text:
4th of July Fun with Brownies
It's July. And it's blitzin' hot! Right now, mid-evening, the thermometer says 89 degrees. Perfect… it's July.
The girls and I had some red, white, and blue fun today. This is when we were ready to start. Excitement was high. I had a few ideas, but I didn't know what the end result would be… there was gonna be alot of experimenting going on…
And here was the end result:
It's basically 4 different things… parfaits, berry shish-kabob decorations, fireworks, and randomly decorated brownies.
I made a big pan of brownies and then cut them out with star cookie cutters. I thought that would be faster because my star baking pan has only 6 wells and I'd have had to bake 3 or 4 batches. But, having it to do over, I'd use the star pan. You know how brownies kind of stick to the knife when you cut (unless you use a plastic knife)? Well, they stick to cookie cutters too. It wasn't too bad, though, and worked fine, but next time, I'll use my star pan.
Or, instead of brownies, it could be done just as easily on sugar cookies, cupcakes, or mini cupcakes.
The parfaits…
The parfaits tasted awesome and were easy and could be made in a large pedestal bowl instead of individual parfaits. This one is a layer of brownies, then cream cheese filling, then raspberries, filling, blueberries, filling, brownies, and then you can either put Cool Whip or filling on top and garnish with a bit of fruit and sprinkles. You could make a pan of brownies and cut them up into little squares to make this, or you could do what I did and use the brownie scraps left over from cutting out star brownies. The filling is: 8 oz cream cheese mixed with 1/4 cup powdered sugar, then that gets mixed with 8 oz Cool Whip.
The fruit shish-kabob decorations…
These shish-kabob things had serious issues… they kept falling over. We had to keep standing them up before each picture. We originally thought we'd try to make them look like fireworks, but we kept lowering our standards til our only requirement for them was to be red, white, and blue. We should've just skipped the sticks and made a mound of fruit on top. Oh well, the girls had fun stabbing the stuff on… and obsessing about making sure to get them in the right order of red-white-blue… but one time, one of them asked, "Mom, would blue-white-red be ok, as long as white is in the middle?" See? Obsessing. And you know what TOTALLY makes my day after all that fuss? I didn't notice it before, but just now I see that on the one tall one, it's red-white-blue-white-red-blue.
The fireworks…
Oh, what fun! Didn't turn out quite like I had pictured, but that may be because the girls did most of it (also not what I had pictured) and I mostly just did damage control. We colored white chocolate blue and red and then piped the 3 colors on Saran wrap over a cutting board, then sprinkled on some colored sugar and star-shaped sprinkles, and put them in the fridge to harden.
After 15 minutes or so, they were hardened and ready to assemble, which included jamming the sticks into the frosting on the brownies. Does 'jamming' sound a bit harsh for delicate little chocolate sticks? Yep. Harsh, but accurate. I really should've taken a video clip of that process… it was hilarious to watch and listen.
So, did it end up looking like fireworks? I don't know, but we at least have to give them credit for creating something that looks like some type of explosion…
The randomly decorated brownies…
This was fun. I got an inspiration for this that I'll do more in the future for any occassion. Make a page on the computer of writing or shapes or outlines or whatever. Then, print it out and put it on a cutting board under a piece of Saran wrap. Then, pipe over it with chocolate. It'll make writing more even and shapes more accurate. Here is the Before/After…
Then, put it in the fridge to harden. Peel off and garnish. The possibilities are endless with this print-out-and-pipe-chocolate thing! One tip is to make sure it's pretty thick. Another tip is don't hold it very long before putting it on because your warm fingers will start to soften it and it'll weaken and break.
Here are a couple of close-ups. Next time, I'd make an extra little thing sticking down to go into the frosting because, like July 4 down there, the Y looks like a V and the 4 looks like a triangle.
And, last but not least, United States rice crispy bars. After cutting it out, I put all the scraps together and re-flattened it out and cut out stars, then, sprinkled colored sugar on top. The flag is M&Ms… I had the kids separate out all the blue and red ones from a package.
I used to have a plastic United States shaped mold. I had put it away for the year and when I went to get it out this year, something heavy was laying on it (a 15-lb dumbell, to be exact… yeah, don't ask, I have questions myself!) and it was hopelessly smashed. So, I just cut this freehand. The top does look a little odd from Michigan to Maine, but hey, you can at least tell what shape it's supposed to be, right?
Happy 4th of July from all of us! (even from Shannon, who was at work when we self-timered this picture)
Excuse us for eating in front of you, but we couldn't help it when we saw that parfait sitting there. We're going to kick back and relax this weekend, maybe grill a burger or two and watch some fireworks. See ya next week!
Watermelon Cookies
Nothing says summer like watermelon cookies. Just kidding. I was only trying to sound cliche. There are probably 50 things that could go in this blank: Nothing says summer like ________ . Flip flops, burgers on the grill, buzz haircuts, sticky roasted marshmallows, sun-kissed cheeks, fresh strawberry pie, laying in the hammock, picnics, etc. etc. Oh! and watermelon. Watermelon anything.
Before we get to the cookies, I want to throw this in here. Watermelon cake. I made it a couple years ago, but you can make it this year!
And now, onto the cookies…
What these cookies lacked in taste, they made up for in cuteness and fun. But, when it comes to eating sugar cookies, you can't go by me because I'm not a sugar cookie fan. I like them ok if they're loaded with frosting, and these cookies weren't loaded with frosting. The girls liked them though, and that's what counts, I guess. These particular cookies did have chocolate chips in them too, which is good, what with sugar cookies needing all the help they can get.
I didn't know how I was going to get the cookie dough red, other than just using food coloring. So, I came up with a brilliant plan (sorta kidding about the brilliant part). I mixed up sugar cookie dough (this recipe) and cake mix cookie dough (this recipe, but I used a red velvet cake mix, and I skipped the silly Tbsp of flour). Then, I took about 1/3 of the sugar cookie dough and mixed it with a dollop of the red velvet dough. (Thought of it later that I could've tried simply dumping a pkg of red jello in the dough and see how that works, instead of messing with red velvet). Then I mixed in some chocolate chips. I rolled it out and cut circles, baked them, put a rind on, and cut them in half.
Btw, to do the green, I just piped a fat line around the edge, then spread it out.
And ta-da! Watermelon-lookin' slices!
You know what I just thought of now? WHY did I not think to make some wedges and make some look half-eaten, like just the rind with a bit of red left on it or use a small flower cookie cutter and cut a 'bite' or two out of some of the slices?! So, there's an idea for you if you make watermelon cookies… I can't do it anymore with these because I made them last week and they are LONG gone. Oh, and another way to make watermelon cookies would be to make regular sugar cookies (not colored dough) and then frost them red, white, and green and press mini chocolate chips into the red frosting.
So, that's the end of the watermelon cookies. But if you were paying attention up there, you know that I have most of two batches of cookie dough left. What should we do with all of it?
Mix them together and you'll have a bunch of red cookie dough. Then, make star sandwich cookies for the 4th of July, which is just around the corner!
Speaking of the 4th of July, I'm going to 'play' a little this afternoon and make some fireworks out of white chocolate with the help of blue and red food coloring. Then, tomorrow sometime, I'll do a 4th of July post with those (whether they end up actually looking like fireworks or not ), USA/flag/stars rice crispies, and maybe another red, white, and blue thing or two.
Deviating from the Norm in Baking
You bake cookies. You could do it on autopilot. Your kids even know the drill… one time, Tiffany came out to the kitchen as I was starting cookie baking and said, "Can I help you bake cookies?"
"How did you know I'm gonna bake cookies?", I asked.
"Because I saw you open the mixer and get that *pointing to the shortening* and the sugar out of the cupboard, and that's how you always start baking cookies.", she confidently said.
Sometimes I feel in such a rut with cooking and baking. When we have cookies around, 90% of the time they're either monster or chocolate chip. When we have cake around, 90% of the time, it's chocolate with peanut butter icing. When we have pie around, 90% of the time it's either peanut butter or lemon meringue. And it looks like when I get into a percentage rut, it's usually 90%. Seriously, though, if I make something other than the things listed above, you pretty much always see it on here. Sometimes I feel too predictable and want to change things up a bit…
We can still have our favorites, but in a different way.
Take chocolate chip cookies, for example. I was making some for an after school snack, so you know, for kids. Instead of using the same ol' Pampered Chef cookie scoop, I just used a spoon and made teeny little scoops. The teeny little scoops turned into adorable 1-and-a-half-inch-in-diameter cookies. The adorable cookies, placed in a little bucket, turned into an after school snack that was a huge hit… little cookies, huge hit. They thought it was great that they could have TEN cookies for after school snack!
And now, not to wreck the fun I'm-SOOOOOO-gonna-bake-cookies-this-afternoon-and-do-that-cuz-the-kids'll-love-it mood or anything, but just let me warn you: the dough goes down v.e.r.y slowly, it takes way longer to put them on and get them off the cookie sheet, and the yield is dozens and dozens, do not even try to count.
We're now going to switch from baking dozens of little time-consuming mini cookies to 1 pan of bars.
Let's say you're baking cookies and you mix the dough up and while the first panful is in the oven, you realize you're not really in the mood to bake cookies after all… not in the mood to drop them onto the cookie sheet every 10 minutes, not in the mood to be setting your laptop down and jumping up 5 times an hour.
But, you've got a batch of dough sitting there.
No problem. Just spread the dough in a sheet cake pan and bake it for 25 minutes… and ta-da, bars made from your favorite cookie recipe. I just tried this for the first time about 3 weeks ago and thought it was really great that I thought to do this on my own UNTIL some of my friends said, "Oh, yeah, I do that all the time."
Side note here: that's my chocolate chip cookie recipe, except that I substituted FUDGE + 1 cup of flour for the chocolate chips. I had about 5 cups of fudge on hand from when I made this cake.
I was going to use the fudge in the middle layer between the 2 cakes, but then when I started spreading it on, I was afraid it would be too soft and squish out from the weight of the cake plus car on top of it (I used melted-then-hardened chocolate instead). So, I used the fudge up in those cooki— uh, I mean bars.
Another way to change up chocolate chip cookies is to mix them up and bake them, leaving out the chocolate chips. Then, melt the chocolate chips, spread them on something metal to harden and make cutouts. Or just drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookies. After they're baked, you can cut out some of the baked cookies into heart shapes… the girls (and I) did these 2 years ago for Valentines Day and we shipped them to WI to their 2 grandmas.
For cake: sometimes I do chocolate cake with peanut butter icing in a 9×13, sometimes I do it in a sheet cake pan, and once in a great while, into cupcakes. I know, exciting. Next time, I'm going to do mini ones. I made mini cupcakes for the first time last week. If you ever want to do this, one cake mix made exactly 6 dozen… I filled the wells about 3/4 full with batter. And it takes double the frosting. Pile it up even more than this… it's part of what makes minis fun. I only made a single batch, so I couldn't put as much on as I wanted to AND I ran out.
For pie… if you want lemon meringue pie, but not in big piece form, do this: make pie crust, cut 3″ circles, press them into mini muffin pans, and bake. Make your regular lemon pie filling and fill the crusts. Make regular meringue and pipe or dollop it on, brown it in the oven, and you've got these sweet li'l thangs…
You could do that with probably any kind of pie. It's great for potlucks or snacks.
And now, still on the pie subject, the grand finale to this whole 'switching things up' thing… how about calorie-free…
I ran across this website (April Cottage Ramblings) one day as I was surfing and immediately saved the link. Absolutely amazing!!! Seriously, this lady is talented… she KNITTED a piece of pie and a donut!!! She knits and crochets other stuff too… I fell in love with a little short-sleeved ruffly purple sweater that she made for her granddaughter. I don't know her, and I don't knit, but I'm very impressed. And it sounds like she's going to knit more cakes, so I'm going to stay tuned.
Coming up next… Lately, I've been hungry for lettuce salad with craisins and pecans in it, so I'm going to look for a recipe like that. I don't have one in mind, so if you have a slam good one that you're bursting to share, let me know!
Chocolate Chip Craisin Cookies… with a chocolate comparison
Ok, people, take note. I am about to write a phrase that I have NEVER written before and that I will probably never write again. Ever.
White chocolate was better than milk chocolate. Oh, that sounds weird. Seems wrong. I feel like a traitor to milk chocolate.
But I made this cookie dough, split it in half, and added milk chocolate to one half and white to the other. When they were baked and cooled, I tasted them. In all my die-hard loyalty and love for milk chocolate, I'll have to admit that white chocolate just plain goes better with craisins.
This all reminds me of a little conversation Shannon and I have had now and then about the museum at Lambeau field. I know, it might seem strange that chocolate reminded me of that conversation, but I have always loved analogies. Analogies help me understand things, see them in a different perspective. And this is an analogy… in which I am the milk chocolate, Shannon's brother Preston is the white chocolate, the Packer museum is the cookies, and Shannon is the taste-tester. In this conversation, we talk about his dream of some day going to Lambeau field and spending a day there going thro the museum, reading every piece of info and history, and when he does, it's not me (you know, ME, his favorite person ever) that he wants along …the person he wants to go with is his brother. Evidently, strolling thro' a football museum is not date material, holding hands as you go from one display to the next.????? I do totally get it, though… I wouldn't want to browse Hobby Lobby and Michaels with him for a day. Things are always the most enjoyable when you get the right combo.
Like craisin cookies and white chocolate.
White Chocolate Craisin Cookies …recipe ripped out of either Taste of Home or Country Woman magazine, I forget which one
2/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 6oz. package craisins
2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips
Preheat oven to 375. Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate. Or do the taste-test for yourself and split the dough and try dark or milk chocolate.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
This made 28 cookies.
These are wonderful for Christmas! Or for any time of the year, since Christmas is about 11 1/2 months away… (read: didn't get it posted in time for Christmas).
Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies
I was trying to picture a festive cookie plate to take to the cookie exchange. For awhile, I was waffling between White Chocolate Craisin Cookies and these. I ended up with these. I kinda got hung up on the white chocolate in the others, wondering if I wanted to 'waste' a couple batches of cookies on white chocolate… Shannon, maybe you should try them. (Side note: This might be confusing to some of you because I have 2 Shannons in my life (my husband and one of my friends), both of which I refer to on here hit n miss, but if you know there are 2, you can usually tell which one I mean by the context. ) Back to these craisin cookies, I am planning to make a batch, and add the chocolate last, dividing the dough in half and adding white to one half and milk choc to the other.
Wow, I just spent a whole paragraph writing about something that has nothing to do with what this post is about. Good grief.
First, before the recipes, I'll give amounts: I used 5 cake mixes, which made 9 1/2 dozen filled cookies, so I actually baked 19 dozen individual cookies. Me and baking 19 dozen cookies goes great together, I loved it… if it wouldn't make me gain 100 pounds, I'd bake every day. On the other hand, Megan (my 6-month old) and baking 19 dozen cookies does NOT go great together. Let's just say her naptime was blissful. Although, she thought it was bliss sitting back in a corner up on the counter playing with everything within reach (except toys). It's amazing how far a 6-month-old can reach, I found out! Anyway, I made the frosting recipe 3 times and had about 1 cup left over. So, I'll break this down for you to save you having to get out the calculator… 2 cake mixes would make approx 46 finished cookies (mine were anywhere from 2″ – 2 1/2″ across) and one batch of frosting would do approx 38 cookies… could become one of those deals where you make more frosting to use up the rest of the cookies, then you have too much, so you make more cookies to use up the rest of the frosting, then you have cookies left, so you make more frosting…… and so on.
Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies
1 red velvet cake mix
2/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
Mix. Shape into balls.
Bake at 375 for 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, this was going on…
Marshmallow Creme Filling
2 sticks (1 cup) butter
1 7oz. jar marshmallow creme
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Beat til creamy. Spread it on however you want, but I put it in a bag and piped it on. Easy and less mess!
Put another cookie on top and you've got yourself a yummy little red velvet sandwich cookie!
You know, I was just thinking, we could do all sorts of stuff with this because there are all sorts of cake mixes out there… use a white cake mix and put in green food coloring and have green sandwich cookies, make any kind of cake mix cookies and tint the frosting red or green, roll the assembled cookie in crushed red & white candy canes so it sticks to the frosting, dip half of a red velvet sandwich cookie in chocolate, mix up a white cake mix and a red velvet one and then fold them together til it's red & white swirled… any other ideas?


text:
Therapeutic Items
Forget what you've heard about other amplifiers.
Tweak is the only personal sound amplification product (PSAP) using specialized patented technology that lets you select from four ranges of amplification, plus remembers what level of amplification you like best. It also incorporates a digital volume control to give you even more flexibility in different environments. The Focus model includes a special setting designed for suppressing background noise. Tweak utilizes a barely visible thin tube to enhance sound from the digital processor to your ear. If you're not ready for a hearing aid but could use a little help in difficult listening situations, Tweak may be the answer for you.
Features:- Newly patented technology
- Fully digital sound amplifier
- Affordable and simple to use
- Two models, three colors
- Incorporates technologies used in high-end hearing instruments
- Digital Volume Control
- Fast-acting sound-activated compression
- Cutting-edge automatic feedback control
- 8 band graphic equalizer
- Clear, natural sound
- Utilizes a commonly available #312 battery
- Low battery tone indicator
Tweak can assist you in the following situations:- TV & Radio
- Meetings
- Group conversations at the dinner table
- Nature Sounds
- Children's Voices
- Classrooms
- Concerts
- Religious Services
- Social Gatherings
- Theatre
- Recreational Activities
- Any other situation where you may have difficulty listening.
Tweak offers such clear and natural sound, you have to hear it to believe it!
Begin by selecting model type.$389.99 - $449.99 -
The ITA-MED Deluxe Finger Pulse Oximeter
6-way OLED display. The Organic Light Emitting Diode is a portable, non-invasive device that allows spot-check of oxygen saturation of arterial hemoglobin (SpO2) and pulse rate for adult and pediatric patients at home or in the hospital. Not for continuous monitoring. Dimensions: 8"L x 6"H x 4"W.$64.40

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Recently, Symantec said in its February 2008 State of Spam report that 78.5 percent of all e-mail is spam; they also said most of that is now coming from Europe. That's a change from previous reports that had suggested servers in North America were responsible. What the Symantec report doesn't explicitly state is that much of the European spam doesn't come from individuals sitting at their desks pumping out lists. Europe is one of the hotbeds for the Storm worm botnet, notorious for automatically co-opting its victims into spam relays. For example, with the release of a Valentine's Day theme-spam barrage in early February, Dr. Jose Nazario of Arbor Networks estimated that Storm has grown by as much as 50 percent in new infections. More ominous, Nazario says, is "the fact (Storm) is generating lots of money means that it's in (the creator's) interests to keep grooming it, keep growing it." Worse Storm isn't the only big, bad botnet in town.
Mega-D One new botnet that's making news is Mega-D. Nazario said that Mega-D got its name because the botnet is known to send out what is called in the business "enlargement spam." Think Viagra. Nazario said "This is a piece of malware that comes out typically on Friday afternoon, generally with a subject...telling you, for example, to go look at Angelina Jolie naked or Britney Spears having a fight with Angelina, things like that." He said the e-mail is sent primarily to Europe and North America. "Once people go ahead and have a look, they're nailed."
In February, a U.K. security company Marshal declared Mega-D the biggest source of new spam on the Internet, outpacing Storm. This brought a degree of skepticism from other security researchers, such as Joe Stewart of SecureWorks. He told the U.K.'s The Register that Mega-D had far less infections than Storm and wasn't spreading very fast.
Mega-D is really Storm Lite? There's also speculation that Mega-D might be just be a dedicated subpartition of Storm. Nazario said Storm is one of the most high-profile of the active botnets to use encrypted command and control instructions, allowing the creators to lease off parts of the larger network to others. Fortunately, the encryption used by Storm isn't strong, and most researchers are able to access the data inside.
MayDay But Mega-D has company. Another security company, Damballa, has been tracking another spam producing botnet called MayDay. While the number of infections aren't anywhere close to Storm, MayDay has infiltrated some Fortune 500 networks, which gives some cause to worry because the actual number of infections could be higher.
MayDay uses HTTP to communicate, making the botnet harder to detect because the signal to noise ratio is much higher. Presently, HTTP bots appear to be limited to the Russian Federation and nearby countries, but Nazario and others wonder whether HTTP botnets could be the next big thing in criminal malware.


text:
On the 94th day of Christmas ... MARIA SHRIVER STILL HASN'T TAKEN DOWN HER CHRISTMAS LIGHTS ... and her Brentwood neighbors are starting to go all Ebenezer Scrooge ... TMZ has learned.
Sources in Maria's super fancy Brentwood community tell TMZ, the neighbors have been clucking about Maria's ultra-bright Xmas light display for weeks now ... because Christmas is long over, and the lights on the trees around her property have become an eyesore.
In fact, TMZ shot video (below) on Maria's street Tuesday night ... and her house was the ONLY ONE still sportin' the Clark Griswold treatment.
We're told the neighbors haven't approached Maria directly yet because they like her and don't want to hurt her feelings ... but in typical passive aggressive neighborly fashion, they're hoping word will make its way back to her.
If not ... she can just keep the decorations up until December -- after all, it's only another 271 days until Santa comes back to town.
This is just another example of people that can't mind their own damn business. Who cares if she still has her lights up? Noone but these stupid, obviously controlling, neighbors. She could just like the way they look and leave them there for eternity...It's her property and she can do what she wants...Live and let live neighbors and stop bothering this woman. It's not your concern!!
Who are we to judge. If it makes them happy who cares.
I contemplated leaving up our tree because it was too much work to put away lol. Figure since everyone calls it a "holiday tree" instead of a "Christmas tree" I could get away with it...you know toss hearts on it for valentines Day, shamrocks for St Patrick's Day, Easter eggs...but then my sanity kicked in and I packed it away :P LoL..
She wants to keep her lights up .have at it I wouldn't complain even if it was Halloween ...is her house she does not go around asking to take down those eyesore drapes
wow, cranky-pants intolerant neighbors! I think the lights look pretty. its not like they're red and green and have santa clauses and candy canes hanging. we have white lights year round in our patio area, it looks great at parties.
This is going to sound racist, but I bet most of her neighbors in Brentwood are Jewish. I love the Jews personally, but they do not love Christmas. I almost joined "The Tribe". Christmas is a very sensitive issue....
They're friggin WHITE LIGHTS!! Good grief, a lot of people and restaurants use white lights all year long. I don't see an inflatable Santa or snowman, not even a wreath. Give it up people and enjoy the beauty! Nice job Maria!!!
Word is that Arnold was always the one who pulled the plug on the Christmas lights in January. Now that she kicked him out - he said "I WON'T be back"; that is why the lights are still on.
Word is that Arnold was always the one who pulled the plug on the Christmas lights in January. Now that she kicked him out - he said "I WON'T be back"; that is why the lights are still on.
So now every star stalker and the TMZ bus know how to find her place. Smart thinkin' Maria.
Neighbors should mind their own business. It's her property, she can have Christmas lights on all year long if she wants.


text:
Hosted at photobucket.com This video is provided and hosted from a 3rd party server. Our search functionality is helping you discover publicly available websites & their content. Footytube as a search engine does not host or upload this material and is not responsible for the content.
Community Opinion & Comments
How did the teams perform?
Share your thoughts
0 - 0
Rafael (28)
C. TĂ©vez (34)
P. Scholes (93)
C. TĂ©vez (34)
P. Scholes (93)
M. Fellaini (84)
T. Cahill (110)
T. Cahill (110)


text:
Commercial Space Station to be Ready For Guests by 2016
Now how cool would that be? Now if I can only just find those few million pounds I left laying around somewhere!
Why not start the week with a Lion?
A nice fresh installation of Mac OS X Lion to open the working week. I guess today will be full of "doh I forgot to install that" moments!
Your (not so) friendly email client Gmail Man!
Interesting video apparently shown by Microsoft at their Global Exchange Sales Conference recently. Its cheesey but so true!
Link courtesy of John Gruber at Daring Fireball
Google Gmail and Calendar get a new look
A welcome and long overdue update from Google. Both Gmail and Goodle Calendar were starting to look a little dated and getting left behind in terms of UI by other web apps, including other Google Products.
Google+ for instance looks pretty swish with its drag and drop functionality to create circles of friends. Here's hoping they roll out these UI changes to Google Reader shortly.
Google's Answer to Facebook has arrived and its called Google+
We'd like to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software. We want to make Google better by including you, your relationships, and your interests. And so begins the Google+ project:
There has been talk of Google developing its own social network to take on the might of Facebook for over a year now and today they unveiled it. Its name? Google+
Strange choice of name but I bet they have spent millions on it. While the search engine giant is keen not to badge it as a competitor to Facebook, we all know that is the market they are aiming for. Their choice of categorising it as a project rather than a product also shows how difficult they realise the challenge will be and it gives them the option to drop it "quietly" in the future if they wish. Think Google Wave if you want another example of this.
Their focus is clearly on making the discovery of content more social and the sharing of content between networks of friends online. Other functionality such as sparks (chats) and hangouts (looks like chat rooms to me) mean they are trying to generate some kind of community but I think its the link to their search that will give them the best hope of pulling it off.
Twitter to start polluting your timeline
Twitter to Put Promoted Tweets in Your Timeline in Next 2 Months
We've already noted reports that Twitter is preparing to up its ad game by placing paid-for tweets right in the middle of your Twitter stream. Now we know the deadline for the change-over. Promoted tweets will start showing up in users' timelines within the next 8 weeks, according to several sources who have been briefed on the matter.
Here's hoping they offer a paid for Pro service which allows you to remove these!
Read more at Mashable
Facebook set to open HTML 5 App Store, targeting iOS
Rumours are afoot of a Facebook project, code named Project Spartan which aims to setup its own to HTML5 app store, therefore bypassing Apple's stranglehold on iOS.
Apple has always been up front that there are two options for developing on iOS, native apps through their App Store, which they reserve the right to review and HTML 5, which doesn't have the same restrictions.
Personally I'd welcome this project if it appears as more choice is generally a good thing. I suspect the limitations of an HTML 5 experience when compared to a native iOS app, although not massive, will still make the App Store the preferred destination for most punters.
Pain free redundant back-up on the Mac
The way I backup now looks like this:
- Nightly SuperDuper! clones of my laptop to an external drive.
- TimeMachine running to a I have a TimeCapsule.
- All "currently working files" stored in Dropbox.
- Automatic cloud backups of all my irreplaceable documents, photos, music, and application support folders.
Interesting to read how Shawn Blanc has just gone through exactly the same process that I went through last year and gratifyingly ended up at the same place.
Like him I tried a number of cloud based back-up solutions to compliment my local back-ups, initially going with Backblaze before switching to Arq. I couldn't be happier and now have a fully automatic and redundant back-up system, combining two cloud based services (Dropbox and Amazon S3) with two local back-ups using Superduper and Time Machine.
There are a few others I also add to the mix as well but I won't bore with the details. You know what they say? You can never have enough back-ups!
Thinking of starting a business?
If you're thinking of starting a business then you may want to pop over to Think Vitamin, where they have made their "How to Build a Startup" video course freely available on their site.
In the series Ryan Carson, talks through his experiences of starting companies such as Carsonified and Think Vitamin. The subject matter maybe aimed at Techs primarily but anybody thinking of starting a business will get something out of it


text:
Select () or exclude () categories to narrow your recipe search.
As you select categories, the number of matching recipes will update.
Find exactly what you're looking for with the web's most powerful recipe filtering tool.
Prep Time:
Cook Time:
20 mins
4 hrs 30 mins
From "Gordon Ramsay: A Chef for All Seasons", this lovely cake combines the sweetness of pears and honey with the tartness of lime. I wasn't able to get pear liqueur so I substituted a mixture of vanilla liqueur and kirsch which is also lovely. Please note that the standing times are included in the cooking time.
Save this recipe in your online cookbook to access when you need it.
Add this recipe to a weekly meal plan.
Add this recipe's ingredients to your weekly shopping list.
Note pairing ideas, substitutions and more - only you can see it!
Spot a typo or missing ingredient? Submit your correction for review.
Get answers about this recipe in our Cooking Q&A forum.
Units: US | Metric
Serving Size: 1 (192 g)
Servings Per Recipe: 6
The following items or measurements are not included:
vanilla beans
pear liqueur
limes, zest of


text:
The Lodgepine Cabin at Midnight Ranch
You sent a message to this owner.
- Minimum stay:Contact owner
- Internet:Yes
- Pets considered:Yes
- Wheel chair accessible:Yes
Hahns Peak cabin description
Enjoy the good life at the Midnight Ranch! We welcome you to our 105 acre high mountain ranch, surrounded by National Forest, with open hay meadows, tall pines, and thick groves of Aspen.
In the Winter it's Snowmobile Heaven! You can ride from your door, and explore some of the finest trails in the state. (we also rent snowmobiles to our guests) There are sledding hills for the kids, snowshoeing , X-Country Skiing!
In the summer enjoy your own private 10 acre trophy fly fishing lake or use our corral and pasture if you want to bring your own horses. Steamboat Lake State Park is minutes away and has boat rentals, we have canoes for your use on our lake. Bring your ATV's or bike and ride from your door to the many Forest Service trails. So when you're planning your next getaway, business retreat, wedding or family reunion, take the road less traveled, get off the beaten path, come to the Midnight Ranch-where the pavement ends and your adventure begins!
Please connect to our webpage for more information.
This cabin is one of two historic vacation cabins that the Midnight Ranch offers, click on the blue words below the Calendar ("Click Here to see All My Rental Listings ") to view the listing of the other cabin on Midnight Ranch.
Keywords: Cabin
Property Type
- Cabin
Accommodation Type
- Vacation Rental
- Wheelchair Accessible
- Children Welcome
- Limited Accessibility
Bedrooms: 4 Bedrooms, Sleeps 14, Beds for 12-14
Kitchen & Dining
- Dishwasher
- Microwave
- Catering Available
- Refrigerator
- Linens Provided
- Covered Parking
- Parking For RV/Boat/Trailer
- Wood Stove
- CD Player
- Video Library
- Stereo
- DVD Player
- Music Library
- Satellite / Cable
- Wireless Internet
Outdoor Features
- Balcony
- Deck / Patio
- Outdoor Grill
Location & View
- Kayaking
- Cycling
- Rafting
- Snowmobiling
- Cross Country Skiing
- Snowboarding
- Jet Skiing
- Hunting
- Hiking
- Skiing
- Wind-Surfing
- Mountain Biking
- Boating
- Horseshoes
- Wildlife Viewing
- Restaurants
- Shopping
- Horseback Riding
- Sailing
- Fishing
- Water Skiing
- Sight Seeing
- Sledding
Write a review-
Great New Years
Great New Years
- Guest cris v.
- Date of stay 12/31/13
- Review Submitted 01/05/14
We had a group stay at the Midnight Ranch New Years 2013 in the lodgepine cabin and had a great time.The location is wonderful and the snowmobiling was great Steve was great to work with.We had a large group and the place was very accoommodating.Recommended for: Adventure seekers, pet owners, families with young children, sightseeing, families with teenagers.
Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0
Great place for a group
Great place for a group
- Guest Bob (Wyoming)
- Date of stay 11/21/12
- Review Submitted 11/25/12
Our group of 4 families w/ 5 kids stayed at Lodgepine for the second time this Thanksgiving holiday. The house is perfect and Steve the owner is super helpful and available. It is large enough for all the people, has a kitchen that allows serious cooking, and comfortable, big bedrooms. It is is close to some of the best back country skiing and mountain biking in the area. The scenery and setting are beautiful. We will be back!Recommended for: Adventure seekers, families with young children, families with teenagers.
Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0
- Guest CW (Fort Morgan, CO)
- Date of stay 01/13/12
- Review Submitted 11/14/12
We have been taking a group of adult and kids sonwmobiling once a year for the past 3 years. This is a great facility with plenty of room for everyone. Super close to great riding and a fantastic field for the younger riders to play in. Steve is great to work with and we are already planning our next vacation.Recommended for: Adventure seekers, families with young children, sightseeing, families with teenagers.
Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0
We loved our stay at Midnight Ranch!
We loved our stay at Midnight Ranch!
- Guest kmehan (Eagle, CO)
- Date of stay 09/28/12
- Review Submitted 10/30/12
We spent a long weekend at Midnight Ranch in September to celebrate my parent's 50th wedding anniversary and had a fantastic time. Steve (owner) was great to work with and even moved us into one of his larger homes when he realized the makeup of our group. The house was beautiful, the property absolutely lovely and we enjoyed our stay immensely. We'll be back for sure!!Recommended for: Age 55+, adventure seekers, pet owners, romantic getaway, girls getaway, families with young children, sightseeing, families with teenagers.
Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0
Great place for family, friends and fun
Great place for family, friends and fun
- Guest J (Aurora, CO)
- Date of stay 03/10/12
- Review Submitted 10/29/12
My family has been staying at the Lodgepine cabin multiple times a year for the past three years. There are very few places that give you a sense of serenity in such a beatiful setting. If you enjoy winter sports, there is some of the best country Colorado has to offer right off of the doorstep. You can enjoy snomowbiling, snowshoeing or cross country skiing in some of the most beautiful forests that Colorado has to offer. Endless miles of trails and country to explore. Close enough to Steamboat to enjoy the towns great atmosphere. Secluded enough to provide the best outdoor experiences with a great house to come back to and enjoy that rustic comfort that a mountain setting has to offer. I Would definitely recommend Midnight Ranch to anyone and everyone. Steve is great!Recommended for: Age 55+, adventure seekers, romantic getaway, girls getaway, families with young children, sightseeing.
Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0
Family Reunion
Family Reunion
- Guest Dave (Roxborough, CO)
- Date of stay 08/13/12
- Review Submitted 10/28/12
We fit eight adults and 5 kids in the properity very comfortably. The facility is rustic and the kids had a great time in the hot tub. Beautiful setting and we were visited by bald eagels on a daily basis. We rode bikes and fished in nearby streams and lakes. Good time had by all.Recommended for: Age 55+, pet owners, girls getaway, families with young children, sightseeing, families with teenagers.
Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0
An Incredible Place...
An Incredible Place...
- Guest A and A (Conifer, Colorado)
- Date of stay 10/18/12
- Review Submitted 10/26/12
Midnight Ranch is truly a special place. The setting is exceptional, and the Lodgepine Cabin was equally great. The "cabin" is much more like a home, and is incredibly cozy and charming with its post and beam architecture and remnants of the turn of the century home it was built around. Our kids LOVED the hottub in the enclosed porch area - for them it was a lot like having a little indoor pool. Steve is a great host, and made us feel very at home. If you are looking for a beautiful place to escape to and like the idea of a unique, character filled home, Lodgepine Cabin at Midnight Ranch or the neighboring Angler Cabin are great options.Recommended for: Age 55+, adventure seekers, romantic getaway, families with young children, sightseeing.
Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0
Lodgepine house at Midnight Ranch
Lodgepine house at Midnight Ranch
- Guest ken (Paoli, Colorado)
- Date of stay 08/29/12
- Review Submitted 10/25/12
Our entire family took a stay at the lodgepine house at the Midnight Ranch at Hahns Peak late this summer. It was everything we were told it would be by the owner plus more. Our ages ranged from 3 to 60 and we all enjoyed it immensly, from the hot tub to the small lake that is on the property. The lodgepine is roomy and has all the comforts of home and the scenery is spectacular. We fished several of the lakes in the area and took hikes on the many trails that are close by, some even climbed to the top of Hahns Peak. The owner, Steve was very cordial and let us know that he was there for us if we needed anything. I would highly recomend the lodgepine house if you are looking for a stay that will be memorable for years to come.Recommended for: Age 55+, adventure seekers, girls getaway, families with young children, sightseeing, families with teenagers.
Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0
Currency ConversionRates range from $250-$550/night.
Note: Until confirmed, rates are subject to change without notice.
This owner accepts: Credit cards.
Always make sure to call the number on the listing to confirm payment details. Only pay using credit card, PayPal, check or direct bank transfer. NEVER pay by cash or instant money transfer services such as Western Union or MoneyGram. Learn more
Don't forget your vacation protection! Get protected now
Adding our Vacation Protection services can make sure your getaway goes smoothly, no matter what. We offer Cancellation Protection, Carefree Rental Guarantee, and Damage Protection so you can truly relax.
Sorry this information is not available. Please contact the owner for more information.
Owner info
Contact us
- Primary: (970) 870-3456 (Colorado, USA)
- Click Here to see All My Rental Listings
View from across the stocked lake
Lodgepine Cabin
Lodgepine Kitchen
Lodgepine Dining/ Living Room
Lodgepine Master Bedroom with Bath
Lodgepine Bedroom with Bath
Happy with the Catch!!
Lodgepine Cabin
Lodgepine Living/Dining
Winter and it Snows!
Stairs to Living Room
Lodgepine Bedroom
Lodgepine Hot-Tub in Sunroom
Hahns Peak from hiking trail
There have been visitors to this page since the counter was last reset in .
This listing was first published here in 2008.
Date last modified - Friday, November 01, 2013
Always make sure to call the number on the listing to confirm payment details. Only pay using credit card, PayPal, check, or direct bank transfer. Learn More
Three services to protect your trip:
Protect your payments in case you need to cancel.
Guarantee the rental meets your expectations.
Ensure you're prepared in case of accidental damage.


text:
Current Starwood credit card members can earn 5,000 bonus Starpoints when you refer new customers to open a Starwood hotel rewards card.
You'll earn 5,000 Starpoints for every approved referral, which is enough for a free night at any category 2 hotel.
Plus, your referrals will earn a sign-up bonus when they open a new Starwood rewards card account.
Refer your friends through the Starwood Card Referral Promotion if you have a current Starwood card account.
You are eligible to earn 5,000 Starpoints for each approval.
There is no limit to how many bonus referral Starpoints you can earn.
You must allow 6 to 8 weeks for Starpoints to post to your account after each referred prospect is approved for the card.
You may also wish to sign up for this Starwood Credit Card Bonus if you are not already a member.
Learn more about the American Express Card Referral Program that applies to a variety of different AMEX cards.
Exchange referrals with other Starwood card customers to earn 5,000 bonus Starpoints per referral.


text:
Balanced Amplification: A New Mechanism of Selective Amplification of Neural Activity Patterns
Balanced Amplification: A New Mechanism of Selective Amplification of Neural Activity Patterns
Neuron, Volume 61, Issue 4,
Pages 635-648,
Publication Date 26 February 2009
Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2009.02.005
Brendan K. Murphy
Kenneth D. Miller
Graduate Group in Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94122, USA
Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Sloan Program in Theoretical Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032, USA
Corresponding author
In cerebral cortex, ongoing activity absent a stimulus can resemble stimulus-driven activity in size and structure. In particular, spontaneous activity in cat primary visual cortex (V1) has structure significantly correlated with evoked responses to oriented stimuli. This suggests that, from unstructured input, cortical circuits selectively amplify specific activity patterns. Current understanding of selective amplification involves elongation of a neural assembly's lifetime by mutual excitation among its neurons. We introduce a new mechanism for selective amplification without elongation of lifetime: "balanced amplification." Strong balanced amplification arises when feedback inhibition stabilizes strong recurrent excitation, a pattern likely to be typical of cortex. Thus, balanced amplification should ubiquitously contribute to cortical activity. Balanced amplification depends on the fact that individual neurons project only excitatory or only inhibitory synapses. This leads to a hidden feedforward connectivity between activity patterns. We show in a detailed biophysical model that this can explain the cat V1 observations.


text:
E-Mail this page
Printable Format
Contractor will provide commercial hardware and software
General Dynamics C4 Systems Inc. will provide computer hardware and software procurement assistance to the Army under a five-year, $3.7 billion contract, according to an Aug. 29 Defense Department announcement.
The firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, level-of-effort, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract will provide for the procurement of the Command Hardware Systems-4, DOD said.
CHS-4 provides a rapid procurement path for U.S. military and government organizations to receive radios, satellite communications and encryption equipment, computers and other products that are cost-competitive with the commercial market, company spokesman Rob Doolittle explained in an e-mail message.
"The contract also contains a technology-insertion provision to ensure that the CHS-4 inventory includes the most-advanced commercially available products and a technical support and logistics provision that affords a wide range of services, from the rapid repair and replacement of equipment to the deployment of field service personnel to CHS-4 user locations worldwide," he wrote.
Among the types of equipment available through the CHS-4 contract are:
The CHS-4 contract is a follow-on to the potential $2 billion, 10-year CHS-3 effort awarded to General Dynamics C4 Systems business unit in 2003.
Work will be performed in Taunton, Mass., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 26, 2016.
The bid was solicited through the Internet, with one bid received, the DOD announcement said.
The U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, Contracting Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity.
General Dynamics Corp., of Falls Church, Va., ranks No. 5 on Washington Technology's 2011 Top 100 list of the largest federal government contractors.
About the Author
David Hubler is the former print managing editor for GCN and senior editor for Washington Technology. He is freelance writer living in Annandale, Va.
Advanced Search
In an exclusive for WT Insider members, we take a dive into the purchasing priorities of government agencies including what they expect to buy around the cloud, cyber, mobility and other critical areas. Learn about your customer's expectations. Read More
Editor Nick Wakeman explores the puzzle of why SBA has been so silent on the latest contractor fraud scandal when it has been so quick to act in other cases. Read More
How do best-in-class project-based companies create and actively mature successful organizations? They find the right mix of people, processes and tools that enable them to effectively manage the project lifecycle. REGISTER for this webinar to hear how properly managing the cycle of capture, bid, accounting, execution, IPM and analysis will allow you to better manage your programs to stay on scope, schedule and budget. Learn More!
Join Washington Technology's Editor-in-Chief Nick Wakeman as he analyzes the annual Top 100 list and reveals critical insights into how market trends have impacted its composition. You'll learn what movements of individual companies means and how the market overall is being impacted by the current budget environment, how the Top 100 rankings reflect the major trends in the market today and how the biggest companies in the market are adapting to today's competitive environment. Learn More!


text:
Bruce Schneier | ||||||||||||
Schneier on SecurityA blog covering security and security technology. « Movie-Plot Threat Alert: Robot Suicide Bombers | Main | The Continuing Cheapening of the Word "Terrorism" » August 19, 2009 Fabricating DNA EvidenceThis isn't good: The scientists fabricated blood and saliva samples containing DNA from a person other than the donor of the blood and saliva. They also showed that if they had access to a DNA profile in a database, they could construct a sample of DNA to match that profile without obtaining any tissue from that person. The paper. EDITED TO ADD (8/19): A better article. Posted on August 19, 2009 at 6:57 AM • 53 Comments To receive these entries once a month by e-mail, sign up for the Crypto-Gram Newsletter. CommentsCrispin • August 19, 2009 7:34 AM if this helps take the shine off DNA evidence's squeaky-clean-silver-bullet image, mightn't revelations like this be a _good_ thing? Thomas • August 19, 2009 7:41 AM Crispin: It's a good thing once there are judicial precedents set about it. Until then, it's just a great new way to fabricate evidence. Marc B. • August 19, 2009 7:46 AM It's the old problem of all kinds of biometrics. They can be compromised easily and then the whole system is burned. If a password or a secret key is compromised it can be changed quite easily. But how do you change your fingerprints, iris scan image or DNA pattern? Bernie • August 19, 2009 7:54 AM FYI: http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2009/08/... is by a guy who is better qualified to write about this news than the reporter of the NY Times story. Jason • August 19, 2009 8:08 AM Marc B, this is the opposite of biometric authentication. In the usual authentication problem, you want to prove who you are so you can get something you want. Here, the authorities are trying to prove who you are so they can give you something you *don't* want. In that context, being unable to change your biometric "password" is a feature, not a bug ... and finding out biometric information is changeable is a problem. As for "DNA evidence's squeaky-clean image", I recently served on a jury trial where the prosecution presented the Worst DNA Evidence Ever. (Among other things, the cops collected the evidence in a used paper shopping bag.) As the defense attorney pointed out, the DNA statistics included the defendant as a possible suspect, but odds were good that one of the twelve members of the jury would also be a DNA match. I was impressed at my fellow jurors' ability to tell sh*t from shinola. Anyway, before we all panic, it's worth pointing out that it's been easy to obscure and, to some extent, forge DNA evidence for a long time. To cover your tracks, sweep up some dust from the floor of a public subway, and sprinkle it liberally on your clothes and around the crime scene. To frame your enemy, gather some of his hair and leave it at the scene. The scary bit here is twofold. First, using DNA profile databases it's possible to frame someone for a crime without having ever seen them. Second and more importantly, some juries are receptive to the "I was framed!" defense, and the more technical tools we have for faking DNA evidence, the more reasonable doubt a jury can have. Snarki, child of Loki • August 19, 2009 8:08 AM How long until us citizens have to make sure to obsessively clean up and destroy any trace of DNA that we might leave, just to avoid false DNA accusations. Of course, people have been doing this for centuries, but for less rational reasons: those in fear of voodoo, as an example. There's probably a dystopian cyberpunk novel in that DNA/Voodoo combination... Marc B. • August 19, 2009 8:24 AM @ Jason: I believe it is the same problem. We see here that DNA as evidence can be compromised. Troy • August 19, 2009 8:25 AM @Marc B. Is that a market opening I hear? You can change your blood DNA by undergoing a bone marrow transplant. My google-fu is rusty today, best link I can find is http://www.forensic-science-society.org.uk/... I'm sure changing your fingerprints is a technical problem with a reasonably simple solution (relative to how much we actually want to solve it), although I expect changing your iris pattern without damaging your eye is more challenging. Tomorrow's opportunities start today! Kiaser Zohsay • August 19, 2009 8:50 AM This is essentially a hash-collision problem. The scientists were able to blend samples from a library of sequence fragments that would generate a profile that matches an existing profile stored in an FBI database. DNA evidence on the whole has not been compromised, only the method of creating a profile has, along with most of the existing stored profiles. Dr. Fell • August 19, 2009 9:10 AM But this should surprise nobody who is familiar with what science is! Science can only disprove a hypothesis. Only charlatans and poseurs (in this case, police) claim otherwise. Evidence collected at a crime scene, if unaltered, can only disprove guilt, not confirm it. vwm • August 19, 2009 9:24 AM Having a full disclosure point of view in mind, I also think that this is actually good. @Dr. Fell, when did maths stop being scientific (SCNR)? Dr. Fell • August 19, 2009 9:38 AM Science is a process of inquiry. Mathematics constitute a language -- a tool. The proofs of mathematics are results of logical constructs. They are distinct but complementary. Jackson Madden • August 19, 2009 9:42 AM I love to drop other peoples cigarettes, hairs, chewing gum and drinking cans at the scenes of burglaries. I once left somebody elses urine in their toilet. Roflo • August 19, 2009 9:47 AM I agree with saad-net and vwm. This is good. Not too convenient for CSI though. Eadwacer • August 19, 2009 9:54 AM Fortunately, the technique described requires a large, well equipped lab, which only police departments are likely to....um...nevermind. mcb • August 19, 2009 10:06 AM @ Snarki, child of Loki "How long until us citizens have to make sure to obsessively clean up and destroy any trace of DNA that we might leave, just to avoid false DNA accusations." And the squidblog movieplot DB says...bing!..."Gattaca" (1997) mcb • August 19, 2009 10:25 AM @ Jackson Madden "I love to drop other peoples cigarettes, hairs, chewing gum and drinking cans at the scenes of burglaries." Ooh, ooh! How about the terror cells pinching the contents of wastebaskets at public parks, homeless shelters, and bus stops to contaminate their safe houses and the burglaries used to acquire the components for their R/C IEDs? Genetic chaff...137 false leads...better get Abby another Caff-Pow and make this NCIS episode a two hour special. pTb • August 19, 2009 10:31 AM I have never been a fan of convictions based soley on DNA evedince, hopefully this will make it so more than just DNA is needed for a conviction. But who am I kidding, the government wont make changes to reflect these findings for years. derf • August 19, 2009 10:32 AM Your DNA is all over your garbage. Just go grab your neighbor's garbage, lift some DNA evidence, and plant it very carefully at your crime scene. Much easier then having to fabricate it from scratch. sooth sayer • August 19, 2009 10:47 AM This is very good! Frank • August 19, 2009 10:51 AM Derf has it right - Its all in the rules of evidence, and likelihood that it isn't a frame-up, and we're already at the mercy of 'contrived' evidence. We just need to hope those in power seek not to do the unjust to meet their needs. Shane • August 19, 2009 11:21 AM Well, hopefully the detectives and prosecutors of any given case haven't completely given up the feeling of having to prove both motive and opportunity to the jury as well, in addition to whatever forensic evidence they have at hand. I'm an avid follower of forensics, but it is a tool like any other, and any self-respecting forensic scientist will use it as such, and not as a 'squeaky-clean-silver-bullet' or whatnot. A good example of this is bite marks on the skin. They were once thought to be distinct to a degree of near certainty in many instances, until they held a man for 10 years on death row for a crime he did not commit (later overturned by DNA evidence, and a matching bite mark from whom the DNA happened to match, as well as placement at the scene). However, despite the DNA clearing the initial suspect, it took a full on confession from the killer to his fellow inmate, who in turn ratted him out, before the case was even brought up in court again. An example of fabricating DNA evidence takes a more rudimentary approach in the UK, years and years ago. A young man had been strangling (and raping IIRC) young women walking alone on a wooded path, and the entire town was asked to provide DNA samples to weed out the killer. However, the killer simply asked one of his mates from out of town to give the sample in his stead, claiming he had a warrant out for some lesser nonsense crime. Fooled the police for quite some time as I recall. The way the man was found, again, was looking at motive and opportunity, in addition to the killer's accomplice having a loud mouth at a local pub. There wasn't much in the way of motive save for some sick self-gratification, but the opportunity was there due to his job's proximity to the crime scenes, and the hours which he worked, as well as the suspicion regarding his avoidance of providing a DNA sample. Additionally, most cases of murder are committed by the spouse or family member of the victim, and in many cases the suspect's DNA is all over the crime scene, but with a reasonable explanation. If DNA evidence was fabricated in these instances, it may move the case away from the suspect for awhile, but again, many times other pieces are easily put together to build a bigger picture of the crime (ie - blood stained clothing, victim's wounds matched to a particular object, shoe impression, eyewitnesses, faulty alibi's, blantant lies, et al), and the statistics themselves are hard to fool as well. Shane • August 19, 2009 11:27 AM That said, this does scare the crap out of me, for a number of reasons. DNA is certainly a helpful tool, a very helpful tool, and now... well, seems in time, if these techniques are perfected, it may be moved down to the ranks of 'bite marks' and mitochondrial DNA samples, if that. However, most of the time, it simply re-enforces what the detectives already suspect, since no one has a database containing DNA samples from the entire population. Although, in the article it did state that it was quite a simple task to fabricate DNA to match a stored sample, but without matching a suspect already stored in a database who *also has motive and opportunity (ie - isn't 200 miles away in prison, and had a reason to commit the crime), you've really kind of shot your 'frame-up' in the foot. Ray • August 19, 2009 11:36 AM My mind has changed. If I were on a jury, DNA evidence would not be convincing enough anymore. Wow. SAI Peregrinus • August 19, 2009 11:36 AM The only really new thing is the ability to target someone already in the database. Peter Maxwell • August 19, 2009 12:14 PM Who would have thought it: DNA evidence has gone the way of the fingerprint. Does that mean we've gove unfair trials based on DNA evidence for about twenty years then. BF Skinner • August 19, 2009 12:25 PM GATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGA Clive Robinson • August 19, 2009 12:52 PM Does anybody remember Dr David Berryman (DNA expert) from Murdoch University? And his 2003 paper, "Forensic DNA Profiling: Infallible or Fundamentally Flawed?" Or the stir he created when interviewed by ABC, http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/... Bruce posted about the stir he created (way back then) about getting DNA tests to give incorrect results (you can read a little more about the science of it at http://www.forensicscience.uwa.edu.au/__data/... or http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/uploads/... ) As I pointed out then I had worked out a similar defect in the testing process some time prior to that (and even Emailed Bruce about it). Also that on trying to raise awareness of the issue I had been treated as though I was "slaying the Goose that laid the golden eggs" by those involved with the test verification process. I could not find the original blog page in google but I did find some other pages where I posted about the same or similar method, http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/06/... http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/09/... http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/11/... What these researchers have done is move the process forward a few steps. As the article linked to by Bernie (above at August 19, 2009 7:54 AM ) so aptly puts it at the end of this paragraph, "Fortunately, in identifying the problem, the researchers have come up with a solution. DNA inside human cells picks up a chemical modification called methylation; DNA amplified in a test tube doesn't. It's possible to determine whether or not a given stretch of DNA has been methylated using standard lab techniques, although these are a bit laborious and time-consuming, and it's the sort of technique that hasn't made its way into forensic training yet. Still, testing for methylation in a DNA sample should provide an important quality control on the sample—at least until biologists figure out how to apply methylation in a controlled manner." I guess it will be within the next couple of years so watch this space... Ward S. Denker • August 19, 2009 1:00 PM The difficulty of doing this kind of thing would be high enough to still ensure that most of the people who are convicted on DNA evidence probably are guilty of the crime they're charged with. The real danger here is that governments have access to the kind of funding to run labs to do this. Our own government is a very dangerous adversary, even for an innocent citizen, to contend with. One of the few places left where citizens engage with the justice system is on jury trials, and juries can be bought or manipulated. Face it, if someone in the government wants you gone they only need to commit one undetectable crime (fake DNA evidence) and the system will take care of the rest of the details of removing you as any kind of threat. They don't even need to necessarily get their hands dirty by committing a murder - they can just take advantage of an unsolved crime where no DNA evidence was left at the scene and get it into the evidence room under false pretenses (which is probably easier than stealing real evidence). Selecting an unsolved crime to fit the circumstances should not be too difficult since all they really need is to select one for which they know you have no verifiable alibi. Getting a new trial is already nigh impossible for prisoners, and trying to convince anyone of one's innocence with an "I was framed by a government official" defense is certainly doomed to fail. Shane • August 19, 2009 1:06 PM @Ward "The real danger here is that governments have access to the kind of funding to run labs to do this. Our own government is a very dangerous adversary, even for an innocent citizen, to contend with." C'mon... What's to stop the investigators themselves from planting (or 'finding') all the DNA they want at any crime scene already? Nothing really. Doesn't take a huge consipiracy and government spooks to frame someone for a crime. Basically all it takes is the will to do so. The justice system also works in our favor, for the most part. Or that is the hope... and one we have to cling to lest we cry wolf and run for the hills. No system is infallible. kozmund • August 19, 2009 1:24 PM The library approach for generating fake evidence based on the standard tested sites was the most interesting thing, to me. The DNA based frame-up has always been there as a possibility, but being able to do it using only the bits that would reside in a police database is fun. The bit that they're pushing to catch their fakes falls into the "defending only against things you thought of" area. I'll just leave this here: http://www.freshpatents.com/... Clive Robinson • August 19, 2009 1:57 PM Unfortunately (as is becoming very common) the paper is behind a "Pay Wall". However a little digging around shows that the "researchers" have a start-up company called Nucleix Ltd. From one of there blurb pages, "Nucleix, an emerging life science company specializing in forensic DNA analysis, has developed a "DNA authentication" assay for forensic casework samples with potential applications across multiple DNA analysis and validation fields. DNA fingerprinting has been established as one of the most important forensic tools in criminal investigations. Nucleix scientists have demonstrated the viability of creating artificial DNA and "biological identify theft."(1) Using basic equipment and know-how, DNA with any desired profile can be fabricated in the lab, and this artificial DNA can then be planted in crime scenes as fake evidence. Until recently, there has been no way to distinguish between genetic profiles obtained from falsified DNA samples, which can appear identical to real biological profiles based on current analytical protocols and technologies. Nucleix's proprietary assays can distinguish between "fake" (in-vitro synthesized) DNA, and "real" (in-vivo generated) DNA. The company is committed to developing state-of-the-art "DNA authentication" assays that can be integrated into the standard forensic procedure, in order to maintain the high credibility of DNA evidence in the courtroom and other uses." In other words we have found a solution to a known problem that people where ignoring, now lets make some noise and sell you our patented solution (so we can get rich ;) Oh and the bit, "Until recently, there has been no way to distinguish between genetic profiles obtained from falsified DNA samples" Is not quite right, there are some ways already known but... they are complicated and therefore expensive to carry out and thus not used in routine testing. Oh and the problem with this, some DNA tests are destructive of evidence so you cannot go back and check again... But as has been noted most DNA evidence is supporting or circumstantial the criminal is already known (usually because of their big mouth, MO or they are connected with the crime fairly directly). And that is the real issue of "means, motive and opportunity". If you are going to frame somebody with a crime, Step 1, is to provide a recognised "motive" for them (which may not be as easy as you think). Step 2, is to use a "means" that is directly linkable to them (again it may not be easy) Step 3, remove any alibi for them, and preferably have them at or close to the crime at the correct time (possibly easier). Obviously the better acquainted you are with the individual the better your chances of framing them but... it also potentially puts you closer to the crime for an investigator as well. Possibly the best way is still the old way of framing people, which is to delay the discovery of the crime so that there is a great deal of uncertainty in the details, and then put "hard evidence" into the possession of the person you wish to frame in some way (like some of the crime evidence in a bag hidden on their property). snuh • August 19, 2009 3:21 PM "GATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACGATTACG..." Oh no! That's me! Wait a minute... that's a "T" in the 176th position, not a "G". Whew, off the hook. aikimark • August 19, 2009 3:39 PM I suggest we all send this to any judges and lawyers we know. ============ ============ ============ 'thanks' for making this thread difficult to read. :-/ Michael Seese • August 19, 2009 9:58 PM So I guess that they're saying DNA testing isn't worth spit. Clive Robinson • August 19, 2009 10:01 PM @ Shane, "C'mon... What's to stop the investigators themselves from planting (or 'finding') all the DNA they want at any crime scene already?" Nothing at all it used to be a popular pastime with certain Policemen in the UK.... So as you say, "Nothing really. Doesn't take a huge consipiracy and government spooks to frame someone for a crime. Basically all it takes is the will to do so." Or a lot of "Political Pressure" from above (for which we now have a large number of politically embarrassing releases of wrongly convicted persons as evidence and investigations are shown to be "flawed". "The justice system also works in our favour, for the most part. Or that is the hope... and one we have to cling to lest we cry wolf and run for the hills. No system is infallible." Sadly more than a thousand years of legal historical safe guards have been removed or are in the process of being removed from the actions of the previous UK Prime Minister the RH Tony Blair, and his old side kicks "Charlie" Falconer (now Lord Falconer of Thoroton) the RH Jack Straw MP, David Blunkett et al. The rot got going in 2003 ( http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/... ) and has progressed step by step. In England and Wales we now have the Orwellian sounding "Ministry of justice" (Run by Jack Straw MP), that supposedly protects the legal Amongst other things we are losing or have lost, 1) the right to a tribunal of truth (jury), All in order to save money / court time. Amongst other little schemes we have coercion where you are given a "fixed penalty" which is only fixed if you pay without question. Start defending your rights and you will pay and pay and pay (for instance the London Congestion Charge, due to the laziness of the organisation people have been hit with "fines in the post" for which they have not committed the offence, most people payed up but when one person went to court whoops the lazy behaviour and illegally sited cameras came out, likewise with Gatso Cameras, and at-least one occurrence of deliberate evidence tampering by an official organisation where they "photoshoped" in a parking restriction sign that was not actually there at the time). Oh and the latest proposal is effectively to get rid of the last vestiges of "legal aid" through the back door. Legal aid is the process where your legal representative gets payed by the public purse to defend you in criminal cases where you might not be represented otherwise. The sums involved have been whittled down one way or another over the years to a very low "fixed rate" so low that few competent legal representatives will work for the sums involved. The latest wheeze is to replace the current low "fixed rate" with a "Dutch Auction" bidding system, where the lowest bid for the work gets it... As has been noted in the past, "Justice has to be seen to be done, not done in reality". Nothing new here: It's called chain of custody. It's in the testing company and PD's interest to keep in tact. John • August 20, 2009 3:38 AM @Shane, @Clive Clive forgot to say that, in the UK, we *do* have a database that will soon contain DNA samples from almost the entire population. It has been ruled illegal, but the police have decided to ignore the law and are continuing to build the database anyway. When the police start acting illegally with the support of the politicians, things are really starting to go wrong. Nostromo • August 20, 2009 4:08 AM @Shane: BZZT! Wrong. Most murder *convictions* are of the spouse or a close family member. That's because generally when someone is murdered, the first thing the police do is build a case against the spouse. Consequently (1) when it clearly isn't the spouse, the murderer is often much harder to find, and nobody gets convicted; (2) there have been a lot of wrongly-convicted spouses - the standard of proof in some US courts is more like "he probably did it" than "proved beyond reasonable doubt". Petr Kadlec • August 20, 2009 6:12 AM Philip K. Dick also wrote about this… Mmmm… I believe it was "The Unreconstructed M" (or something else from "The Golden Man")? Clive Robinson • August 20, 2009 9:25 AM @ John, "Clive forgot to say that, in the UK, we *do* have a database that will soon contain DNA samples from almost the entire population. It has been ruled illegal, but the police have decided to ignore the law and are continuing to build the database anyway." Unfortunately it is just one of many DBs that are paid for from the UK public purse that are illegal. In the UK there is a charitable organisation "The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust" ( http://www.jrrt.org.uk/ ) who are well known and respected for the work they sponsor. In their own words, "We fund political campaigns in the UK to promote democratic reform, civil liberties and social justice." One aspect of these "political campaigns" is paying for research reports into government abuse of justice etc. A case in point is their report, "Database State - a comprehensive map of UK government databases" ( http://www.jrrt.org.uk/uploads/database-state.pdf ) It makes sobering reading of how the UK is sleep walking into a police state via the needless collection aggregation and cross referencing of information and speculation on individuals in the UK, much of it completely illegally and with little or no audit or security, often hidden behind a gossamer veil of "Secrecy" or "Confidentiality" (to protect the guilty). Often so much so that otherwise sensitive and well protected data on for instance children for their protection is laid bare to individuals with access to one or more databases. There are hundreds of thousands of people with access to just one of these databases and the audit and security is a complete joke as is the correctness of the information with in it (see Contact-Point Project) Another is where your child's entire academic record including teachers unqualified evaluations on them and their family, will stay in existence as long as the child is of employable age. Oh and all the data will be made available to "interested parties" like future employers with little or no let or hindrance (but neither you nor your child will be able to see/correct mistakes and lies about them). This is the sort of power that Stalin would have given both arms and legs for without a second thought. Lest you think the report is an extreme view by "self interested crackpots with an agenda", have a look at the list of authors and google them etc. One of the reports authors is a well known and well respected figure in computer security from Cambridge University Ross J Anderson (who has posted to Bruce's Blog on a number of occasions) From the report a comment on the UK Government that to my eye appears directly aimed at the clique of No 10 who dream up these stupid (back door party fund raising) databases is, "If you think IT is the solution to your problem, you don't understand IT, and you don't understand your problem" The introduction by Lord David Shutt has this memorable paragraph, "Of the 46 databases assessed in this report only six are given the green light. That is, only six are The report concludes at least that one in four of government databases that the report authors where aware of was effectively (ie a Court has not pronounced yet) illegal and that the 16 billion GBP that has been (officially acknowledged as being) spent on them, was a misuse of public funds. For non UK readers if you normalised that to the US population/$ it would be about 144 Billion USD, which is no small pocket change... By the way the expression "misuse of public funds" is a polite way of saying "criminal". If you or I where to do the same we would be looking at jail time that would make Bernard Madoff "with the money" 's eyes water. We have in the UK on the statue books such old crimes as "malfeasance in public office", more often refered to as "Misconduct in Public Office" ( http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/l_to_o/... ). It is very broad range in scope is always indictable and carries a maximum of "life in prison" (not 150 year maximum negotiable down to 12years which is what Bernie is looking at). Unfortunately it is rarely if never used these days the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is responsible for deciding if it "is in the public interest to prosecute" or not which is in no way the same as saying if the person is likely to be found guilty (although that is the way it is often expressed) The CPS look at two asspects to make their decission. One is a four part guidance as to what the required elements of misconduct in public office are, 1) A public officer acting as such. 2) That wilfully neglects to perform their duty and/or wilfully misconducts themselves. 3) To such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public's trust in the office holder. 4) Without reasonable excuse or justification. Of which the third and fourth parts give the CPS a great deal of latitude. Especially when considered within the light of the second aspect of "life in prison" as the maximum sentence. However as very unlikely as it is for a holder of "public office" to face being prosecuted there is now a new get out clause, "Are they really a person in Public Office" Due to "outsourcing" a number of jobs or roles are now carried out by people paid from the public purse but importantly "not directly so". Frequently they may well have been in "public office" prior to outsourcing and in all other respects are doing exactly the same job. That is the only difference is that they are currently employed by a "private company" that is directly on contract to part of Government. This covers the range from security guards to consultants (and possibly even Ministers). In the case of the upper end only the gossamer of being paid "not directly so" is the only difference between being and not being in Public Office so acts as a "stay out of jail free card". The question then arises what of organisations such as OfCom who wield considerable power and get all their "lawful authority" directly from Government as well as their funding, Where many of their employees are still in effect civil servants and appear for all practical purposes to still be carrying out a "public office" role... aikimark • August 20, 2009 10:19 AM Good news...an Israeli company claims to have a means to detect manufactured DNA. David Mery • August 20, 2009 12:45 PM There's a very good article by Professor William C. Thompson detailing 'The Potential for Error in Forensic DNA Testing (and How That Complicates the Use of DNA Databases for Criminal Identification)' Link to it and further comments in br -d HJohn • August 20, 2009 3:43 PM This is scary stuff, but framing someone is not new. Unless I'm misunderstanding, fabricating DNA evidence in a situation like this would require knowing their DNA makeup (as cited in the database). It may require some difficult controls and adjustment, but one technical step would be to segregate the duties. They could still resort to collusion, which is a lessened risk. Throughout history, we've had to deal with evidence planting, errant eyewitness identification, coerced confessions, etc. Even finger prints can be orchestrated (it isn't impossible to get someone to touch something or use something they have touched). DNA may not be as fool proof as we thought, but it is still just one more piece of evidence in pursuit of "reasonable doubt". This is still in its infancy. As stated in the article:" Fortunately, in identifying the problem, the researchers have come up with a solution. DNA inside human cells picks up a chemical modification called methylation; DNA amplified in a test tube doesn't." Just as old techniques were once new ones that matured, methylation testing may become less laborous and more timely.
Douglas Knight • August 20, 2009 7:06 PM Bruce, don't you usually pooh-pooh technical exploits like this? The much bigger problem is that the police send both samples to the same lab, that knows the police want them to match. For that matter, letting the police have a sample from the suspect lets them do anything they want. Clive Robinson • August 20, 2009 11:58 PM @ aikimark; "Good news...an Israeli company claims to have a means to detect manufactured DNA." It's the same people. The Authors of the paper have a start up called "Nucleix Ltd" See my "August 19, 2009 1:57 PM" post above ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/08/... ). Or am I missing some subtle humour here? Clive Robinson • August 21, 2009 12:55 AM @ Douglas Knight, "The much bigger problem is that the police send both samples to the same lab, that knows the police want them to match" There was a classic case of this in Scotland a few years ago where a Police Woman was sanctioned by her own force because one of her finger prints "supposedly" was in the crime scene. Eventually it went to court where it became clear that the fingerprint lab had made a significant mistake and would not admit it (nor does it to this day which undermines the credibility of all it's results). There are actually two really huge issues with forensic evidence that those in the field do not like to talk about because it reduces their credibility to near zero... The first is "interpretation", nearly all forensic results are not hard and fast science but art. The results of any test have to be interpreted by an expert in the field of endeavour within the context of the crime and presented to the court as "opinion" (expert hearsay). This means that almost overwhelmingly forensic evidence is "subjective" and has no chance of reaching the "burden of proof" required for a criminal "beyond reasonable doubt". Worse "opinion" lags "reality" a specific example of this is cocaine residue in US bank notes. It used to be used as an argument that the person had been in contact with a "class a" drug and was either a user or a dealer. After some independent research it was shown that the overwhelming majority of US bank notes in circulation where contaminated with cocaine therefore the residue was to be expected, not the exception. The second major issue is one of "noise". In any measurement process there are two main issues sensitivity and variation. That is to what level can a test be made and what is the percentage error of the test at any given level. However there is third issue which is starting to arise which is the very real law of physics that dictates there is a point at which measurements cannot be distinguished from noise. However noise comes in two forms the "noise floor" which is the physical limit and the "back ground noise" which is usually way above the "noise floor" and is caused by environmental issues. Most scientific tests are now at a sensitivity where they can measure well bellow the "back ground noise" level. One of the reasons DNA was seen as a forensic "Gold Standard" was it's supposed "infallibility" at being able to 100% determine the presence (or in argument absence) of a persons DNA at a crime scene. Unfortunately as I have been well aware since the early 1990's this is a complete nonsense, you only have to take a look at what is involved with a DNA test to realise just how fallible the test is to back ground noise and variations in test conditions and subjectivity of the operator. This is even before you start thinking about how to "game the test" to make false results (the old garbage in garbage out principle). What has consistently amazed me is how many people refuse to consider it or even investigate it. I think you can be safely assured that these researchers would not have published their findings on DNA fallibility if they had not found a solution to sell. Because history shows us they would have been shuned for trying to "kill the goose that lays the golden eggs" if they had not. The legal process right from the legislators at the very top down to the meagrest of court clerks does not want problems only solutions. Forensic technicians are only to aware of this, as "expert witnesses" the court wants and needs them to take the "bag of snakes and straighten them out" for the court to make a simple comparison. Well noise is the true Gordian knot of Forensics brushed under the carpet of faux science by the interpretation that is "expert opinion". If you go and sit on the side lines of a court you quickly realise that the only evidence judges can deal with is pieces of paper, and the only thing juries rely upon is the perceived credibility of those in the witness box. The only cases where this is not the case are those for which neither a judge nor jury are required to determine the likely hood of guilt. In the main Forensic Evidence is to a court proceeding what stage props are for a magician, and like any good magician the legal teams can paint just about any illusion they like with them just by altering the perspective by which the judge and jury view them in... David Mery • August 21, 2009 7:54 AM @John, "Clive forgot to say that, in the UK, we *do* have a database that will soon contain DNA samples from almost the entire population." That is not correct. The NDNAD has currently approx. 5.6 million DNA profiles of individuals. The replication rate is usually estimated at 13.7% by the NPIA so the number of individuals whose DNA profile is on the NDNAD is a bit less. That's approx. 7 to 8% of the UK population. Neither the government, nor the opposition has any plan to extend the NDNAD to the whole population. For an up-to-date overview of the current situation check out some of the responses to the Home Office consultation that closed earlier this month. GeneWatch UK has published several at http://www.genewatch.org/sub-564539 (mine is at http://gizmonaut.net/blog/uk/2009/08/... )
That's is somehow misleading as well. The ECtHR has ruled in S and Marper v. UK that the UK was breaching the ECHR, but the police have to abide by UK legislation so they're not technically ignoring the law. However most of the current rules are embodied not in legislation but in guidelines issued by the Association of Chief of Police Officers (a private company). Chief constables have a wide discretion, as owners of the DNA samples their forces take, and they could/should indeed ignore the advice from ACPO and be more forthcoming in deleting DNA profiles (and associated records and destruction the DNA samples) of innocents. For those on the NDNAD seeking help getting off it, check out http://reclaimyourdna.org/ br -d P.S. Bruce, if this gets posted, then you must have fixed the MT problem overnight. aikimark • August 21, 2009 1:18 PM @Clive I suspected it was the same researchers, which makes these two announcements very similar to an anti-virus company creating a unique virus and then announcing that they offer better protection, since they protect against particular viruses that they just 'discovered'. Ward S. Denker • August 25, 2009 8:31 PM Shane, I don't know if you're still following this thread but here's my response to to "C'mon... What's to stop the investigators themselves from planting (or 'finding') all the DNA they want at any crime scene already?" I did mention that I suspect it's easier to sneak fake evidence into a lockup. Real evidence in there may inadvertently trip up an otherwise perfect frame-up job, since the actual perpetrator may be discovered. This makes introducing false evidence in a fresh crime potentially dangerous to the individual who does it. After a crime has been unsolved for quite some time, the risk of additional real evidence being discovered which could ruin the frame-up would go down dramatically. Also, because this evidence can be fabricated from nothing but the DNA on file, there's not any need to try and collect DNA which is another point of failure - an increased risk of being caught framing a person. It's obvious that a frame job can be done even without the technology to fake the DNA itself. It's the ease with which this can now be accomplished and the difficulty of catching those responsible - since the technique is now, literally, down to a science - which makes this such a threat. Subscribe to comments on this entry Leave a comment
Powered by Movable Type. Photo at top by Per Ervland.
Schneier.com is a personal website. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Co3 Systems, Inc. |


text:
View Full Profile
Dr. Vikram Kumar Rao DDS
Is this you? Claim profile
Dr. Vikram Kumar Rao DDS is a male dentist, has 22 years of experience and practices in Family Dentistry.
Dr. Vikram Rao has
1 office location.
910 W Parker Rd
Ste 200
Plano, TX 75075
Phone Number
Locations and availability (1)
910 W Parker Rd
Ste 200
Plano, TX 75075
Phone Number
Locations and availability (1)
License & Identifications
A medical license is required for a doctor to practice medicine in a particular state. Requirements vary by state but most require, at a minimum, post-graduate training in the doctor's specific specialty. An NPI number is a national identifier unique to an individual health care provider and is managed by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Learn more about Dr. Vikram Rao:
View the full profile to get information on:
- Qualifications
- What's important to you
View full profile
Patient Reviews
No reviews yet…
be the first!
be the first!
Education & Awards
Dr. Rao graduated from Baylor College of Medicine, Houston.
More Education & AwardsAccepted Insurance Plans
Dr. Rao accepts these dental insurances in at least one office:
- Delta Dental - 1 plan
More Accepted Insurance
Similar doctors nearby
- Additional Information
- Where does Dr. Vikram K. Rao practice?
Dr. Vikram Rao practices Family Dentistry near Plano, TX.
See Plano Dentists.


text:
Find a copy in the library
Finding libraries that hold this item...
Genre/Form: | Television programs Dance television programs Cultural television programs Nonfiction television programs |
Material Type: | Videorecording |
Document Type: | Visual material |
All Authors / Contributors: |
Eve A Ma; Richard R Lee; K P Kunhiraman; Katherine Kunhiraman; Kalanjali (Dance company); Palomino Productions. |
OCLC Number: | 176902709 |
Notes: | Episode 1 in series The languages of sound & movement, 2005. Extras: additional commentary; about Palomino Productions. |
Credits: | Camera, William Hodgson ... [et al.] ; editors, Sandra Lodge, Eva A. Ma ; DVD authored by Michael Bloch. |
Performer(s): | Interviewees: Kalashetra K.P. and Katherine Kunhiraman. Performed by Kalanjali: Dances of India: K.P. Yesodha (solo dancer), Kamala Devam, Kali Futnani, Elizabeth Hayes, Swapna Kudilil, Prabha Nair, Priya Pandurang, Poonwatie Ramrattan, Asha Subas, Trishra Subas (dance troupe), Sasidaran Natarajan (singer), R. Kalaiarasan, Sankarapillai Sunil Kumar, Katherine Kunhiraman, Ramesh Baba K.P. (musicians). |
Description: | 1 videodisc (57 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. |
Details: | DVD-R, NTSC. |
Contents: | Dance to mother earth -- Tillana -- Kirtanam dance honoring Lord Krishna -- Musical Kirtanam -- Folk dance from Orissa. |
Series Title: | Languages of sound & movement., Episode 1. |
Other Titles: | Languages of sound & movement. Of beauty and deities Music & dance of India Music and dance of India |
Responsibility: | producer-executive director, Eve A. Ma ; studio director, Richard R. Lee ; created by Palomino Productions. |
Bharata natyam is an art form traditionally performed in Hindu temples by women considered 'married' to the deities ... With fast footwork and beautiful costumes, bharata natyam tells stories, and in one dance ... 'translated' the movements ... which amount to a form of sign language. Includes interviews with musicians, dancers, and Kalakshetra K.P. and Katherine Kunhiraman, the directors of the troupe. The interviews explore the religious and cultural traditions underlying Bharata-Natyam, the techniques of music and dance, and the dancers' personal backgrounds. Commentary is interspersed with dance performances, accompanied by live music.
User-contributed reviews
Add a review and share your thoughts with other readers.
Be the first.
Add a review and share your thoughts with other readers.
Be the first.
Add tags for "Of beauty & deities : music & dance of India".
Be the first.