Monthly Archives: March 2002

Blood Diamonds
I read National Geopgraphic and they have an excellent article on diamonds which led me to do a Google search where I found Testimony of TONY P. HALL before the Trade Subcommittee of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee. “Mr. Speaker, many of us are gravely concerned about the role the trade in diamonds has in fueling some of the most brutal wars in Africa.”

Evolt.org have some excellent articles linked from their front page right now.

I went to see We Were Soldiers last night and was blown away by it. It’s done very well, maybe too well. I left the cinema shaken, shocked and thoughtful. Go see it, but you may not want to watch it again.

Mysql and transactions:

Part 1

Part 2

From PHP Everywhere

More broadband promises – 5mb to every house by 2005. Skeptical discussion on ILUG can be found in the ILUG archives. Great! But as far as I’m concerned this is like setting up a committee to implement an environmental improvement program and then filling it with representatives of an oil company.

Guess that’s what they did in the States so why not in Ireland too?

FOREGONE CONCLUSION:

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
2. On the other hand, the French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
3. The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
4. The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
5. Conclusion: Eat & drink what you like. It’s speaking English that kills you.

(Thanks Gillian!)

It’s all bollox, isn’t it. In this essay, Julian Bond talks about XML-RPC, blogger API, Userland. Worth a read if you’re interested in talking to these services by doing the RPC thing!

Warnings about energy drinks – Thomas Quigley, Scientific and Technical Director of the Stimulant Drinks Committee of the Food Safety Promotion Board, says that stimulant drinks should carry a clear label warning that they should neither be consumed with alcohol, nor be used as a thirst quencher by people during exercise or sports activity

Following on from the link “You don’t have to be..”, there’ll be a security conference in TCD tomorrow, thanks John.