Justin's Linklog Posts

hooray, those Next/Prev links are now implemented. I knew sitemap support in WebMake would come in handy, eventually. If you’re using Mozilla, switch on that View -> Show -> Site Navigation Bar and hyperventilate with excitement.

Some day I should start adding titles to all these blog items… some day when I have a lot of time on my hands, that is.

some changes around these parts, in case you haven’t noticed. Firstly, I’ve caved, and adopted the de-facto std of having a sidebar. Everyone’s doing it, and I just want to fit in.

Secondly, there’s now an RSS feed, at the request of Bernie at topgold. All you folks with yer fancy news aggregators and what-not can now add taint.org/rss10.xml to the blogrolling list.

Thirdly, I’ve deprecated my old home page content, replacing it with this blog. After all, an infrequently-updated website is a useless website, and this is my most frequently-updated site these days.

I’ve been ogg-encoding my CD collection. Soundtrack for today:

• Future Sound of London, Dead Cities

• Philip Glass, Koyaanisqatsi

(Update, Feb 2007: This PSA may be relevant to this story, possibly.)

it seems a herbal remedy which “mystified and delighted doctors when it cured prostate cancer”, in fact contained hefty quantities of synthetic drugs (link):

We do have to admit that these are not natural substances … and that at least some, if not all, of the biological activity has to be attributed to these synthetic compounds.

Date: Sun, 08 Sep 2002 19:25:37 +0100
From: Rachel Carthy (spam-protected)
To: (spam-protected)
Subject: Um, is diethystilbestrol a herb?

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020903/sc_nm/health_cancer_prostate_dc_1

‘Alternative’ Prostate Medicine Contains Drugs Tue Sep 3, 3:53 PM ET

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A so-called alternative herbal compound that mystified and delighted doctors when it cured prostate cancer in fact contained strong drugs that can only be made in the laboratory, researchers said on Tuesday.

Called PC-SPES, the compound was pulled off the market in February when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it contained prescription-only ingredients.

A team of Czech and U.S. researchers confirmed that the allegedly natural preparation contains the prescription bloodthinner warfarin, an analgesic called indomethacin and an artificial version of estrogen.

“These are synthetic compounds and under the circumstances we don’t have a good explanation for their finding their way into this preparation,” Dr. Robert Nagourney of Rational Therapeutics in Long Beach, California, who led the study, said in a telephone interview.

Nagourney advocates the use of standard drugs and alternative therapies to treat cancer and was hoping to find out how PC-SPES worked.

PC-SPES — the name combines “PC” for prostate cancer and the Latin world “spes” which means hope — astonished doctors soon after it was introduced in 1996. Its maker, BotanicLabs of Brea, California, said it contained seven Chinese or Indian herbs plus saw palmetto.

No clinical studies showed how well it worked against prostate cancer, which affects 189,000 American men a year and kills 30,000. But anecdotal evidence showed it could help even advanced prostate cancer patients.

“That was what launched my interest in the mid-1990s,” said Nagourney, whose team published its findings in this week’s issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

ACTIVE INGREDIENT

“We were already trying it in patients. I was seeing objective responses. I was very anxious to see if we could isolate the active ingredient.”

But Nagourney’s team could not make their own mixture of the eight plant products work.

So they sent PC-SPES to the labs of Milos Sovak of the University of California San Diego, who worked with colleagues in the Czech Republic to analyze it.

That was when they found the rogue ingredients, which should only be used under a doctor’s supervision.

The estrogen component, diethystilbestrol, could itself explain many of the effects of the product, Nagourney said. The hormone estrogen is sometimes used to treat prostate cancer.

Indomethacin also may have properties that work against tumor cells, as do other drugs in the same class, the researchers said.

Warfarin can cause dangerous bleeding and in October 2001 doctors in Seattle reported a case of severe bleeding in a man who was taking PC-SPES.

“We do have to admit that these are not natural substances … and that at least some, if not all, of the biological activity has to be attributed to these synthetic compounds,” Nagourney said.

He has not given up hope, however. “There are meritorious natural products that need to be explored,” Nagourney said. He said all “alternative” remedies should be scientifically tested, as drugs are.

BotanicLab, which closed in June, had warned customers to stop using its product and throw away any unused capsules. —

“The good Christian should be aware of mathematicians and all those who make empty promises. The danger already exists that the mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine man in the bonds of Hell.” St Augustine of Hippo, late 4th C AD.

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Ireland: EircomTribunal.com, which highlights very effectively, and quite humourously, the current situation with the internet fiasco in Ireland. This is sure to be sued into oblivion very shortly ;)

Via forteana: Quorn, the yummy meat-substitute, has been having a hard time of it recently. First, there’s a court case going on in the US at the moment, where some people are suing the company claiming that Quorn makes them puke — now the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority is requiring that they get rid of claims of its “mushroom” origins, and note more clearly that it’s a mycoprotein.

But hey, anyone who thinks eating “real” meat bought in a an average supermarket is a good idea, can stick with that, as the hormones turn them into hirsute, uddered bovines. I’m happy with my mostly-veggie diet.

Gordon Rutter, fungus expert at forteana, notes in passing:

A few years ago there was a court case about mushroom soup – the majority are actually made with boletes rather than what people would think of as mushrooms. The reason is that mushrooms don’t preserve very well whereas boletes do and people did not want lumpy bits of black putrescence floating in their soup.

He also notes that the Quorn fungus is a tiny bit more closely related to the fungus that causes athlete’s foot, than it is to a mushroom. urgh. Now I feel sick.

Date: Wed, 04 Sep 2002 09:51:00 +0100
From: “Gordon Rutter” (spam-protected)
To: (spam-protected)
Subject: Re: Mmm, fungal

There are lots of historical precedents over this sort of argument – a few years ago there was a court case about mushroom soup – the majority are actually made with boletes rather than what people would think of as mushrooms. The reason is that mushrooms don’t preserve very well whereas boletes do and people did not want lumpy bits of black putrescence floating in their soup. Thsi was eventually got over when “experts” were brought in to testify that in common useage mushroom refered to something of a particular shape that was fungal in origin and edible.

The quorn people have a bit of problem with names and thigns – a couple of years ago they were informed they were using a totally different species to the one they were telling everyone – who says taxonomists don’t have a job to do.

BTW the species they use is a parasite of grasses which is carcinogenic in humans! Oh to be totally exact it’s a mutated form which is no longer carcinogenic. When BSE hit the headlines quorn production literally doubled over the space of however long it takes to build a fermenter – best thing that could have happened fro them business wise.

Gordon

As previously mentioned –

http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,2763,785679,00.html

Quorn ‘meat’ must be sold as fungus

James Meikle, health correspondent

Wednesday September 4, 2002

The Guardian

The advertising standards authority has declared that the Quorn brand of meat substitutes has been misleading the public by referring to their key ingredient as a “mushroom protein”.

It has told manufacturers Marlow Foods to delete the claim from advertising unless it also gives equal prominence to either the ingredient’s fungal origin or explains its technical origin as a mycoprotein, found naturally in the soil but then put in a glucose medium and fermented.

The food industry is already under investigation by the food standards agency for being too ready to use label descriptions that imply natural, country goodness.

The authority’s decision was in response to complaints from the mushroom industry which alleged that Quorn’s makers were trying to transfer “agreeable associations consumers have with mushrooms” to their product, and from the Centre for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a US not-for-profit organisation. These related to three magazine advertisements implying that Quorn mince and burgers were “made from a natural mushroom protein”.

But there was some good news for Quorn. The food agency has refused to have the range withdrawn from sale despite the CPSI’s consistent questioning of the products’ safety record.

Marlow Foods, based in north Yorkshire, agreed to suspend the term “mushroom protein” from its promotional material. The chairman of the food agency, Sir John Krebs, has already suggested the term “fungal” was rather more accurate than “mushroom” when it came to decribing the ingredient’s origin.

The company said last night: “We accept the ASA’s ruling. We have always strived to provide meaningful consumer information. We will take the ASA’s comments into account when planning any future advertising.”

man, this is so cool. “A self-organising electronic circuit has stunned engineers by turning itself into a radio receiver. This … followed an experiment to see if an automated design process … could be used to breed an oscillator. …. When they looked more closely they found that, despite producing an oscillating signal, the circuit itself was not actually an oscillator. Instead, it was behaving more like a radio receiver, picking up a signal from a nearby computer and delivering it as an output.” New Scientist, via BoingBoing.

excellent, Mozilla 1.1 supports site navigation via LINK tags; check the menu under View -> Show/Hide -> Site Navigation Bar. About time too! (he said ungratefully.) Now to figure out some time in the nearish future to fix this blog to use the goddamn things. (via Danny)

so, everyone knows that Nigerian Scam, “help us embezzle lots of developing-world money that got lost somehow during some coup”, that kind of thing. Well, Theo Van Dinter forwards a new take on it:

I am an Uruk of Mordor, charged with the discovery of a number of valuable treasures within Moria. It has come to my notice that the mithril hoard previously owned by Ori of the land of Moria has been found by one of our cave-trolls. Under our laws, the hoard will be shared between our lord Sauron and the local Balrog, but so far neither knows the extent of the treasure.

Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2002 23:04:58 -0400
From: Theo Van Dinter (spam-protected)
To: (spam-protected)
Subject: Mordor Scam

I caught this on another mailing list and hadn’t seen it here yet. Thought you folks would enjoy it. :)

Dear Sir,

I am an Uruk of Mordor, charged with the discovery of a number of valuable treasures within Moria. It has come to my notice that the mithril hoard previously owned by Ori of the land of Moria has been found by one of our cave-trolls. Under our laws, the hoard will be shared between our lord Sauron and the local Balrog, but so far neither knows the extent of the treasure.

Sir, I come to you as a respectful businessperson in order that we may derive some profit ourselves from this venture, I would wish that I could arrange for the transfer of half of the find to yourself, costing roughly 20,000 silver pennies. From this amount, I will then arrange for a further such that 25% remains your own, 5% goes for sundry costs (including hire of strong Rohan horses for use in transportation), 5% is given in bribe to the cave troll to ensure the quantity reported to our respective Lords is adjusted, 65% belongs to myself and my fellow Orcs.

In order that this be accomplished, I ask only that you provide details of:

Your willingness to participate in this venture,

Confirmation that you will not speak of this venture to anyone else, or wear any magic rings,

Your race and land of residence,

The location of your local Palantir or identity of your preferred message-carrying bird or beast,

Your given name, and any name you are known by in the Western lands,

The number of ponies you possess.

I look forward to your returning correspondence, which can be whispered to any passing magpie. I trust that you will ensure that no other dark feathered birds come to hear of this transaction.

latest bizarre Japanese sex fetish: “There weren’t any particular standards regarding who was hired. I suppose the only requirement was an ability to stand erect after being kicked in the balls”. (via forteana, of course) (Link)

Date: Mon, 02 Sep 2002 12:35:39 -0700
From: Brian Chapman (spam-protected)
To: (spam-protected) (spam-protected)
Subject: The Japanese are a creative people

http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/waiwai/index.html

Tarzan Yagi, a former porno actor who turned to making adult movies when he went soft four years ago, has been one of the driving forces behind the production of ball kicking videos.

“You can’t use professional actors, because you’re making films about men being kicked in their most vital organ. If you did use them, they’d soon be put out of work. So we advertised in S&M magazines and over the Internet to find guys to appear in tamakeri videos. We had over 200 applicants. There weren’t any particular standards regarding who was hired. I suppose the only requirement was an ability to stand erect after being kicked in the balls,” Yagi tells Shukan Taishu, with a laugh.

etc.

I must get around to changing the text at the top of the front page; nowadays, half of this blog is stuff I want me to read — a kind of public “must read when I get a chance” list.

Here’s one for “must try when I get a chance”: The hackerslab.org Free Hacking Zone. It’s a simulated-hacking game, with increasing levels of difficulty, simulating a system you have to crack at each level. Sounds like fun…

(again — well, not really) Looks like the South Pole will have fiber a hell of a lot sooner than I will.

IBEC’s Telecommunications User Group has again criticised the current broadband situation in this country:

“IStream (Eircom’s digital subscriber line service) does not provide an affordable broadband solution for business or households.” … “A basic monthly DSL price of EUR 30 to 40 is needed to stimulate adequate demand, while iStream costs the user a connection fee of EUR 199.65 and a monthly fee of EUR 107.69.”

In terms of cost, (they) referred to a benchmarking study carried out by Forfas in March, which found that Ireland is ranked as the most expensive country in the (small to medium-size business) category.

It’s good to see some backup for what is, broadly, IrelandOffline‘s positions, from other organisations. Let’s hope these datapoints will eventually trickle into the consciousness of Irish small businesses and the media; it’s truly shocking how little coverage this absurd state of affairs gets.

After 5 years of DSL trialling, cronyism, monopoly, and waffle from government, we’re still almost exactly where we started. This I already knew. What I’d never noticed before is that nobody in this country seems to care, or is bothered to understand the issues. Even Australia would be giving front-page coverage to this crap, yet over here you’re lucky to see any coverage at all in the news media.

It’s very tempting just to leave Ireland — again! — and go somewhere where these things have been sorted out already, and stay there, at least until Ireland cops on. As you can probably guess, it’s a pet peeve at the moment. ;)

Comics (or is it Games?): I can commiserate — the Mutant Slug Genghis Khan boss is a bugger. Wigu, via Memepool.

The Scotsman, with some hilarious reports of squaddie culture shock:

“British marines returning from an operation deep in the Afghan mountains spoke last night of an alarming new threat – being propositioned by swarms of gay local farmers. … “We were pretty shocked … we discovered from the Afghan soldiers we had with us that a lot of men in this country have the same philosophy as ancient Greeks: ‘a woman for babies, a man for pleasure’.”

… the locals began pestering Afghan troops attached to the marines with ever more outrageous compensation demands – topping off at a demand from one village elder for $500 (£300) for damage to a tree by the downdraft from helicopters. … “I managed to barter him down to two marine pens, a pencil and a rubber,” Major Joyce said. “He went away quite happy .”

Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 18:09:07 -0600
From: Rob Solarion (spam-protected)
Subject: “Lookin’ for love in all the wrong places … “

Source: http://www.news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?id=V1752002&tid==1

Startled marines find Afghan men all made up to see them

Chris Stephen In Bagram

BRITISH marines returning from an operation deep in the Afghan mountains spoke last night of an alarming new threat – being propositioned by swarms of gay local farmers.

An Arbroath marine, James Fletcher, said: “They were more terrifying than the al-Qaeda. One bloke who had painted toenails was offering to paint ours. They go about hand in hand, mincing around the village.”

While the marines failed to find any al-Qaeda during the seven-day Operation Condor, they were propositioned by dozens of men in villages the troops were ordered to search.

“We were pretty shocked,” Marine Fletcher said. “We discovered from the Afghan soldiers we had with us that a lot of men in this country have the same philosophy as ancient Greeks: ‘a woman for babies, a man for pleasure’.”

Originally, the marines had sent patrols into several villages in the mountains near the town of Khost, hoping to catch up with al-Qaeda suspects who last week fought a four-hour gun battle with soldiers of the Australian SAS. The hardened troops, their faces covered in camouflage cream and weight down with weapons, radios and ammunition, were confronted with Afghans wanting to stroke their hair.

“It was hell,” said Corporal Paul Richard, 20. “Every village we went into we got a group of men wearing make-up coming up, stroking our hair and cheeks and making kissing noises.”

At one stage, troops were invited into a house and asked to dance. Citing the need to keep momentum in their search and destroy mission, the marines made their excuses and left. “They put some music on and ask us to dance. I told them where to go,” said Cpl Richard. “Some of the guys turned tail and fled. It was hideous.”

The Afghan hill tribes live in some of the most isolated communities in the country. “I think a lot of the problem is that they don’t have the women around a lot,” said another marine, Vaz Pickles. “We only saw about two women in the whole six days. It was all very disconcerting.”

A second problem the British found came minutes after the first helicopter touched down at one of the hilltop firebases, when local farmers appeared demanding compensation for goats they claimed had been blown off the mountains by the rotor blades. “Every time we landed a Chinook near a village, we got some irate bloke running up to us saying his goat has just got blown off the mountain ridge by the helicopter – and then he demanded a hundred dollars compensation,” said Major Phil Joyce, commander of Whisky Company, one of four companies deployed.

As patrols moved away from the landing zones, the locals began pestering Afghan troops attached to the marines with ever more outrageous compensation demands – topping off at a demand from one village elder for $500 (£300) for damage to a tree by the downdraft from helicopters.

But the marines were under orders to win the “hearts and minds” of local farmers in what is one of the few remaining Taleban bastions. “I managed to barter him down to two marine pens, a pencil and a rubber,” Major Joyce said. “He went away quite happy .”

given that IBM was granted more software patents than any other U.S. company in 2001, this screenshot is quite appropriate, really. “e-business is the game, play to win”, indeed…

a conservative MP in Oz is to spend a day as a “slave”, working for the madam of Langtree’s brothel in the mining town of Kalgoorlie. (via forteana)

Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 13:31:25 +0100
From: “Tim Chapman” (spam-protected)
To: forteana (spam-protected)
Subject: Brothel duty for Australian MP

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2218715.stm

Tuesday, 27 August, 2002, 11:00 GMT 12:00 UK Brothel duty for Australian MP

A conservative Member of Parliament in Australia is set to spend the day as a “slave” at one of Western Australia’s most notorious brothels. Liberal Party member Barry Haase was “won” in a charity auction after the madam of Langtree’s brothel in the mining town of Kalgoorlie made the highest offer for his services for a day.

Mary-Anne Kenworthy made a bid of A$1,000 ($540) in the local Rotary Club auction and said she intended “to have a lot of fun with him.” Ms Kenworthy told the BBC’s World Today programme that she had a packed timetable planned for Mr Haase to educate him in the ways of a brothel.

“I am going to put a frilly apron on him and start him cleaning at 10 in the morning to show him our brothel is spotlessly clean and not all brothels are dirty,” Ms Kenworthy said.

“Secondly he is going on a tour at 12 o’clock – we do tours of our brothels

• and at two clock he is going to take the tour out wearing my tour hat,”

she added.

Long history

Ms Kenworthy said she would tell Mr Haase about the long history of Kalgoorlie’s association with the oldest profession.

The gold-mining town has boasted the presence of an open brothel for 100 years, she said. But she stressed that there was a serious side to the day as she hoped to influence Mr Haase’s opinion on brothels.

“I hope he will leave with an informed decision on what Australian brothels are all about and it will help him in his political career to make informed decisions that he might not have been able to make before,” Ms Kenworthy said.

Mr Haase, a member of Prime Minister John Howard’s party seemed relaxed about the prospect of working in a brothel. “You can’t be half-hearted about fundraising for significant charities and I think I’m big enough to play the game,” he said.

more than 70,000 Aussies declared themselves as Jedi Knights when asked to define their religion in last year’s census, reports the Guardian (via forteana).