Apple compete with the consumer electronics market and come up with the definitive media PC? Applelinks: Latest Warp Core Praised

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New gadget: The digital Quran

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“The electronic Holy Quran has become more popular because of it is easy to use and available with English translations. It also gives the Qibla direction and accurate prayer timings in more than 1,000 cities of different countries,” said Riaz, a salesman in another electronics outlet.” GN Online: Digital Quran gains popularity

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Sober up before judgement

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State Can Make Inmate Sane Enough to Execute “In 1986, the United States Supreme Court held in an opinion by Justice Thurgood Marshall, that the execution of the insane was barred by the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. “ What were the Supreme Court thinking here? Surely the issue with insanity is that it diminishes reponsibility, i.e. some lunatics aren’t responsible for their own actions, and therefore get treatment. To say that not being of sound mind makes the process of execution cruel means that the sedatives that are used prior to lethal injections are potentially unconstitutional.

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European imperialism

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As many people are pointing out, the US has hardly been imperialist considering its power. If you really want to look at the seedy side of European history, take a look at Hong Kong. Its very existence came about because the British went to war against China who wanted to stop British drug trafficking. Opium War: Britain Stole Hong Kong From China

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