[Holiday] Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and love to everyone, who celebrates Christmas. This post is not intended to be long, but the message it carries - The Geeky Guide to Nearly Everything wishes you enjoy your holiday and most of all, hoping that you are safe. Merry Christmas again and we shall get ready welcome the new year that is coming in a few days. :D

photo by stephanie carter, used under a creative common license

[Media] Time's Person of the Year

If you haven't had a chance to pick up the latest copy of Time Magazine for this week, then you may be surprised at who they've named as Person of the Year.

Believe it or not, it's YOU.

No seriously, you, the person reading this blog entry, are Time's Person of the Year. The reason behind this is all because of how the information age is driven by user content now, and I have to admit this analysis makes sense, in a way.

This is the year that blogging has truly come to the forefront in all areas whether in terms of political opinions or random ramblings of everyday people. This is the year that sites like YouTube and MySpace really allowed people to express themselves freely through user-generated content like home videos, original music and and many other things.

There have been mixed reactions to the issue - while some find it apt and appropriate, others find it a bit of a cop-out with it's somewhat cheesy "mirror" cover and the fact that there is no actual individual named as Person of Year.

Personally, I feel the issue does make sense. This has been a year for the internet user, for open source initiatives and Web 2.0 applications. This has been a year where the opinions of the individual have mattered more than ever, whether in terms of the success of a movie, the career or a politician or simply the popularity of a celebrity and the discover of new ones.

Heck, how often does one get to say that he's been named Person of the Year, right?

[Health] 'Cutting' the Risk of HIV

This is probably going to be one of the strangest health-related posts I'll be writing about here on the Guide.

There are now reports of an African study whose results show that circumcised men have a nearly 50% less chance of HIV infection as compared to uncircumcised men. Given how significant the initial results have been, the trials were put to a halt in order to report their findings, which also corroborate a previous study conducted in South Africa.

Of course, this is not to say that protection like condoms are no longer needed - it's just that circumcision now appears to be one of the factors when it comes to determining the likelihood of HIV infection.

I wonder if this will cause guys to run out to get themselves 'cut' now, haha. Sorry, I just can't resist the puns.

[UK] A New 'Ripper'

It appears there have been a string of murders in the Suffolk area, all of them involving young women who have been identified as prostitutes. Based on the news reports, it took some time before some of the women who had been identified as missing were found dead, their bodies dumped after the victims were murdered.

At this time, 5 women have gone missing and three of them have been confirmed dead while an additional two corpses have been found recently but a positive identification has yet to be made. A timeline of the murders and the discovery of the bodies follows (taken from the BBC website:



While the murders do not seem as elegant as the more famous Jack the Ripper cases of old, the nature of the crimes is somewhat similar and the media has been quick to jump on the band wagon by relating the two crimes. What is certain is that there is a serial killer at work in Suffolk and it's clearly imperative that the murder be found.

It's somewhat bothersome that these kinds of things happen, no matter how "civilized" we claim to be in there more "modern" times. I suppose there's no stopping such strong mental directives when they come along.

[The Web] The New Yahoo?

This week, the news broke that online content provider Yahoo! was reorganizing their structure, a change that included a number of fairly major changes in their executive ranks.

Among the major changes included CFO Susan Decker now poised to be next in line for the position of CEO Terry Semel and the departure of COO Daniel Rosensweig from the company. The change, which many consider to be long overdue, has been done primarily to revitalize the company's focus in light of declining revenue due to other, perhaps more dynamic, online competitors such as Google and even social networking site MySpace and video sharing site YouTube, to name a few.

On my side, I've always found Yahoo! to be a bit too diverse for its own good. There are just so many things going on over there that none of them really stand out on their own. Their best products, among them photo hosting site Flickr and social bookmarking service del.icio.us, have all been external acquisitions but the company really hasn't made any serious innovations.

Their homepage is overwhelming with the number of services being offered that one can't blame people for going elsewhere for more focused products. I've always felt that Yahoo! has become the proverbial Jack-of-all-trades while mastering none of them, something that can be deadly in these highly competitive times.

The reorganization has Yahoo! divided into three primary divisions: Audiences, which includes most of their consumer content, Advertises and Publishers, which of course covers their advertising revenue unit, and lastly Technology, which just may be what the company needs to push greater innovation amongst its products.

This is definitely going to help Yahoo! remain viable in 2007 although I doubt this is the only change they'll be making in order to reclaim the top spot in the online community, if ever they are able to attain even this.

[Beta] Welcome Haochi!

I'm very pleased to announce the first of hopefully many contributing authors joining the Geeky Guide.

Haochi Chen, perhaps better known for his Googlified blog, has agreed to join the Geeky Guide team so expect to see entries from him in the coming weeks. Don't let his age fool you - this young man has a keen mind and a deft writing hand as you can clearly see from the quality of the entires he writes about over on Googlified.

Remember, the Geeky Guide is still looking for more authors or bloggers who are interested in contributing to the site in order to truly make it a guide to "Nearly Everyhing"

Enjoy!

[Beta] Looking for Bloggers!

Hey Everyone!

While I enjoy what I've accomplished with the Geeky Guide thus far, I really think the site could use other points of view in order to truly become a resource for learning more about "Nearly Everything" when you get down to it.

In line with this, I'm officially inviting like-minded bloggers to contribute to the Geeky Guide! All you need is a Blogger beta account so I can invite you as an Author for the blog.

Of course, there is no limitation when it comes to topics as long as you remain open-minded to all views and of course willing to contribute your valuable time to the development of this site. Currently I'm able to primarily discuss science and technology items, world affairs and politics, some items on entertainment and even health. If you're interested in writing about these and other items, just send in a sample of your work to my email address and we'll talk more about what I'm hoping for in terms of the Guide.

Don't be shy now! I'm sure the Geeky Guide will be more than willing to hear what you have to say!

[The Web] CNET Editor Found Dead

For the past few days, I've been following the news about the disappearance of CNet editor James Kim and his family in Oregon after getting stranded on their way back from Thanksgiving.

Their disappearance had been noticed by November 28 when they failed to show up for their appointments and were no longer in communication either by email or mobile phone. A massive search was started and CNET followed every minute of it, trying to gather any leads and of course giving internet readers a chance to share their concern for the family along with a website put up by family and friends.

Things became hopeful when his wife Katiand their daughters Penelope and Sabine were found still inside their car. They had kept the heater on for heat and when the gasoline had run out, they burned the tires to keep themselves warmed. Kati went as far as breastfeeding the girls in order to keep them alive. It was said that they were located mainly because of a limited cell phone signals in the area that were used to determine their general location.

When pieces of his clothing were discovered, searchers found more cause for hope and assume Kim was trying to lead some sort of trail. The family was planning to go as far as air-dropping survival rations along the route they were assuming he was on so he could survive longer.

In the end, all was for naught when his body was discovered today, the exact condition of his remains undisclosed at this time.

Theirs was a staggering ordeal and it's a miracle his wife and two kids survived more than 9 days in the freezing cold with limited supplies to rely on. While it's a terrible loss to his family and to the internet community at large, one has to admire their courage in the face of adversity.

Rest in peace, James Kim.

[US Politics] The Start of Something Big

In the past few days, we've seen a lot of interesting changes over at the old White House - many of them more than welcome, on my part, in these rather challenging times for the Bush administration.

First on my little list is the resignation of John Bolton, the somewhat controversial US ambassador to the UN. Opinions are flying left and right that his resignation was a way for him to preempt non-confirmation next year when the Democrats assume the House and the Senate. I for one have to agree with that perception - both Democrats and some Republicans were up in arms when he was nominated and it was only through a Recess Appointment by President Bush. Of course it's now also reported that Bush was very reluctant in accepting his resignation, but then again never did know when to back down and just stop sticking to his guns like the silly little cowboy he tends to be.

With one person leaving, another came in as the Senate rather quickly confirmed the appointment of Robert Gates as the new Secretary of Defense, filling up the post left empty by the departure of Donald Rumsfeld. What made Gates a shoe-in for the Democrats is just how far he is from the warped perceptions of the Administration by being bold enough to admit that the US was not winning the war in Iraq and generally taking a stance worlds away from the usual "stay the course" garbage we'd hear from everyone in the Bush cabinet. Perhaps he's the kind of fresh face that needs to become involved in this conflict since more and more and political solution appears to be needed more than a military one. Of course, that'll mean getting the full support of the House, one that will be under Democrat control come next year. Thus, Gates was confirmed pretty much just a day after the Senate committee interviewed him.

Of course the biggest news item of the day is the release of the Iraq Study Group Report, also known as the Baker Report (download the report via USIP.org). The report details the findings of the independent bi-partisan committee led by former Secretary of Defense James Baker III and former Democratic congressman Lee H. Hamilton.

The report doesn't discuss anything we didn't know already - that there need to be drastic changes in the US foreign policy in Iraq, that the situation is getting more and more dangerous and that the US needed an exit strategy and that the way out of Iraq was through talking with nearby countries like Iran and Syria along with other more specific recommendations. The report alone is nothing without actual action seen coming from the Oval Office, a duty that remains with George W. Bush. Who knows how he's going to receive the report since he's been pretty clear in recent days to put disclaimers left and right how the Baker Report was ultimately just a list of suggestions and that the White House would be the one to make a final decision in Iraq.

But given the other changes so far and the many more we all know are coming just around the corner, can the President afford to continue to "stay the course"? Or will he find the guts to admit the error of his ways and start working together with the Democratic Senate and House of Representatives? Only time can truly tell.

[Science] Moving to the Moon

In somewhat geekier circles, the news has started to circulate about NASA's plans to not only return to the moon but to establish a permanent settlement there by the year 2024.

On it's website, NASA explains the three primary reasons for man returning to the moon.

1.) Human Civilization
2.) Scientific Knowledge
3.) Exploration Preparation
4.) Global Partnerships
5.) Economic Expansion
6.) Public Engagement

Their reasoning seems sound enough and perhaps this is the kind of high profile project that the organization needs to revive public interest in space exploration and thus provide additional funding for future projects. It's been a while since NASA has done anything really big, especially in light of recent tragedies. Our last manned mission to the moon was the Apollo 17 mission in December of 1972.

Personally, I'm pretty excited about this. This news item, coupled with Stephen Hawking's recent statements about the importance of humanity colonizing other worlds should definitely generate a lot of support and interest in the agency in the coming years. Let's just hope they succeed, since this could be the start of some pretty amazing things to come.

[US Politics] The Rumsfeld Memo

In what has become typical for The New York Times, the newspaper has released another landmark story about a memo released by Donald Rumsfeld before he resigned, which revealed he believed the war was not going well and had made several alternative proposals for what could be done.

This is somewhat shocking news considering he and the rest of the Bush Administration had been consistently refuting allegations there was a need to change strategies in Iraq. For Rumsfeld, one of the primary architects behind the war in Iraq, to make such statements is another blow to the Bush administration's unified front claiming the war needs to continue on at more or less the same pace.

What does this mean to the rest of us? Probably not too much for the former Secretary of Defense given he's already left the position. This will have some effects on current US foreign policy in Iraq given the new Democratic leadership take their place come January.

It's somewhat ironic that some of the recommendations in Rumsfeld's memo are purported to be very similar to some of the proposals being formed by the current bi-partisan committee looking into the war and what the country's options will be in the future.

Only time can tell, really. January should be rather interesting.

[Google] Not So Good a Week

This hasn't been one of the best weeks for Google given everything that's happened. Admittedly, I'm focusing on two major events for the week.

First off, after getting past the $500 share value mark, Google's stock came back down to earth after Barron's had projected the stock would go down. At the time of this entry Google stock is valued at 484.80 USD per share.



Also this week, the news came out that Google was retiring Google Answers as was confirmed by an Official Google Blog entry. Answers was one of Google's earliest services that allowed people to place a price on subjects they needed help researching. It'll be a shame to see it go and already people have started petitions to bring the service back like the Save Google Answers initiative.

It's unlikely that it'll work since clearly retiring Answers is more of a business decision that one out of whim.