Wednesday, July 7, 2010

An American-born Mexican Priest uses foul-mouthed Language With a Gangster Dialect to bring God's Message - NYTimes.com

Mexico City Journal - Speaking God’s Language With a Gangster Dialect - NYTimes.com: "MEXICO CITY — Frederick Loos was cussing like a sailor the other night, which was surprising given that he is a Roman Catholic priest and his foul-mouthed discourse was delivered from the pulpit to hundreds of faithful gathered before him. He spoke of God, the need to serve him and how he can transform lives. But interspersed in his sermon was the most colorful of street Spanish, which brought smiles to the faces of many of the gang members, addicts and other young people pressed in tight to listen. “When you go to China you have to speak Chinese,” the priest explained afterward, slipping out of his vestments."

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Please, Give Us A Google Voice Desktop App

We, the users, have developed a growing love for all things GOOGLE. Google Voice has been a landmark service that has brought a high-level of convenience to millions. We have asked, begged, and pleaded for a desktop VoIP application. We have heard news of said application and then sadly heard news of this application possibly being dropped for your "to-do list". This petition is brought forth to show you the overwhelming demand for such an application for OS/X, Windows, and Linux PCs (and possibly an Android App). We understand your hesitation for a desktop application, but a web application (as was stated by people from your company) would be far too complicated at this time to create. Please hear our voices. We use your services daily and stay loyal to your company. We <3 you Google.

http://www.giveusgvdesktop.com/

Saturday, July 3, 2010

A Musical Message Discovered In Plato's Works

A Musical Message Discovered In Plato's Works : NPR: "It sounds like something out of a Dan Brown novel, but a scholar in Manchester, England, claims to have found hidden code in the ancient writings of Plato. If true, the secret messages would have made the ancient philosopher and mathematician a heretic in his day.

Jay Kennedy tells NPR's Guy Raz that his discovery was partially luck. Looking at Plato's works in their original scroll form, he noticed that every 12 lines there was a passage that discussed music. 'The regularity of that pattern was supposed to be noticed by Plato's readers,' Kennedy says.

Music in ancient Greece was based on a 12-note scale, unlike the eight-note scale of modern Western music. Kennedy posits that Plato deliberately inserted discussions of music every 12 lines to send a secret, musical message.

What Plato couldn't tell people was that he was a closet Pythagorean. Pythagoras and his followers believed that mathematics and music were the key to the universe.

'The Pythagoreans realized that when we hear beauty and music, when we hear notes harmonizing, that's because the notes have simple ratios, like 1:2 or 3:4,' Kennedy explains. 'So the beauty of music is direct perception of the mathematical order underlying the world. They worshipped that mathematics.'"

At least 220 dead in oil explosion in Congo

At least 220 dead in oil explosion in Congo - KansasCity.com: "A tanker truck hauling fuel on a rural eastern Congo highway overturned Saturday, gushing oil that later exploded in a fireball and killed about 220 people.



Witnesses said dozens of people had descended on the truck to siphon fuel illegally from the wreckage with jerricans and plastic buckets, apparently unaware of the danger.

U.N. peacekeepers rushed to evacuate more than 200 injured from the scene by helicopter and ambulance. Red Cross teams carried the charred bodies away in body bags and buried them in two mass graves a few miles away."

Friday, July 2, 2010

Paris Hilton held in South Africa after World Cup game - BBC News

The details of her charges have not been released and the court hearing went ahead behind closed doors.

BBC News - Paris Hilton held in South Africa after World Cup game: "US socialite Paris Hilton has appeared in a South African court following her arrest after a World Cup game.

Ms Hilton was arrested in Port Elizabeth after the Netherlands' defeat of Brazil in the quarter-finals of the tournament."

Blogger in Draft: Introducing Blogger Stats

Blogger in Draft: Introducing Blogger Stats: "Although some of you use Google Analytics or other third party tools to track your blog traffic, many of you have requested an easier-to-use, fully-integrated stats feature for Blogger. We heard that, and we are excited to announce that Blogger in Draft now has built-in stats. Just go to Blogger in Draft, and you'll notice a new 'Stats' tab. You don't have to install or configure anything to start benefitting from Stats.

The coolest thing about the new Blogger Stats is that it monitors and analyzes your visitor traffic in near-real-time."