Monday, August 20, 2012
Have you ever seen the rain?
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Songwriters: J. C. FOGERTY
Someone told me long ago
There's a calm before the storm,
I know
It's been comin for some time.
When it's over, so they say,
It'll rain a sunny day,
I know
Shinin down like water.
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/c/creedence+clearwater+revival/have+you+ever+seen+... ]
[Chorus]
I want to know, have you ever seen the rain
I want to know, have you ever seen the rain
Comin down on a sunny day
Yesterday, and days before,
Sun is cold and rain is hard,
I know
Been that way for all my time.
'Til forever, on it goes
Through the circle, fast and slow,
I know
It can't stop, I wonder.
Chorus
Yeah!
Chorus
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Harvard Study Confirms Fluoride Reduces Children's IQ
Harvard Study Confirms Fluoride Reduces Children's IQ
by Edit this, articles.mercola.comAugust 14th 2012
By Dr. Mercola
A recently published Harvard University meta-analysis funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has concluded that children who live in areas with highly fluoridated water have "significantly lower" IQ scores than those who live in low fluoride areas.
In a 32-page report that can be downloaded free of charge from Environmental Health Perspectives1, the researchers said:
"A recent report from the U.S. National Research Council (NRC 20062) concluded that adverse effects of high fluoride concentrations in drinking water may be of concern and that additional research is warranted. Fluoride may cause neurotoxicity in laboratory animals, including effects on learning and memory…
To summarize the available literature, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies on increased fluoride exposure in drinking water and neurodevelopmental delays. We specifically targeted studies carried out in rural China that have not been widely disseminated, thus complementing the studies that have been included in previous reviews and risk assessment reports...
Findings from our meta-analyses of 27 studies published over 22 years suggest an inverse association between high fluoride exposure and children's intelligence... The results suggest that fluoride may be a developmental neurotoxicant that affects brain development at exposures much below those that can cause toxicity in adults...
Serum-fluoride concentrations associated with high intakes from drinking-water may exceed 1 mg/L, or 50 Smol/L, thus more than 1000-times the levels of
some other neurotoxicants that cause neurodevelopmental damage. Supporting the plausibility of our findings, rats exposed to 1 ppm (50 Smol/L) of water-fluoride for one year showed morphological alterations in the brain and increased levels of aluminum in brain tissue compared with controls...
In conclusion, our results support the possibility of adverse effects of fluoride exposures on children's neurodevelopment.
Future research should formally evaluate dose-response relations based on individual-level measures of exposure over time, including more precise prenatal exposure assessment and more extensive standardized measures of neurobehavioral performance, in addition to improving assessment and control of potential confounders."
Studies have Repeatedly Linked Fluoride to Reduced IQ and Brain Damage
There are so many scientific studies showing the direct, toxic effects of fluoride on your body, it's truly remarkable that it's NOT considered a scientific consensus by now. Despite the evidence against it, fluoride is still added to 70 percent of U.S. public drinking water supplies.
It amazes me that the medical (and dental) communities are so stubbornly resistant to connect the dots when it comes to the skyrocketing increase of cognitive decline in adults, and behavioral issues in children (ADD, ADHD, depression and learning disabilities of all kinds). In fact, there have been over 23 human studies and 100 animal studies linking fluoride to brain damage3. Fluoride can also increase manganese absorption, compounding problems since manganese in drinking water has also been linked to lower IQ in children.
Reported effects of fluoride on your brain include:
Six Facts You Need to Know About Water Fluoridation
Harmful Effects have Been Known for Half a Century...
What is perhaps most surprising is that the harmful effects of fluoride have been known by conventional medical organizations for over half a century. For example, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) stated in their September 18, 1943 issue that fluorides are general protoplasmic poisons that change the permeability of the cell membrane by certain enzymes. And, an editorial published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, October 1, 1944, stated:
"Drinking water containing as little as 1.2 ppm fluoride will cause developmental disturbances. We cannot run the risk of producing such serious systemic disturbances. The potentialities for harm outweigh those for good."
Part of the problem is that it's an accumulative toxin that, over time, can lead to significant health problems that are not immediately linked to fluoride over-exposure. In a 2005 paper entitled "Fluoride—A Modern Toxic Waste," Lita Lee, Ph.D. writes4:
"Yiamouyiannis' book, "Fluoride, The Aging Factor," documents the cumulative effect of tissue damage by fluoride, commonly seen as aging (collagen damage), skin rashes and acne, gastrointestinal disorders, and many other conditions, including osteoporosis. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and the Safe Water Foundation reported that 30,000 to 50,000 excess deaths occur in the United States each year in areas in which the water contains only one ppm fluoride.
... Fluoride suppresses the immune system: Fluoride inhibits the movement of white blood cells by 70%, thereby decreasing their ability to reach their target. Yiamouyiannis cites 15 references in his pamphlet, Lifesavers Guide to Fluoridation, that document immunosuppressive effects of as little as 10% of the amount of fluoride used in fluoridated water... Immunosuppressive effects run the gamut, from a cold that won't go away to increased risk of cancer and other infectious diseases."
Studies have shown that fluoride toxicity can lead to a wide variety of health problems, including:
Suppressed Science: Fluoride Link to Cancer
Long-lost research linking fluoride to cancer has resurfaced in a Dutch film clip featuring Dr. Dean Burk, who in 1937 co-founded the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) and headed its cytochemistry department for over 30 years. In the taped interview, he equates water fluoridation to "public murder," referring to a study that had been done on the 10 largest U.S. cities with fluoridation compared to the 10 largest without it.
The study clearly demonstrated that deaths from cancer abruptly rose in as little as a year or two after fluoridation began. This and other studies linking fluoride to cancer were government-ordered but were quickly buried once fluoride was found to be linked to dramatic increases in cancer.
Join the Fight to Get Fluoride Out of Drinking Water
There's no doubt about it: Fluoride should not be ingested. At least when it comes to topical application, you have a choice. You can easily buy fluoride-free toothpaste and mouthwash. But you're stuck with whatever your community puts in the water, and it's very difficult to filter out of your water once it's added. Many do not have the resources or the knowledge to do so.
The only real solution is to stop the archaic practice of water fluoridation in the first place. Fortunately, the Fluoride Action Network5 has a game plan to END water fluoridation in both Canada and the United States.
I urge you to join the anti-fluoride movement in Canada and United States by contacting the representative for your area below.
Contact Information for Canadian Communities:
- If you live in Ontario, Canada, please join the ongoing effort by contacting Diane Sprules at diane.sprules@cogeco.ca.
- The point-of-contact for Toronto, Canada is Aliss Terpstra. You may email her at aliss@nutrimom.ca.
Contact Information for American Communities:
We're also going to address three US communities: Portland, Wichita, and Phoenix:
- Portland, Oregon: Even though residents have voted down fluoridation three separate times, the pro-fluoride lobbying is now working to influence city councilors to ignore the public and pass fluoridation without another vote. If you live in the Portland area, please contact FAN’s Oregon point person, Kimberly Kaminski. You can email her at kim@safewateroregon.org. Portland residents will be battling a very well financed campaign by the ADA, Delta Dental and the PEW Charitable Trust. Please consider making a donation to Oregon Citizens for Safe Drinking Water.
- Witchita, Kansas: The pro-fluoride lobby has also targeted Wichita for forced fluoridation. If you live in Kansas and would like to help protect the safety of the citiy’s drinking water, please contact Fluoride Free Kansas at fluoridefreekansas.org/contact-us
- Phoenix, Arizona -- The city council is reassessing their fluoridation program. The issue was raised by Councilman Tom Simplot and local fluoride-free campaigners. The city currently spends more than $500,000 annually on fluoridation, and currently joins only 9 other Arizona communities in fluoridating their water. The city council is expected to study the issue and meet on September 11, when it will hold further hearings and decide the fate of the practice. If you live in the Phoenix area and would like to get involved, please contact FAN's Phoenix coordinator.
Original Page: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/08/14/fluoride-effects-in-children.aspx
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Trapwire surveillance system exposed in document leak
Trapwire surveillance system exposed in document leak
by WikiLeaks, guardian.co.ukAugust 13th 2012
It sounds like something from the film Minority Report: a CCTV surveillance system that recognises people from their face or walk and analyses whether they might be about to commit a terrorist or criminal act. But Trapwire is real and, according to documents released online by WikiLeaks last week, is being used in a number of countries to try to monitor people and threats.
Founded by former CIA agents, Trapwire uses data from a network of CCTV systems and numberplate readers to figure out the threat level in huge numbers of locations. That means security officials can "focus on the highest priorities first, taking a proactive and collaborative approach to defence against attacks," say its creators.
The documents outlining Trapwire's existence and its deployment in the US were apparently obtained in a hack of computer systems belonging to the intelligence company Stratfor at the end of last year.
Documents from the US department of homeland security show that it paid $832,000 to deploy Trapwire in Washington DC and Seattle.
Stratfor describes Trapwire as "a unique, predictive software system designed to detect patterns of pre-attack surveillance and logistical planning", and cites the Washington DC police chief mentioning it during a Senate committee hearing. It serves "a wide range of law enforcement personnel and public and private security officials domestically and internationally", Stratfor says.
Some have expressed doubts that Trapwire could really forecast terrorist acts based on data from cameras, but Rik Ferguson, security consultant at Trend Micro, said the software for such systems had existed for some time.
"There's a lot of crossover between CCTV and facial recognition," he said. "It's feasible to have a camera looking for suspicious behaviour – for example, in a computer server room it could recognise someone via facial recognition or your gait, then can identify them from the card they swipe to get in, and then know whether it's suspicious if they're meant to be a cleaner and they sit down at a computer terminal."
The claims might seem overblown, but then the idea that the US could have an international monitoring system seemed absurd until the discovery of the Echelon system, used by the US to eavesdrop on electronic communications internationally.
Trapwire has not yet commented on the leak.
Original Page: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/13/trapwire-surveillance-system-exposed-leak
Symptoms of High Functioning Autism | Welcome to Technewszone!!!
Symptoms of High Functioning Autism
by admin, technewszone.comJuly 5th 2012
I feel that some people have a problem dealing with people that have autism or in my case Asperger’s Syndrome they do not really get us.
It is like the old song “What it feels like to be misunderstood,” At times I am too open and honest, and do not have the filter that others have to protect themselves from society. I do not have the swagger or attitude that most people have. I say what I mean and mean what I say.
At times I am irritable or cranky, am frightened of dogs, but so what I can also read a 300 page book in a couple of hours, and win video games quickly.
At times I am am bored, feel like an old soul born with less interest and excitement by the zeitgest of life, however we are intrigued and more interested by other things in life like technology.
I wish people would just accept people for who they are…
Here is a bit more info on autism from a website that I can relate to, WiseGeak–>http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-symptoms-of-high-level-autism.htm
People with high functioning or high level autism can function normally in society, but may have some of the symptoms of autism. The condition is often called Asperger’s syndrome, although some experts disagree on whether the two are synonymous. Symptoms of high level autism can vary from person to person.
According to the clinical definition of high level autism, the autistic can speak and act normally in everyday society. People who suffer from severe autism are defined as being unable to do so. Research has shown that people with high level autism have an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 70 or above.
Social interaction problems are a symptom of high level autism. The high level autistic may appear serious and uncommunicative, although being uncommunicative may only take the form of a lack of participation in small talk conversations. High level autistics may also have difficulty maintaining eye contact with others.
Individuals with high level autism prefer routine and order. These symptoms may present themselves in early childhood. Personal relationships are often a problem for people with high level autism. Affected individuals can sometimes be perceived by others as too geeky or intelligent. Rejection can lead to low self esteem.
Other symptoms of high level autism may include irregularities with coordination and motor skills. These problems may be very low level and may only take the form of clumsiness in situations such as sports activities. Although the high level autistic may not express certain emotions, such as empathy, he or she is certainly capable of feeling them.
High level autistics may have advanced learning abilities. They are also talented at problem solving, and many go on to careers in science and engineering. People with high level autism are often gifted academically and will do well if they have encouraging teachers. They are often extremely talented wordsmiths and have a great love of language. A passion for obscure subjects and an in-depth knowledge of these subjects are also symptoms of high level autism.
It is unfortunate that many narrow-minded people simply dismiss the high level autistic as a nerd or boffin. People who are not aware of the problem can often make judgments without fully appreciating the situation. High level autism is a complex disorder that affects one person out of every 90 people.
I am so tired of the lack of acceptance of people who are different, some of us are just wired differently!!!
Original Page: http://technewszone.com/tech-news-zone-and-paying-it-forward-for-autism-zone/symptoms-high-functioning-autism/
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Design News - News - Video: Humanoid Robot Used to Treat Autism
Video: Humanoid Robot Used to Treat Autism
by Bio, designnews.comAugust 13th 2012
Children with autism struggle to relate directly to other people. But what happens when they interact with a child-sized robot that has an expressive human face but isn't limited by emotional reactions to their struggles?
Researchers at the University of Texas Arlington (UTA) are working with the Dallas Autism Treatment Center to find out through Zeno, a robot that has been tested with patients to help them develop more appropriate responses to everyday social interactions.
"Autism seems to be a good application for these kind of robots, because autistic kids have a hard time relating to adults, but they seem to be very interested in interacting with robots," Dan Popa, a UTA associate professor of electrical engineering and a lead investigator on the research, told us.
Hanson Robotics designed Zeno, whose face moves in a way similar to human faces. Zeno's face is made of an innovative compliant polymer called "flubber" that offers the look and feel of human skin. Popa said motors behind the face push and pull certain points on the material to create up to 10 different facial expressions.
"Zeno has an incredible face," said Carolyn Garver, director of the Dallas Autism Treatment Center, who has worked there with autistic people for 33 years and has used Zeno with her patients. "It feels real."
Garver has collaborated with UTA on feasibility tests with both autistic children and adults to determine if Zeno can be used to help people with autism identify different emotions and feelings. This, in turn, might help them begin identifying those emotions in people -- a fundamental social disability for autistic people.
The robot can interact with patients the way humans do, but it isn't limited by the emotional responses human therapists may have during treatment. There is an element of make-believe about Zeno that ties into the fantasy world "many of these children live in anyway," Garver said. "They don't identify with people very well. The robot is like a bridge. They respond to Zeno. He's nonjudgmental. He doesn't get mad. He can do the same thing over and over again, and he doesn't get tired."
Original Page: http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=248880&f_src=designnews_gnews&dfpPParams=ind_182,industry_medical,aid_248880&dfpLayout=article&dfpPParams=ind_182,industry_medical,aid_248880&dfpLayout=article
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50 Places You Can Learn to Code (For Free) Online
50 Places You Can Learn to Code (For Free) Online
by Alton Parrish, beforeitsnews.comAugust 7th 2012 5:48 AM
Many big names in education including MIT and Stanford offer programming courses, absolutely free.
UC Berkeley Webcasts:
UC Berkeley’s Computer Science department offers a huge collection of courses in programming and computing.
MIT OpenCourseWare:
Find more than a hundred online course materials for electrical engineering and computer science in MIT’s OpenCourseWare collection.
Stanford University:
Through iTunesU and Coursera, Stanford University offers plenty of programming courses, including Coding Together: Apps for iPhone and iPad, Programming Methodology, and Human-Computer Interaction.
The Open University:
U.K.-based Open University has a variety of learning units in computing and ICT.
University of Southern Queensland:
From the University of Southern Queensland, you’ll find courses in Object Oriented Programming in C++ and Creating Interactive Multimedia.
Princeton:
Through Princeton University’s Coursera site, you can find courses on algorithms, computer architecture, and networks.
University of Michigan:
From the University of Michigan, you’ll get access to great programming courses including Computer Vision and Internet History, Technology, and Security. General
If you’re just dipping your toes into programming, or you want to find a variety of resources, these sites offer several different ways to learn how to code.
School of Webcraft:
Mozilla Foundation’s School of Webcraft is a peer-powered school that offers free web development education.
Google Code University:
Google Code University is full of excellent resources for code learning, including tutorials, introductions, courses, and discussion forums.
Google Code:
Search Google’s repository of code through this awesome resource. Webmonkey:
On Webmonkey, you’ll find tutorials for everything from building your first website to developing with HTML5.
OER Commons:
Find programming courses from the Saylor Foundation, Teachers’ Domain, and more in this directory of open education.
ArsDigita University:
In ArsDigita’s curriculum, you’ll find excellent courses for programming design, computer science, and even artificial intelligence.
Code School:
Many of Code School’s courses are paid, but they do offer rare gems like Rails for Zombies that are worth checking out.
SitePoint Reference:
Find references for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript on Sitepoint.
Khan Academy:
Video tutorial site Khan Academy offers computer science courses with an introduction to programming and computer science, including lots of Python resources.
Lifehacker Night School:
Lifehacker.com offers this concise guide to learning code, with 4.5 lessons offering the basics of programming.
Wikiversity:
Through Wikiversity’s School of Computer Science, you’ll be able to study techniques for programming in computer systems.
Wikibooks:
Check out the Computer Programming section of Wikibooks to find resources in just about every coding language.
Programmer 101: Another one from Lifehacker.com, Programmer 101 is a great guide to getting started with programming.
Mozilla Developer Network:
Find plenty of resources for learning web technologies on Mozilla’s Developer Network, including lessons in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Landofcode:
Get an introduction to programming from Landofcode, with practice resource, reference, tools, and how-tos.
Academic Earth:
Academic Earth’s collection of video courses is impressive, boasting computer science and programming courses from Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and more.
Skillcrush:
Learn how to develop anything you want with this site, offering explanations of terms, resources, and cheat sheets.
Udacity:
Udacity is a great resource for finding programming courses, including Intro to Computer Science, Web Application Engineering, and Software Testing.
Udemy:
Learn computer programming from these popular courses on Udemy. Many are free, but be sure to check; some are paid.
Learn Code the Hard Way:
On Learn Code The Hard Way, you’ll find books and courses to learn Python, Ruby, C, SQL, and Regex. Although courses aren’t free, the books are.
The New Boston:
The New Boston offers an incredible collection of video tutorials for all types of programming, including iPhone and computer game development.
HakTip:
Check out this weekly web show to find programming how-tos that you can use. Onvard:
Onvard offers a self-guided resource for learning different tracks, including Ruby on Rails, HTML, and PHP .
WiBit.net:
Wibit.net shares several courses and videos offering free education in programming, especially C and Java. Community
Learn how to code on these sites with a heavy community influence ready to offer help to newbs.
Stack Exchange:
This Q&A community, programming is one of the most popular subjects, offering users a great way to learn from peers.
Stack Overflow:
Like Stack Exchange, Stack Overflow is a Q&A site, but this one is all about language-independent programming questions.
Codecademy:
Check out Codecademy for an easy, interactive way to learn how to code.
Code Year:
A part of Codecademy, Code Year is a project that provides participants with a new interactive programming lesson each week.
The Code Project:
This incredible development resource offers articles, discussions, quick answers, and tips for programming.
Village88:
Learn how to code for free with the help of a personal mentor on Village88. You can even get certified and find a job through the site.
Dream.In.Code:
Find tutorials, discussion, and more on this community learning site for programmers.
Ladies Learning Code:
Join this community, and especially the email list, to find tech help and resources for code learning.
Programr:
In this IT community, you’ll be able to start projects, join contests, and more, all for developing your programming skills.
Processing Forum:
Check out the Processing forum to find a great community for answering programming questions. Language Specific
Drill down to the language you really want on these sites, offering expansive learning in one or two specific languages.
CodePupil:
Learn how to code HTML and CSS through fun exercises and games on CodePupil.
Learn Python:
Learn Python offers a free interactive Python tutorial, for beginners and experienced programmers alike.
Pyschools:
Check out Pyschools to find practices, challenges, and other resources for learning Python.
Hackety Hack!:
Visit Hackety Hack! to learn the basics of programming Ruby, with no previous programming experience needed.
Kidsruby:
Designed for kids, this Ruby learning resource is great for beginners of all ages.
Try Ruby:
Explore Ruby code with this site, offering an interactive tutorial and editor that allows you to check it all out.
Code Avengers:
On Code Avengers, you’ll find a fun game for learning JavaScript.
gotoAndLearn():
Here you’ll find free video tutorials for Adobe Flash development.
WWDC Session Videos:
Check out Apple Developer’s collection of more than 100 session videos from the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference.
Contacts and sources:
Rosa Ray
http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com/2012/08/06/50-places-you-can-learn-to-code-for-free-online/
Original Page: http://beforeitsnews.com/self-sufficiency/2012/08/50-places-you-can-learn-to-code-for-free-online-2-2444228.html
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Does More Tech in the Classroom Help Kids Learn?
Does More Tech in the Classroom Help Kids Learn?
by Julie Halpert, mashable.comAugust 12th 2012
As more educational programs turn digital, teachers are finding that blending technology into the learning experience offers kids a crucial leg up in the classroom.
Karen Martinez’s daughter, Daniella, graduated fifth grade with honors this year and is now reading at a sixth grade level. Just two years ago, she was diagnosed as a special-needs child who struggled with reading. What made the change? Her mother pulled her out of a school that rarely used computers for learning, enrolling her in Rocketship Education, one of five charter schools in San Jose, California. Students there spend 25% of their school day in a computer lab with online content targeted to their development level. “My daughter was broken and now she’s starting to mend,” Martinez says.
The goal of Rocketship is to help close the achievement gap by serving low-income students who don’t have the advantages of their wealthy peers. It’s just one of the many schools following a fast-accelerating trend called “blended learning,” where students spend a portion of their day engaging in technology. And it seems to be working. Rocketship schools were the highest-performing elementary schools serving low income students in California last year, according to scores on a state standardized test — outperforming even schools in more affluent areas.
Technology As a Way to Bolster Achievement
But it’s not the technology alone that bolsters learning, says Michael B. Horn, executive director of the education practice at Innosight Institute, a non-profit think tank that focuses on education and innovation. Districts that see the most advantages use technology for active, not passive learning, giving students control over the pace of their learning. He says that’s proven to be an “exciting way to bolster student learning as it allows us to customize an education for each child according to his or her distinct learning needs.” Horn says blended learning is far more cost effective, since schools can use it to offer advanced courses online that otherwise would be unavailable, especially in core subjects like math and reading.
Mary Beth Hertz, a technology integration specialist for Philadelphia schools and a blogger for Edutopia, says technology allows for better use of class time through a “flipped classroom,” where students can view online lectures at home. The programs also allow teachers to put content, assignments and guided questions at the beginning of a unit and students can move through the material at their own pace, she says. This way, the students learn in the way that works best for them, whether it’s a competitive game, a collaborative activity or a visual approach, says Tom Vander Ark, a partner in Learn Capitol, an education venture fund, and author of Getting Smart, How Digital Learning is Changing the World (Wiley, 2011).
Tech for the Real World
As more schools come online, there are even more ways to engage with technology. Ann Flynn, director of education technology and state association services for the National School Boards Association, says students can take advantage of programs like the Futures Channel, which shows how math can be used in the design of skateboards. This “helps students start to see where science and math intersect with real world careers that they never thought about.” That digital engagement and passion for math and science often can translate into an interest in careers in those fields, an area where the U.S. had been lagging behind, says Paulo Bliksten, an assistant professor of education at Stanford University. As a majority of schools nationwide have internet access, Vander Ark calls digital education “the great equalizer,” that will extend “a quality secondary education to every young person on the planet.”
How to Find a Tech-Savvy School
So how do you know if your child’s school is using technology to its fullest potential? Here are some tips from experts for finding a school that provides the best setting for blended learning.
- Make sure schools have a team of teachers, or specific administrators, who are responsible for overseeing the technology.
- Visit classrooms to see how technology and learning relate to and complement each other. Nix schools that focus on using technology solely for memorization in favor of those fostering student inquiry and problem solving.
- Make sure staff have training in how to use the technology.
- Avoid schools with only a dial-up system or minimal wireless hotspots.
Photo courtesy of Flickr, mikecogh
Original Page: http://mashable.com/2012/08/12/tech-in-the-classroom/
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Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Ten Methods of Modern Mind Control | Wake Up World
Ten Methods of Modern Mind Control
wakeup-world.com | Nov 30th -0001
Nicholas West - Activist Post
The more one researches mind control, the more one will come to the conclusion that there is a coordinated script that has been in place for a very long time with the goal to turn the human race into non-thinking automatons.
For as long as man has pursued power over the masses, mind control has been orchestrated by those who study human behavior in order to bend large populations to the will of a small “elite” group.
Today, we have entered a phase where mind control has taken on a physical, scientific dimension that threatens to become a permanent state if we do not become aware of the tools at the disposal of the technocratic dictatorship unfolding on a worldwide scale.
Modern mind control is both technological and psychological. Tests show that simply by exposing the methods of mind control, the effects can be reduced or eliminated, at least for mind control advertising and propaganda. More difficult to counter are the physical intrusions, which the military-industrial complex continues to develop and improve upon.
1. Education – This is the most obvious, yet still remains the most insidious. It has always been a would-be dictator’s ultimate fantasy to “educate” naturally impressionable children, thus it has been a central component to Communist and Fascist tyrannies throughout history. No one has been more instrumental in exposing the agenda of modern education than Charlotte Iserbyt — one can begin research into this area by downloading a free PDF of her book, The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America, which lays bare the role of Globalist foundations in shaping a future intended to produce servile drones lorded over by a fully educated, aware elite class.
2. Advertising and Propaganda – Edward Bernays has been cited as the inventor of the consumerist culture that was designed primarily to target people’s self-image (or lack thereof) in order to turn a want into a need. This was initially envisioned for products such as cigarettes, for example. However, Bernays also noted in his 1928 book, Propaganda, that “propaganda is the executive arm of the invisible government.” This can be seen most clearly in the modern police state and the growing citizen snitch culture, wrapped up in the pseudo-patriotic War on Terror. The increasing consolidation of media has enabled the entire corporate structure to merge with government, which now utilizes the concept of propaganda placement. Media; print, movies, television, and cable news can now work seamlessly to integrate an overall message which seems to have the ring of truth because it comes from so many sources, simultaneously. When one becomes attuned to identifying the main “message,” one will see this imprinting everywhere. And this is not even to mention subliminal messaging.
3. Predictive Programming – Many still deny that predictive programming is real. I would invite anyone to examine the range of documentation put together by Alan Watt and come to any other conclusion. Predictive programming has its origins in predominately elitist Hollywood, where the big screen can offer a big vision of where society is headed. Just look back at the books and movies which you thought were far-fetched, or “science fiction” and take a close look around at society today. For a detailed breakdown of specific examples, Vigilant Citizen is a great resource that will probably make you look at “entertainment” in a completely different light.
4. Sports, Politics, Religion – Some might take offense at seeing religion, or even politics, put alongside sports as a method of mind control. The central theme is the same throughout: divide and conquer. The techniques are quite simple: short circuit the natural tendency of people to cooperate for their survival, and teach them to form teams bent on domination and winning. Sports has always had a role as a key distraction that corrals tribal tendencies into a non-important event, which in modern America has reached ridiculous proportions where protests will break out over a sport celebrity leaving their city, but essential human issues such as liberty are giggled away as inconsequential. Political discourse is strictly in a left-right paradigm of easily controlled opposition, while religion is the backdrop of nearly every war throughout history.
5. Food, Water, and Air – Additives, toxins, and other food poisons literally alter brain chemistry to create docility and apathy. Fluoride in drinking water has been proven to lower IQ; Aspartame and MSG are excitotoxins which excite brain cells until they die; and easy access to the fast food that contains these poisons generally has created a population that lacks focus and motivation for any type of active lifestyle. Most of the modern world is perfectly groomed for passive receptiveness — and acceptance — of the dictatorial elite. And if you choose to diligently watch your diet, they are fully prepared to spray the population from the above.
6. Drugs – This can be any addictive substance, but the mission of mind controllers is to be sure you are addicted to something. One major arm of the modern mind control agenda is psychiatry, which aims to define all people by their disorders, as opposed to their human potential. This was foreshadowed in books such as Brave New World. Today, it has been taken to even further extremes as a medical tyranny has taken hold where nearly everyone has some sort of disorder — particularly those who question authority. The use of nerve drugs in the military has led to record numbers of suicides. Worst of all, the modern drug state now has over 25% of U.S. children on mind-numbing medication.
7. Military testing – The military has a long history as the testing ground for mind control. The military mind is perhaps the most malleable, as those who pursue life in the military generally resonate to the structures of hierarchy, control, and the need for unchallenged obedience to a mission. For the increasing number of military personal questioning their indoctrination, a recent story highlighted DARPA’s plans for transcranial mind control helmets that will keep them focused.
8. Electromagnetic spectrum – An electromagnetic soup envelops us all, charged by modern devices of convenience which have been shown to have a direct impact on brain function. In a tacit admission of what is possible, one researcher has been working with a “god helmet” to induce visions by altering the electromagnetic field of the brain. Our modern soup has us passively bathed by potentially mind-altering waves, while a wide range of possibilities such as cell phone towers is now available to the would-be mind controller for more direct intervention.
9. Television, Computer, and “flicker rate”– It’s bad enough that what is “programmed” on your TV (accessed via remote “control”) is engineered; it is all made easier by literally lulling you to sleep, making it a psycho-social weapon. Flicker rate tests show that alpha brain waves are altered, producing a type of hypnosis — which doesn’t portend well for the latest revelation that lights can transmit coded Internet data by “flickering faster than the eye can see.” The computer’s flicker rate is less, but through video games, social networks, and a basic structure which overloads the brain with information, the rapid pace of modern communication induces an ADHD state. A study of video games revealed that extended play can result in lower blood flow to the brain, sapping emotional control. Furthermore, role-playing games of lifelike war and police state scenarios serve to desensitize a connection to reality. One look at the WikiLeaks video Collateral Murder should be familiar to anyone who has seen a game like Call of Duty.
10. Nanobots – From science fiction horror, directly to the modern brain; the nanobots are on the way. Direct brain modification already has been packaged as “neuroengineering.” A Wired article from early 2009 highlighted that direct brain manipulation via fiber optics is a bit messy, but once installed “it could make someone happy with the press of a button.” Nanobots take the process to an automated level, rewiring the brain molecule by molecule. Worse, these mini droids can self-replicate, forcing one to wonder how this genie would ever get back in the bottle once unleashed. Expected date of arrival? Early 2020s.
A concerted effort is underway to manage and predict human behavior so that the social scientists and the dictatorial elite can control the masses and protect themselves from the fallout of a fully awake free humanity. Only by waking up to their attempts to put us to sleep do we stand a chance of preserving our free will.
Article Source - Activist Post
Original Page: http://wakeup-world.com/2012/07/05/ten-methods-of-modern-mind-control/
@Aspienaut - WIRED differently || The eyes have it by Paul Siebenthal
The eyes have it : Aspienaut : WIRED differently
aspienaut.tumblr.comWe look different, you and me. I know physically we look different but as an aspie we also look at things differently. This is most true when it comes to faces and particularly eyes.
Someone I work with asked me the other day, “do you think I’m stupid?” To which I replied, “No!” Not because I did and didn’t want to say. If I did, I would have told her but I really didn’t. In fact, she is possibly the most intelligent person I have met for quite some time. So confusing to me was this question that I couldn’t help but try and work out why she had thought I did. It turned out that it was because of how I looked at her when she spoke. The day before she was talking to us as a group. I was looking at her as she spoke in a way, that to her, she couldn’t make sense of. Her conclusion, after dwelling on this for sometime was that I thought her stupid.
When you combine this with sensory issues, difficulties with change, social misunderstandings and empathy you begin to see just how difficult it may be for the Aspie in your office, classroom, or home. So, what is happening. I can only speak for myself but I shall explain how I experience this.
When someone is talking to me there is a lot going on. To start with, almost all the unconscious processing of facial expression, tone of voice and gesture and subtle speech nuance are missing. As we all know nature abhors a void so what fills it. Intellect and information processing and conscious thought fill this void for me. That is why Aspies look so distracted and so tired. You are talking, I am, with full conscious awareness (lack of sensory filtering) going through all the information I’m being given and trying to work out what I need to pay attention to. Clearly the words you are saying are important so I try and anchor myself to them, as your lips move I watch them, I then remember that I’m supposed to look you in the eye so my gaze lifts, first your right eye and then your left and then your right again. I struggle, find it almost impossible to look at them both together as this is a soft focus that just doesn’t feel right. I sense your speaking louder and I don’t know why. At the same time the lights are too bright and are flickering, the printer over the other side of the office sounds like its jammed again. I am having to listen (can’t filter) to the conversation that is happening behind us that you don’t even seem to be aware of and yet I hear it at almost the same volume as our own. Soon the pressure of this interaction builds I become distracted, you become angry because to you I am rude and disinterested. You may even feel that I think you’re stupid and don’t feel you warrant my attention. I carry on anchoring myself to your words, the best I can, as you talk louder and louder and I flit my gaze from eye to eye noticing the sight colour difference between them.
You then say my name loudly as I had just started to go into, “stand-by” mode having just reached sensory overload. I then look at you again square on, I blink slowly and you storm off. Later, in my management supervision I discover the full implications of this exchange on your view of me. I in turn prefer (at this point in my life I wasn’t strong enough to explain my Asperger’s and not sure I even knew how) that I am thought of as rude and aloof, as in a strange way this seems like a better and more socially acceptable explanation of what happened, than for me trying to describe for them the experience for me.
I know now that I must explain. That if I am to ever find peace and somewhere it’s ok just to be me, I must tell other people what it is like for us. Because of how we are and how we see the world and the people in it, we have a special contribution to make to human understanding. We always have and always will. We see things that others can not. It is our ability to turn this amazing view into the beautiful and the useful that is the foundation of creativity and why so many amazing people are Wired Differently!
© Paul C Siebenthal April 2012
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Original Page: http://aspienaut.tumblr.com/post/21140152257/the-eyes-have-it
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Monday, August 6, 2012
Former NSA Official Disputes Claims by NSA Chief
Former NSA Official Disputes Claims by NSA Chief
by Kim Zetter, m.wired.comJuly 29th 2012
LAS VEGAS — A former NSA official has accused the NSA’s director of deception during a speech he gave at the DefCon hacker conference on Friday when he asserted that the agency does not collect files on Americans.
William Binney, a former technical director at the NSA, said during a panel discussion that NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander was playing a “word game” and that the NSA was indeed collecting e-mails, Twitter writings, internet searches and other data belonging to Americans and indexing it.
“Unfortunately, once the software takes in data, it will build profiles on everyone in that data,” he said. “You can simply call it up by the attributes of anyone you want and it’s in place for people to look at.”
He said the NSA began building its data collection system to spy on Americans prior to 9/11, and then used the terrorist attacks that occurred that year as the excuse to launch the data collection project.
“It started in February 2001 when they started asking telecoms for data,” Binney said. “That to me tells me that the real plan was to spy on Americans from the beginning.”
Binney is referring to assertions that former Qwest CEO James Nacchio made in court documents in 2007 that the NSA had asked Qwest, AT&T, Verizon and Bellsouth in early 2001 for customer calling records and that all of the other companies complied with the request, but Nacchio declined to participate until served with a proper legal order.
“The reason I left the NSA was because they started spying on everybody in the country. That’s the reason I left,” said Binney, who resigned from the agency in late 2001.
Binney was contradicting statements made on Friday by Alexander, who told the crowd of hackers and security professionals that his agency “absolutely” does not maintain files on Americans.
“And anybody who would tell you that we’re keeping files or dossiers on the American people,” Alexander continued, “knows that’s not true.”
Alexander also told the audience that the NSA targets only foreign entities and that if it “incidentally” picked up the data of Americans in the process, the agency was required to “minimize” the data, “which means nobody else can see it unless there’s a crime that’s been committed.” Minimization refers to legal restrictions under the United states Signals Intelligence Directive 18 on how data pertaining to U.S. citizens can be handled, distributed or retained.
Following the panel discussion, a former attorney for the NSA elaborated on this to Threat Level.
“You’re looking at a data stream that originates in a foreign country. It just happens to be transiting the United States,” said Richard Marshall, former associate general counsel for information assurance at the NSA. “You’re authorized by law to collect that data and to analyze that data. Even though it was captured on U.S. soil, it’s against a foreign target. Now in the process of doing that, yes, there is a possibility, more than a possibility I guess, that there will be some U.S. person who is involved in a conversation with a foreign entity, a foreign person. So what? If you’re not collecting data against that U.S. person, what’s the harm?”
But ACLU staff attorney Alex Abdo, who was also on the panel, noted that a gaping loophole in the laws governing the NSA allows the agency to do dragnet surveillance of non-Americans and, in the process sweep up the data of Americans they may be communicating with, and hold onto that data even though the Americans aren’t the target. The NSA can then “target [the Americans] after-the-fact.” If, for example, new information came to light involving an American whose information is in the database, the NSA can sift through the “minimized” data and at that point “get the info that they couldn’t target from the outset.”
Earlier this month, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence admitted in a letter sent to Senator Ron Wyden that on at least one occasion the NSA had violated the Constitutional prohibitions on unlawful search and seizure.
According to the letter, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court found that “minimization procedures” used by the government while it was collecting intelligence were “unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment.”
Author James Bamford, speaking with Abdo and Binney, said that the NSA could also get around the law against targeting Americans by targeting a call center for a U.S. company that is based overseas, perhaps in India. When Americans then called the center to obtain information about their bank account or some other transaction, the NSA would be able to pick up that communication.
Finally, Binney contradicted Alexander’s earlier claims that the agency could not violate the law even if it wanted to do so because the NSA is monitored by Congress, both intel committees and their congressional members and their staffs. “So everything we do is auditable by them, by the FISA court … and by the administration. And everything we do is accountable to them…. We are overseen by everybody,” Alexander had said.
But these assertions are disingenuous since, Binney said, “all the oversight is totally dependent on what the NSA tells them. They have no way of knowing what [the NSA is] really doing unless they’re told.”
Original Page: http://m.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/07/binney-on-alexander-and-nsa/
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Nation's Sane People To Nation's Insane People: 'Please Stop Shooting Us'
Nation's Sane People To Nation's Insane People: 'Please Stop Shooting Us'
by Facebook, theonion.comAugust 4th 2012
WASHINGTON—In the aftermath of Sunday’s deadly shooting in which a white supremacist allegedly shot and killed six congregants at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, the nation’s psychologically sound populace issued a statement begging its insane counterparts to please, please stop shooting so many Americans. “Today we come together with a single voice, hoping to reach you with one very simple message: For the love of God, please stop firing your guns at us,” a statement from the sane read in part. “We don’t care if you’re a 22-year-old male with a history of psychological illness, a severely unhinged graduate student who fell through the cracks of our mental health care system, or an embittered middle-aged man convinced that religious minorities are threatening the fabric of America. All we ask is that you cease charging into rooms full of innocent people and raining down bullets on everyone in sight.” After making their urgent plea, the American people reportedly began stocking up on guns in the hopes of preventing future shootings from taking place.
Original Page: http://www.theonion.com/articles/nations-sane-people-to-nations-insane-people-pleas,29068/
Did Illuminati Card Game Depict Aurora Colorado Shooting?
Did Illuminati Card Game Depict Aurora Colorado Shooting?
by Alex Thomas, theintelhub.comAugust 1st 2012
Over the last few weeks we have published over a dozen exclusive reports detailing the extraordinary amount of evidence that indicates that the horrific Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting was some sort of false flag black operation.
Whether it be the fact that multiple shooters were documented by numerous witnesses or the connection the shooter had with literal mind control programs, the facts speak for themselves.
Now, an eerie ‘coincidence’ has been found which again connects to other false flag attacks and predictive programming events.
The Illuminati card game first appeared in 1995 after its release by Steve Jackson Games and seems to directly predict events that have happened in the 17 years since its release. It has since been written about thousands of times due to its actual depictions of real events.
A similar card game called On the Edge was released a few years before and one of the cards in the deck seems to depict the Aurora Colorado shooting.
“There are some similarities in the card and the shooting,” wrote the Truth Behind the Scenes Blog.
Regardless if the above photos from an early 90′s Illuminati type card game are just a coincidence or yet another example of predictive programming, the documented evidence in the case directly confirms that, at the very least, the public has not been told the entire story.
Original Page: http://theintelhub.com/2012/08/01/did-illuminati-card-game-depict-aurora-colorado-shooting/
New app will help children with autism
New app will help children with autism
click2houston.com | Aug 3rd 2012 2:07 AM
A new app is helping children with autism become more self-sufficient.
Developers at the Pittsburgh-based company, Interbots, have been working with the Barber National Institute to create a game that focuses specifically on the needs of children with autism.
Originally in the business of entertainment robotics, Interbots realized its potential to help children with autism by chance when they introduced a robot called Quasi.
"A family came up to us and said, 'So you know you made Quasi. He's really amazing. Our son's been speaking to him for half an hour. And it's like, Oh, that's great. Kids like Quasi. It's like, 'No, you don't understand. He doesn't speak to anyone. He has autism,'" said David Culyba, co-founder of Interbots.
The relationship between Interbots and the Barber Center combines knowledge with experience.
"We've been really excited to work with them because we come from a background of technology and robotics, and they come from a background of working with autism and working with the kids, and having that connection is basically everything," said Culyba.
The game is called Popchilla's World, and it prompts kids to perform various daily tasks for a friendly blue creature, like washing him and brushing his teeth.
The Barber Center was the site of the game's first test run with actual students.
The app lets kids interact with characters on screen, but eventually they'll be able to play with Popchilla in the real world, too. Developers are working on a robot that lets children transfer what they learn from the digital world to the physical.
The app will be available in the Apple App Store and the Android market early next year.
Original Page: http://www.click2houston.com/news/New-app-will-help-children-with-autism/-/1735978/15961228/-/g0lpqn/-/index.html
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Scanning brains may catch autism soon
Scanning brains may catch autism soon
click2houston.com | Jun 7th 2012 1:37 AM
New statistics show autism affects one in 88 children in the United States. Catching the brain disorder early is key in treating the problem, but now special imaging may help detect autism sooner.
Siblings have a one in five chance of developing autism.
In a new study, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill used a special kind of MRI imaging called diffusion tensor imaging to look at 15 brain connections of babies who had a sibling with autism. They found significant differences in 12 of the 15 connections in those who developed autism. Children without the disorder had stronger connections. Children with autism had weaker connections.
"The children who went on to have autism, we can see differences as early as six months, and that over time, their brains changed less," said Dr. Jason Wolff.
Right now, it is almost impossible to diagnose autism at six months, but the scans could offer a way to catch it much earlier.
"This is really before we can pick up any differences behaviorally. If we could go earlier and earlier in our interventions, we could prevent autism from fully manifesting," said Dr. Wolff.
Dr. Wolff says the imaging could one day be used with behavioral exams, which are the current standard, to better diagnose autism. The hope is to catch it before signs start to show.
A recent study published in Pediatrics found when children as young as 18 months underwent therapy for autism, their IQ improved by 14 points compared to other kids with autism.
Original Page: http://www.click2houston.com/news/Scanning-brains-may-catch-autism-soon/-/1735978/14735546/-/6b16rz/-/index.html
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Autism may be underdiagnosed in girls due to gender bias, study suggests
Autism may be underdiagnosed in girls due to gender bias, study suggests
by Pasha Bahsoun, examiner.comAugust 5th 2012
A new study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry explores the differences in diagnostic characteristics of autism between boys and girls, suggesting a gender bias in which girls with "high-functioning" autism are underdiagnosed.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are typically more prevalent in males, rather than females, with estimates of a 4:1 ratio of males to females, for reasons unknown up until this point. Deficits of ASD include, but are not limited to, delays in language development, difficulties in reciprocal social interaction and communication, repetitive behaviors and narrow interests.
The researchers compared data from 363 girls and boys aged between ten and twelve years of age, 189 of whom were diagnosed with ASD and 174 of whom did not meet the diagnostic criteria for ASD, but still received high scores on empirical measures of ASD traits. Behavioral and intellectual deficits were also examined.
After comparing this data, the researchers found that the girls, rather than the boys, who met the criteria for ASD had a significantly higher prevalence of low intellectual levels and behavioral difficulties. This suggests that in lieu of behavioral and intellectual deficits, girls are less likely to be diagnosed with ASD than boys. This may be due to the fact that girls who meet some of the criteria for a diagnosis of "high-functioning" autism (those who did not demonstrate low intellectual levels or behavioral deficits) may possess better adaptive or compensatory skills, leading to the gender bias in diagnosis.
Whether girls acquire such adaptive skills developmentally, or if this is a shortcoming of the diagnostic measures used for ASD, is unclear. However, if a gender bias does exist, and girls are being underdiagnosed in comparison to boys, this may mean that the current rates of autism diagnosis, currently at 1 in 88, is also biased as a result.
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Original Page: http://www.examiner.com/article/autism-may-be-underdiagnosed-girls-due-to-gender-bias-study-suggests
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Dog Changes Life for Kirkwood Boy With Autism
Dog Changes Life for Kirkwood Boy With Autism
kirkwood.patch.com | Jul 31st 2012
It was the first time in four years that Tommy Schiller, 10, of Kirkwood, slept through the night, and it was because of a dog.
Tommy was diagnosed with autism when he was three-and-a-half years old. Symptoms came on suddenly and mother Maura Schiller thought they might go away. They did not.
“Every year, Tommy lost skills despite all of the therapies and interventions. When he was about 5 years old, it really got bad,” Maura said.
Self-mutilation, anxiety and running away became a part of Tommy’s life, and nights were never restful. Tommy would bang against the window all night, constantly run to the bathroom to wash his hands and tried to start fires in the microwave, according to Maura.
But then the Schillers brought home Art, a 1-year-old English Cream Labrador Retriever, in April. Within the first week of Art joining the Schiller family, Tommy slept soundly. The dog’s presence dramatically reduced Tommy’s destructive and obsessive actions.
The effect of Art on Tommy shouldn’t come as a total surprise. Art hails from 4 Paws for Ability, the only organization in the country that trains service dogs specifically to treat those with autism, according to Maura.
Securing Art was a yearlong process, requiring extensive paperwork, documentation of Tommy’s symptoms and $13,000 from the Schillers.
On April 17, Tommy and his parents traveled to the organization based in Ohio for an intensive 10-day training session. During the course of applying to get Art, Tommy had developed a fear of dogs. The first nine days of the training didn't look promising. On the tenth day, however, Tommy finally bonded with Art.
“On the last day something clicked over with Tommy, and he decided, ‘Wow, I really like this dog,’ and it was a total breakthrough. We left on a happy note,” Maura said, adding that she was frightened Tommy would not be able to adjust to Art before the training ended.
Now, Art accompanies Tommy everywhere. When Tommy goes with Maura to the grocery store, he is tethered to Art. Before Art, Tommy would constantly run away at the store.
“We can command Art into down position, and Art acts as anchor for Tommy,” Maura said. “We thought Tommy would hate this but he is actually comforted by being tethered.”
Tommy is a deep sensory seeker, according to his mother, and the deep pressure provided by the tether helps him calm down. Sensory integration is commonly used in autism therapy.
Art also is trained to track Tommy through his scent, a reassurance for Maura who calls her son “an escape artist.”
Art goes with Tommy to school at Tillman Elementary School where Tommy is a rising fourth grader in the Special School District.
Tommy started bringing Art to school at the beginning of May. The turnaround in Tommy’s behaviors were signficant by the time school ended May 23. Tommy’s negative behaviors decreased 75 percent overall. Maura will always keep Tommy’s most recent report card.
“It was the first time we got a report card from Tommy’s school that showed improvement. It was the most wonderful feeling I’ve had to see he made some progress,” Maura said.
Art has also helped Tommy with social interactions.
“Kids are interacting with him and not running away,” Maura said. “Tommy doesn’t always say hi back, but he’s smiling and making eye contact.”
The mother is grateful for the support of Tillman and principal Lisa Greenstein who Maura says has been wonderful.
The Kirkwood elemtary school made a lot of plans for issues that arise with a service dog, including handling other students with fears or allergies, or what to do with the dog in a fire drill, at the cafeteria or in a classroom, according to Greenstein.
“There was a lot to think about. It was definitely a very collaborative effort,” she said.
Tillman encouraged students to learn the difference between a pet dog, therapy dog and service dog, and the school conducts daily announcements about Art, including how old he is, how long he’s been in training and when students can and can’t pet him.
“It’s been a really great learning opportunity for our whole school, and what’s come out of it is they know this is something that’s going to help this little boy learn and be successful at school,” Greenstein said.
Art has given so much to Tommy in terms of helping with his school and personal life; he’s also provided the Schiller family a new one.
“We can go to Kirkwood Park and have a nice time without Tommy jumping in lake. We can go to a fair and have a nice time as a family. Art has allowed us to do that,” Maura said.
In addition to Tommy and Maura, the Schillers are comprised of husband Tom, daughter Elise, 13, who also is special needs and visually and hearing impaired, and Timmy, 6.
Maura said if one of Tommy's siblings is having a bad day, they sometimes ask if Art can put his muzzle in their laps. Timmy told Maura that Art makes the whole family feel better and Maura agrees.
“After we got Art, as a family we finally had some calm and some peace. That’s what Art brought to our family. He finally gave us some peace,” Maura said.
Unlike the therapists that will go in and out of Tommy’s life as he grows up, Art will offer consistency and always be there to calm him down. He’ll help mitigate meltdowns, ensure a sound night’s rest and boost Tommy’s social skills.
A boy and his dog is a classic adorable sight. When strangers look at Tommy and Art, they have no idea that they’re witnessing so much more.
-Patch Editor Lindsay Toler contributed to this report.
Original Page: http://kirkwood.patch.com/articles/dog-changes-life-for-boy-with-autism
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Could a single hacker crash a country's network?
Could a single hacker crash a country's network?
by Cristen Conger, computer.howstuffworks.comNovember 30th -0001
You know you're living in the new millennium when one of the Obama administration's newest positions is nicknamed the "cyberczar." In May 2009, President Obama formally announced his plans to appoint a national cybersecurity adviser, charged with protecting computer networks in the United States -- which Obama referred to as "strategic national assets" -- from hacking and spying [source: Zetter].
Cybersecurity isn't a new topic making the rounds in Washington. In 2007, the Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th President, within the Center for Strategic and International Studies, was tasked with examining public policy and issues surrounding cybersecurity and developing recommendations for its improvement. According to the commission's executive summary, the vulnerability of computer networks has become a national security problem.
Computer hacking has evolved from a casual tech sport into a full-blown nefarious industry. With vast amounts of personal information floating around on the Internet, people are constantly at risk for identity theft and the ripple effect of stolen money. For instance, in 2008, the FBI reported $264.6 million lost due to Internet fraud [source: Internet Crime Complaint Center]. The federal government has even more at stake than bank account numbers and birth dates, though. In addition to the appointment of the cyberczar, the Department of Defense plans to establish a U.S. Cyber Command Center to combat the tide of online threats against its networks and classified government data.
The recent series of cyber-attacks on July 4, 2009, highlighted why we need online safeguards. That weekend, government and public Web sites in the United States and South Korea were assaulted with denial-of-service attacks (DoS), which are essentially virus programs that flood sites with traffic and temporarily disable them. North Korea, which isn't even known for having high-tech hacking capabilities, was suspected as the perpetrator [source: Olsen]. While the North Korea allegation hasn't been confirmed, the hackers targeted at least nine U.S. sites, including the White House, Treasury Department and National Security Agency (which is, incidentally, where the future U.S. Cyber Command Center is slated to be stationed) [source: Olsen]. In South Korea, the DoS attacks clogged more than 20 sites.
Harassing a handful of Web sites is one thing, but does one hacker have the technological wherewithal to bring down an entire country's network? In a word: yes.
Cyber-Armageddon has yet to commence, but hackers are waging small skirmishes -- like what took place on July 4, 2009, against the United States and South Korea -- and their skills only continue to mature. Some of the most talented hackers these days live in Russia and former Soviet states [source: Poulsen]. That criminal tech tidbit is interesting, given the political situation surrounding the virtual collapse of Estonia's nationwide network in 2007.
In March 2009, a 22-year-old Russian named Konstantin Goloskokov admitted to rallying a group of pro-Kremlin friends to launch a series of cyber-attacks against Estonian Web sites two years prior. Rioting broke out in Estonia in the spring of 2007 after government workers relocated a commemorative World War II statue of a Soviet soldier. Russian loyalists took offense to the statue incident, which they perceived as a direct snub to the former Soviet Union's contributions to the war [source: Lowe]. As the fighting in streets calmed, a second wave of aggression cropped up in cyberspace. According to Goloskokov, he and a group of friends directed enormous streams of data to Estonian government, bank and media Web sites, effectively crippling the nation's Internet access off and on from April 26 to May 18, 2007.
The Estonian virtual invasion consisted of distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS). With DDoS attacks, hackers use other people's computers, sometimes halfway across the globe, to wreak virtual havoc. To launch DDoS attacks, hackers first access other people's computers through zombie applications, malicious software that overrides security measures or creates an entry point. Once hackers gain control over so-called zombie computers, they can network them together to form cyber-armies, or botnets. The Estonian attack relied on vast botnets to send the coordinated crash-inducing data to the Web servers.
Just how much damage did that small group of hackers carry out? According to a New York Times article reporting on the events, the hackers rained down a data load equivalent to downloading the entire Windows XP operating system every six seconds for 10 hours [source: ]. Hannabank, Estonia's largest bank and one of the prime targets of the attack, lost around $1 million over the course of the attacks, and Parliament members couldn't access e-mail for four days [source: ].
Goloskokov, the cyber-attack mastermind, claimed the siege was a form of civil disobedience, rather than criminal behavior. Whatever the intent, the incident demonstrated the tremendous power that a remote group of hackers can wield. Especially considering that Estonia is one of the most wired nations on the globe, the implications for what could happen to larger and arguably less sophisticated networks in, say, the United States seem rather grave. In 2000, the Estonian government adopted Internet access as a basic human right. But as hackers hone their skills, the Baltic nation may have to fight to defend it.
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More Great Links
Sources
- Commission on Cybersecurity for the Office of the 44th President. "Securing Cyberspace for the 44th President. Center for Strategic and International Studies. December 2008. (July 31, 2009)http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/081208_securingcyberspace_44.pdf
- Internet Crime Complaint Center. "2008 Internet Crime Report." Bureau of Justice Assistance. 2008. (July 31, 2009)http://www.ic3.gov/media/annualreport/2008_IC3Report.pdf
- Landler, Mark and Markoff, John. "Digital Fears Emerge After Data Siege in Estonia." The New York Times. May 29, 2007. (July 31, 2009)http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/technology/29estonia.html?pagewanted=1
- Lowe, Christian. "Kremlin loyalist says launched Estonian cyber-attack." Reuters. March 13, 2009. (July 31, 2009)http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE52B4D820090313
- Olsen, Kelly. "Massive Cyber Attack Knocked Out Government Web Sites Starting on July 4." Huffington Post. July 8, 2009. (July 31, 2009)http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/07/massive-cyber-attack-knoc_n_227483.html
- Poulsen, Kevin. "Future of Cyber Security: Hackers Have Grown Up." Wired. July 28, 2009. (July 31, 2009)http://www.wired.com/dualperspectives/article/news/2009/07/dp_security_wired0728
- Zetter, Kim. "Obama Says New Cyberczar Won't Spy on the Net." Wired. May 29, 2009. (July 31, 2009)http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/05/netprivacy/
Original Page: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/hacker-crash-country-network.htm#mkcpgn=twstdwytk
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Autism Software: Model Me Interactive
Autism Software : Model Me Interactive
modelmekids.com | Nov 30th -0001Autism Software from Model Me Kids®
For Windows & MAC
Model Me Interactive™: Practicing Conversation
For Ages 7-13 | Developed for children with Autism, Asperger Syndrome, and Developmental Delays
Model Me Interactive™: Practicing Conversation combines video modeling teaching tools with the interactive capability of software. First, video models a conversation between children. Then, the student practices the conversation using a webcam. The practice conversation is recorded and a feedback area allows teachers to comment on and grade a student's recordings.
Ideal for professionals including teachers, therapists, and speech language pathologists.
Learn more about Model Me Interactive™ Autism Software by watching the software tutorials.
Software FAQ
Customizable
The interactive conversation can be prompted with text or this feature may be turned off once the user becomes familiar with the lines. The text prompts may be changed by the user for an endless number of possible responses to the conversation prompts.
Easy to Use Autism Software
The software is intuitive and easy to use. Clear text buttons allow for navigation by young users.
Conversation Categories
Greeting
Starting Conversation
Requesting
Who Questions
Where Questions
What Questions
Why Questions
Showing Interest
Answering
Inviting
Conversation Starters
Apologizing
Thanking
Reciprocal Conversation
Compromise
Model Me Interactive™ Autism Software: Pricing
One copy of the software will need to be purchased for each computer on which it will be used. The software may not be used on more than one computer at the same time because the DVD must remain in the computer while the software is being used in order to access the videos.
1-3 copies $49.95 each
4+ copies 10% discount
Discount will appear in shopping cart.
System Requirements:
Original Page: http://modelmekids.com/software-autism.html
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NPR.org » Hackers Convene To Find Mobile Security Flaws
Hackers Convene To Find Mobile Security Flaws
by Steve He, m.npr.orgJuly 28th 2012
NPR
This week thousands of hackers — computer security researchers, government recruiters, spooks and cyberpunks — descended on Las Vegas for the annual summer hacker convention.
Hosted by organizations called Black Hat and Defcon, these events are known for their elaborate, though often crude, computer pranks. The convention's actual purpose, however, is pretty serious.
Stephen Ridley, an independent security consultant, says almost every aspect of our lives today is touched by computers and machines that speak in ones and zeroes, and most of us don't understand how they work.
"I am of the mind that people who do have this knowledge are actively exploiting these things now," he says.
Ridley says the hackers in Las Vegas who are taking this stuff apart and poking holes in products we depend on are kind of like the investigative reporters of the digital age. He says their goal is to expose problems before criminals can find them and take advantage.
"The more that this is out in the open, the more you can have skilled people chose what side of the fence they want to be on," he says. "I believe in kind of the goodness of human nature."
If you don't know where the problems are, no one can fix them. This year's conference includes talks on how to hack the air traffic control system and how to break open your mobile phone.
"When I'm sleeping [my mobile phone] is on my nightstand; when I am traveling around it's in my pocket," says Nicholas Percoco, an ethical hacker and security researcher. "So the ability to do things to a mobile phone becomes even more enticing to a criminal."
In a couple of ways, mobile phones are inherently vulnerable. They connect with other networks in all kinds of ways and some have payment systems that use near-field communication, or NFC, chips. These chips let you wave you phone near an NFC reader, your phone connects and you can pay.
Charlie Miller, a researcher at Accuvant, realized he could use those chips to break a phone wide open. For this hack to work, Miller just has to be standing next to you.
"So now I can do things like read all the files," Miller says.
That is one of just half a dozen mobile hacks unveiled at the convention this week. Percoco figured out how to slip past Google's bouncer, the system that polices Android's app store. Ridley and his partner figured out how to attack the computer chips that run pretty much every mobile phone.
"By clicking on a link we took over their phone, basically," Ridley says.
Ridley's been giving a how-to course on this attack all over the country and his customers include some of the biggest cellphone makers in the world. After Percoco figured out how to beat up on Google's bouncer, his first call was to Google.
"Google is a great organization to work with, they want to learn," he says. Google says it's already made a fix.
Still, the relationship between hackers and big companies has not always been so cozy. Miller got so tired of firms fixing the problems he pointed out without so much as a thank you note, last year he publicly went on strike and vowed not to reveal his attacks until firms agreed to pay.
Now, companies sponsor contests where they pay hackers up to $100,000 to break into their products. Miller, who has two kids and college funds to think about, is already hard at work. [Copyright 2012 National Public Radio]
Original Page: http://m.npr.org/story/157538677
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