"Politico has a piece on how the Patriot Act is interfering with U.S. firms trying to do business overseas in the area of cloud computing. Here's a quote: 'The Sept. 11-era law was supposed to help the intelligence community gather data on suspected terrorists. But competitors overseas are using it as a way to discourage foreign countries from signing on with U.S. cloud computing providers like Google and Microsoft: Put your data on a U.S.-based cloud, they warn, and you may just put it in the hands of the U.S. government.'"
Quite possibly the reason why most early adopters of the internet went from 'dial~up' to DSL and Cable..."NAPSTER". Faster internet for faster downloading of music..."Napster was one of the earliest and most popular P2P music-sharing services. After a long legal battle that saw Napster slowly gutted in the face of infringement lawsuits, it was reinvented as a legitimate music download service. The resurrected Napster is now being shut down. Rhapsody has completed its purchase of Napster and will be absorbing its subscribers and assets."
 Google Chrome is in the process of surpassing Firefox to become the second most popular web browser. Pinpointing the exact time of the change is difficult, of course, since different analytics firms collect slightly different data. The current crop of media reports were triggered by data from StatCounter, which shows Chrome at 25.69% and Firefox at 25.23% for November. Data from Net Applications shows Firefox still holding a 4% lead, but the trends suggest it will evaporate within a few months.
"Scientists from the California Institute of Technology have come up with a gene therapy approach that has proven effective inprotecting mice (with humanized immune systems) against HIV infections. They used a genetically altered virus to infect muscles cells and deliver DNA codes of potent antibodies isolated from the blood of human HIV victims (abstract). The muscle cells then began to manufacture the antibodies in quantities that proved 'completely protective' against HIV infection. By contrast, traditional vaccines have not worked against HIV, as scientists have failed to find a molecule that induces the immune system to produce enough potent antibodies. The difficulties stem from the fact that HIV disguises some of its external structures from the antibodies."
"The days of watching movies on the cheap via the Web may soon be over. Time Warner Cable and U.S. pay-TV companies are on the verge of instituting new fees on Web-access customers who use the most data. ... U.S. providers have weighed usage-based plans for years as a way to squeeze more profit from Web access, and to counter slowing growth and rising program costs in the TV business. While customer complaints hampered earlier attempts, pay-TV companies are testing usage caps and price structures that point to the advent of permanent fees. ... Cable's best option is to find ways to profit from the online shift, said [analyst Craig Moffett]. If the companies were to lose all of their video customers, the revenue decline would be more than offset by lower programming fees and set-top box spending. 'In the end, it will be the best thing that ever happened to the cable industry,' Moffett said."
My friend rescued a baby owl. He may not be as cute as the other owls but I think he's got some personality...
The Bomb Buried In Obamacare Explodes Today-Forbes
Russian Winter Kitty
Well done
Missing cat returns after a month during interview with owner
Dutch anti-piracy group, BREIN, not only stole the music for that ad, but was also found to be illegally seizing servers
Roommate couldn't find the key to his door last night...chill bro.
My friend had half of his Christmas lights up... This was on his door the next day. 
can I keep him, please?
Whoa Billy
This little guy came up to us as soon as we parked in the mountains. I guess mooching in the parking lot beats hunting.
Drunk guy trys to surf down his roof
Puppies abandoned in a vacant lot on a rainy day
Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine show, for the first time, that violent video games directly alter brain activity - not after years of play, but after one week
He was NOT okay with the seal coming ashore
Canadian Highway Patrol 
Whoa... HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! 
The Fool Hath Said In His Heart There Is No God.
Flying over London