Yummy Wakame Weblog

Have you seen this billboard?

iAfrica.com: Dealing with workaholism

“Workaholism has a profoundly negative impact not only on the mental and physical health of managers, but also their professional and social relationships, according to new research.”

“The South African professional culture is most unique in that the present generation of managers has to deal with trade-union negotiations, affirmative action and black economic empowerment and fluctuating interest rates and rand dollar exchanges in addition to their daily managerial duties. In terms of this culture, people are required to work extremely hard. Today’s generation of managers has been bred in a competitive world in which the prescriptions of the professional and working environment, and not the discretion of the individual, dictate the norm.”

AlmereGrid, the world’s first city supercomputer

The Register UK: “The Dutch town of Almere will host the world’s first virtual city supercomputer or computer grid. And “Almeregrid” will rely primarily on home PCs connected to high speed fibre optic links.

A grid is a hyper network that links computers and data storage owned by different organisations so that they can share computing power. In some cases home Pcs are used to donate spare computing power. A classic example is SETI@home, which uses internet-connected computers in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. A screen saver analyses radio telescope data when the PC is idle.

The Almeregrid project targets about 2200 citizens in Almere that have access to fast (100 MB/s) fibre optic connections, so that theoretically more data can be shared.

Almere is situated in the southern part of the province of Flevoland. A little over 40 years ago this part of the Netherlands was still under water. The reclaimed land provided space for the construction of a brand new town with modern communications technology, including in some cases, domestic fibre optic connections.

Initially, the grid will be used for scientific research, in particular in the area of medical applications. Later corporations can also tap into what project co-ordinators believe is “a wealth of computer power”.”

Hermit crabs are notoriously fragile pets to keep. They can live for 30 years in captivity. They die from stress and unsuitable habitats very easily so its not uncommon to have your new pet die overnight from the stress of being in the petshop and the journey. They should not really be kept as pets at all and sadly many animal lovers end up rescuing them from cruel pet stores like stacy does.

Sign the petition: Say NO to Crabinacup sold at Walmart stores

“Crabinacup has started appearing in Walmarts across the USA. Land Hermit Crabs (as well as frogs, bettas) are sold in a cup in Walmart stores. Please sign our petition and show Walmart that we do NOT want crabinacup (or any animal in a cup) and that this type of animal cruelty will not be condoned. Land Hermit Crabs (and other animals) deserved to be treated with dignity and respect, not as a fast food type merchandise – a pet to go. Land Hermit Crabs deserve to be kept in a glass tank with a lid, an under tank heater to meet the temperature and humidity needs, enough space to walk and climb, places to hide and de-stress, and a fitting place to live until sold. Selling a crab in a cup with a layer of gravel and water is NOT appropriate and stores that sell land hermit crabs this way are guilty of animal cruelty.

Say NO to crabinacup and spread the word about this appaling marketing ploy.”

“microRevolt projects investigate the dawn of sweatshops in early industrial capitalism to inform the current crisis of global expansion and the feminization of labor.

microRevolt developed web application knitPro, a protest tool that generates knit patterns of sweatshop offenders. knitPro is a web application that translates digital images into knit, crochet, needlepoint and cross-stitch patterns. Just upload jpeg, gif or png images of whatever you wish — portraits, landscapes, logos… and it will generate the image pattern on a graph sizable for any fiber project.”

If you’ve forgotten, they give instructions on how to knit.

Knitting is cool!

BBC:
The US military is planning to deploy robots armed with machine-guns to wage war against insurgents in Iraq.

The Streeb-Greebling Diaries:
Simple tactics to defeat a telerobot invasion

La Petite Claudine treats Apple lovers to a trip down memory lane this week…

The Lost 1984 Mac Video

Never seen before video footage of the introduction of Macintosh in 1984, available for the first time on the Internet. Mac user Scott Knaster kept the Betamax video for 21 years and the German agency Textlab unearthed the only surviving videos covering the launch.

• Apple Computer History Weblog
• Apple History
• 1989 Apple Ads by Matt Groening
• 1984 historical Apple video directed by Ridley Scott

“We shall prevail!”

Bad news for animal lovers, Procter and Gamble will now have an excuse to unnecessarily test the side-effects of razorblades and ingested battery acid on small animals, just because they can. An estimated 50,000 animals die at the hands of Procter & Gamble every year.

Procter & Gamble are to aquire Gillette for $57bn

“This deal is going to create the greatest consumer products company in the world,” said Mr Buffet an American investment guru, who is also Gillette’s largest shareholder. “It’s a dream deal.”

Where did they get so much money in the first place? From us. We are the consumers who don’t take the time to check the branding at the back of the box. We can’t be bothered to try other products that haven’t been tested on animals.

Procter & Gamble doesn’t care because the consumer doesn’t care. Its as simple as that.

Although I sometimes feel I’m fighting this battle alone, I will continue to do my bit to boycott P&G. My money will not fund animal torture.

These are P&G products to look out for: Olay, Max Factor, Pringles, Bold, Flash, ACE (bleach), Febreze, Bounce, Downy (fabric softner), Hugo Boss, Daz, Fairy, Tide, Lacoste, Always, TAMPAX, Sunny Delight, Iams/Eukanuba, Head & Shoulders and soon to include Gilette, Venus, Duracell, Oral-B.

Over 500 companies produce like-for-like products which are safe for consumers, that are no longer or have never been tested on animals. (uncaged.co.uk)

You can pledge to boycott P&G products until they stop testing on animals

Please spread the word.

From the 18th of February, this beautiful creature will be allowed to live out its days in peace in the English countryside.

My thanks go out to all the people who campaigned tirelessly against all odds to ban the cruel sport.

I heard that Gmail is about to go live soon, and I have 3 invites left that will go to waste. Does anyone want need one?