Greasemonkey - One of the best things Firefox has to offer

I've been playing around with greasemonkey lately and though that it would just be fair to mention to you guys how great this is. With this extension I am able to change how google.com looks or gmail, how to easily download embedded videos from websites and a lot more. You might want to check it out. Please see my new google home page below.

Origens of Life Explained?

I found this article while browsing Wired and though you might like to know where you come from. Read on...

Originally considered a dud, an old volcano-in-a-bottle experiment designed to mimic conditions that may have brewed the components of life might have been right on target.

After reanalyzing the results of unpublished research conducted by Stanley Miller in 1953, chemists realized that his experiment had actually produced a wealth of amino acids — the protein foundation of life.

Miller is famed for the results of experiments on amino acid formation in a jar filled with methane, hydrogen and ammonia — his version of the primordial soup. However, his estimates of atmospheric composition were eventually considered inaccurate. The experiment became regarded as a general rather than useful example of how the first organic molecules may have assembled.



But the latest results, derived from samples found in an old box by one of Miller's former graduate students, come from a device that mimicked volcanic conditions now believed to have existed three billion years ago. The findings suggest that amino acids could have formed when lightning struck pools of gas on the flanks of volcanoes, and are a fitting coda for the late father of prebiotic chemistry.

"What's amazing is that he did it," said study co-author Jeffrey Bada, a Scripps Institute of Oceanography biochemist and Miller's former student. "All I did is have access to his extracts."

Bada stumbled across the original experiment by accident when a colleague of Miller's mentioned having seen a box of experimental samples in Miller's office. Bada, who inherited Miller's scientific possessions after his death in 2007, found the box — literally labeled "1953-1954 experiments" — in his own office.

Inside it were samples taken by Miller from a device that spewed a concentrated stream of primordial gases over an electrical spark. It was a high-powered variation on the steady-steam apparatus that earned him fame — but unlike that device, it appeared to have produced few amino acids, and was unmentioned in his landmark 1953 Science study, "A Production of Amino Acids Under Possible Primitive Earth Conditions."

But Miller didn't have access to high-performance liquid chromatography, which lets chemists break down and classify samples with once-unthinkable levels of precision. And when Bada's team reanalyzed the disregarded samples, they found no fewer than 22 amino acids, several of which were never seen by Miller in a lifetime of primordial modeling.

Perhaps amino acids first formed when the gases in Miller's device accumulated around active volcanoes, said Bada. "Instead of having global synthesis of organic molecules, you had a lot of little localized factories in the form of these volcanic islands," he said.

"The amino acid precursors formed in a plume and concentrated along tidal shores. They settled in the water, underwent further reactions there, and as they washed along the shore, became concentrated and underwent further polymerization events," explained Indiana University biochemist Adam Johnson, a co-author of the study. "And lightning" — the final catalyst in the equation — "tends to be extremely common with volcanic eruptions."

Luke Leman, a Scripps Institute biochemist who was not involved in the study, published today in Science, agreed.

"These findings add to a growing body of literature suggesting that areas near volcanoes could have been hotspots of organic chemistry on early Earth," he said.

Leman continued, "These findings will likely inspire a next generation of prebiotic chemists, much as Miller's original experimental results have inspired the field for more than fifty years."

Added Bada, "There's a lesson here: don't throw anything away."

The Miller Volcanic Spark Discharge Experiment [Science]

Images: Flydime / Science

Note: Added Harvard University prebiotic chemist Jack Szostak by email after the article went to press: "I like this work, because it shows that we have to think about local environments where specific classes of molecules can be made. Some good stuff might get made near (not in!) volcanoes, other good stuff might get made in other environments. At least this helps get away from the silly old idea that life began in an oceanic primordial soup (too homogeneous and too dilute for anything interesting to happen)."

Source: blog.Wired.com

Theevrytin Reviews - G1 - Google Android

Well, after waiting for months, the new G1 smartphone is here. Powered by Google's own OS - Android - and packed with bunch of features, it is probably one of the hottest smartphones in the market right now. The service is being provided by T-Mobile and even though this is not a competition - at least not yet - for the iPhone, Apple should still consider this to be a wake up call for its future releases. It is clear to me that soon enough there will be another phone with the Android OS that can surpass the iPhone by far. Apple keep an eye out, Google is coming for you!!! - At least this is what I think..



Bottom line is that after you put together the amount of tools that Google has at its disposal with the Android OS and integrate all these features as they did, it is clear to see what I mean about this phone having the potential of soon surpassing the iPhone. The features have been so nicely integrated that it is just seamless to the user, thus making it simple to use and operate. Once you type your user name and password for you G-Mail account, you are all set. All of your e-mails as well as contacts and all that, is magically there. Google talk and all gets setup and signed in, very cool!!!

The IM tools which supports Google Talk, Windows Live, AOL and Yahoo Messenger is probably the best available out there. Not to mention Google Search and Google Apps integration. This was done flawless. It will make you want to use them all the time.

It supports multiple music player formats, including; MP3, AAC, M4A, DRM-free, WMA, WAV, AMR, MIDI and OGG Vorbis.

In addition to all this, you have the OS itself. The Android OS is probably one of the easiest and fastest to navigate. There is no lag and its much faster than that of the iPhone.

The Keyboard operates very nicely and its very simple to use.

Things I don't like?

- Less battery life when using all features
- It is heavier and bulkier than the iPhone by almost one oz (5.6 oz compared to 4.7 oz for the iPhone). Of course this is due to the simple fact that it has a full Qwerty keyboard. So, its not that bad.
- The screen itself is not multi-touch as that of the the iPhone. Because of this you can't expand in and out as you do in the iPhone. Not good for those used to this feature.

Regardless of these little imperfection, I still give it a 5 out 5 star rating. Way to go Google!!!

TheEvryTin Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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Images credit: lifehacker

Comments

I just wanted to take a second to address a little issue here. I noticed that I've been getting some traffic lately and no comments are being posted. You do realize that you don't have to subscribe to post comments, right?. Just wanted to make sure you were aware.

It's OK to post anonymously!! Let others know what you think. Thanks!!

Obama delays MLB Game

I found this interesting and wanted to know your thoughts on the subject. Read on....

"NEW YORK (AP)—Major League Baseball has agreed to push back the start time of a potential World Series Game 6 by eight minutes to allow Democrat Barack Obama to purchase a half-hour of air time on the Fox network.

Baseball spokesman Pat Courtney said Thursday that the game time would now be set for 8:35 p.m.

The Obama presidential campaign said Oct. 9 that it had bought the 8-8:30 p.m slot on CBS and NBC.

“Fox will accommodate Senator Obama’s desire to communicate with voters in this long-form format,” network spokesman Lou D’Ermilio said in a statement. “We are pleased that Major League Baseball has agreed to delay the first pitch of World Series Game 6 for a few minutes in order for Fox to carry his program on Oct. 29. If requested, the network would be willing to make similar time available to Senator McCain’s campaign.”

The World Series has not gone to a sixth game since 2003.

The decision was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter. "
Source: Yahoo! Sports

I don't know why the big deal or the reason why they would have to delay a game for this. I mean, its not like they are going to say anything new. Everything that both candidates are saying now they have already been saying for months. What do you think?

Davin Harris put to shame

Check out how this guy from London shake Davin Harris' pants at his own game.



Well, the guy in the black sweater is actually a pretty good player. His name is Stuart Tanner and he is supposed to be a playground legend on his area.

More at Yahoo! Sports

Meaning of ' Barack Hussein Obama '

Hello there. Sorry for my delay on any new postings to my site. I've been a little busier than usual lately.

Anyway, I found this article while browsing the net the other day and though that it would be helpful to post it in here. It is something that many people still don't understand and think of it totally different than it really is. Don't take me wrong, I don't particularly care much for either of the two presidential candidates. I think each has their strong views, but don't really care for their stand regarding the environment. I think of myself as an environmentalist who care and appreciate our planet and who would like to see something done to preserve it. Whit that said, please read the below for some interesting information regarding the name "Barack Hussein Obama".

By Juan Cole
President of the Global Americana Institute
jricole@gmail.com
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Barack Hussein Obama, Omar Bradley, Benjamin Franklin and other Semitically Named American Heroes

At Cincinnati, Bill Cunningham, according to the LAT, who "introduced presidential candidate John McCain at a rally here today accused Barack Obama of sympathizing with 'world leaders who want to kill us' and invoked Obama's middle name -- three times calling him 'Barack Hussein Obama.' " John McCain repudiated Cunningham's low tactics and said that using the middle name like that three times was "inappropriate" and would never happen again at one of his rallies.

I want to say something about Barack Hussein Obama's name. It is a name to be proud of. It is an American name. It is a blessed name. It is a heroic name, as heroic and American in its own way as the name of General Omar Nelson Bradley or the name of Benjamin Franklin. And denigrating that name is a form of racial and religious bigotry of the most vile and debased sort. It is a prejudice against names deriving from Semitic languages!



Christian, Western heroes have often been bequeathed Middle Eastern names. Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, the medieval Spanish hero, carried the name El Cid, from the Arabic al-Sayyid, "the lord."

Barack and Hussein are Semitic words. Americans have been named with Semitic names since the founding of the Republic. Fourteen of our 43 presidents have had Semitic names (see below). And, American English contains many Arabic-derived words that we use every day and without which we would be much impoverished. America is a world civilization with a world heritage, something Cunninghamism will never understand.

Barack is a Semitic word meaning "to bless" as a verb or "blessing" as a noun. In its Hebrew form, barak, it is found all through the Bible. It first occurs in Genesis 1:22: "And God blessed (ḇāreḵə ) them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth."

Here is a list of how many times barak appears in each book of the Bible.

Now let us take the name "Hussein." It is from the Semitic word, hasan, meaning "good" or "handsome." Husayn is the diminutive, affectionate form.

Barack Obama's middle name is in honor of his grandfather, Hussein, a secular resident of Nairobi. Americans may think of Saddam Hussein when they hear the name, but that is like thinking of Stalin when you hear the name Joseph. There have been lots of Husseins in history, from the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, a hero who touched the historian Gibbon, to King Hussein of Jordan, one of America's most steadfast allies in the 20th century. The author of the beloved American novel, The Kite Runner, is Khaled Hosseini.

But in Obama's case, it is just a reference to his grandfather.

It is worth pointing out that John McCain's adopted daughter, Bridget, is originally from Bangladesh. Since Hussein is a very common name in Bangladesh, it is entirely possible that her birth father or grandfather was named Hussein. McCain certainly has Muslim relatives via adoption in his family. If Muslim relatives are a disqualification from high office in the United States, then McCain himself is in trouble. In fact, since Bridget is upset that George W. Bush doesn't like her "because she is black," and used her to stop the McCain campaign in South Carolina in 2000, you understand why McCain would be especially sensitive to race-baiting of Cunningham's sort. The question is how vigorously he will combat it; he hasn't been above Muslim-taunting in the campaign so far. (And, the McCains really should let Bridget know that she is Asian, not "black." The poor girl; Bush and Rove have done a number on her, and Cindy's confusion can't help.)

The other thing to say about grandfathers named Hussein is that very large numbers of African-Americans probably have an ancestor ten or eleven generations ago with that name, in what is now Mali or Senegal or Nigeria. And, since so many thousands of Arab Muslims were made to convert to Catholicism in Spain after 1501, many Latinos have distant ancestors named Hussein, too. In fact, since there was a lot of Arab-Spanish intermarriage, and since there was subsequent Spanish intermarriage with other European Catholics, more European Americans are descended from a Hussein than they realize. The British royal family is quite forthright about the Arab line in their ancestry going back to Andalusia.

Obama, being a cousin of Dick Cheney on one side and having relatives in Kenya on the other, is just more and more typical of the 21st century United States.

So, anyway, Obama's first two names mean "Blessing, the Good." If we are lucky enough to get him for president, we can only hope that his names are prophetic for us.

Which brings me to Omar Bradley. Omar is an alternative spelling of Umar, i.e. Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph of Sunni Islam. Presumably General Bradley was named for the poet Omar Khayyam, who bore the caliph's name. Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat, in the "translation" of Edward FitzGerald, became enormously popular in Victorian America.

Gen. Omar Bradley, who bore a Semitic, Muslim first name, and shared it with the second Caliph of Sunni Islam, was the hero of D-Day and Normandy, of the Battle of the Bulge and the Ruhr.



Would Mr. Cunningham see Omar Bradley as un-American, as an enemy because of his name?

What about other American heroes, such as Gen. George Joulwan, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander of Europe? "Joulwan" is an Arabic name. Or there is Gen. John Abizaid, former CENTCOM commander. Abizaid is an Arabic name. Abi means Abu or "father of," and Zaid is a common Arab first name. Is Cunningham good enough to wipe their shoes? Is he going to call them traitors because they have Arabic names?



What about Congressman Darrell Issa of California? ("`Isa" means Jesus in Arabic). Former cabinet secretary Donna Shalala? (Shalala means "waterfall" in Arabic).

I won't go into all the great Americans with Arabic names in sports, entertainment and business, against whom Cunningham would apparently discriminate on that basis. Does he want to take citizenship away from Kareem Abdul Jabbar [meaning "noble the servant of the Mighty"] and Ahmad Jamal [meaning "the most praised, beauty"]? What about Rihanna ["sweet basil," "aromatic"]? Tony Shalhoub [i.e. Mr. Monk]?

Let us take Benjamin Franklin. His first name is from the Hebrew Bin Yamin, the son of the Right (hand), or son of strength, or the son of the South (yamin or right has lots of connotations). The "Bin" means "son of," just as in modern colloquial Arabic. Bin Yamin Franklin is not a dishonorable name because of its Semitic root. By the way, there are lots of Muslims named Bin Yamin.

As for an American president bearing a name derived from a Semitic language, that is hardly unprecedented.

John Adams really only had Semitic names. His first name is from the Hebrew Yochanan, or gift of God, which became Johan and then John. (In German and in medieval English, "y" is represented by "j" but was originally pronounced "y".) Adams is from the biblical Adam, which also just means "human being." In Arabic, one way of saying "human being" is "Bani Adam," the children of men.

Thomas Jefferson's first name is from the Aramaic Tuma, meaning "twin." Aramaic is a Semitic language spoken by Jesus, which is related to Hebrew and Arabic. In Arabic twin is tau'am, so you can see the similarity.

James Madison, James Monroe and James Polk all had a Semitic first name, derived from the Hebrew Ya'aqov or Jacob, which is Ya`qub in Arabic. It became Iacobus in Latin, then was corrupted to Iacomus, and from there became James in English.

Zachary Taylor's first name is from the Hebrew Zachariah, which means "the Lord has remembered."

Abraham Lincoln, of course is, named for the patriarch Abraham, from the Semitic word for father, Ab, and the word for "multitude," raham,. Abu, "father of," is a common element in Arab names today.

So, Mr. Cunningham, Barack Hussein Obama fits right in this list of presidents with Semitic names. In fact, we haven't had one for a while. We are due for another one.

A blessed and good one.

posted by Juan Cole @ 2/27/2008 12:02:00 AM
For original post click here.