Samwise rides again

From Despertar de la Costa …

El turista estadunidense Adrián Ruiz, de 24 años, fue atacado por un tiburón tigre frente al hotel Mi Casa es su Casa, de Troncones, cuando surfeaba a unos trescientos metros de la orilla; el animal le mordió el muslo derecho y le casuó la muerte por pérdida de sangre.

De acuerdo con la información recabada afuera del hospital naval militar de Ixtapa, el técnico de Teléfonos de México Arturo Zepeda Villalvazo explicó que cerca de las 7:30 de la tarde comía en el área del restaurante de Mi Casa es su Casa, donde efectúa trabajos de su empresa, cuando unos surfistas sacaron del mar a la víctima con una mordedura de tiburón en su pierna derecha.

Ante esta situación de emergencia el empleado de Telmex no dudo en dar auxilio al turista extranjero, ante la carencia de cuerpos de socorro en esta zona turística, y trasladó al estadunidense en su agonía a bordo de la camioneta Ford de modelo reciente, de color blanco, con placas GZ-23-767 de Guerrero, marcada con el numero económico 505414, a recibir atención médica.

Adrián Ruiz ayer había llegado a este destino turístico del municipio de La Unión para disfrutar de placenteras vacaciones en compañía de seis amigos norteamericanos. Sin embargo, el destino lo alcanzó al ser atacado por un tiburón tigre que, a decir de algunos buzos de este balneario, merodea la costa de Troncones.

El médico del hospital naval que recibió al turista originario de San Francisco, California, pudo establecer a los pocos minutos de su ingreso a la institución que la víctima falleció en el trayecto al hospital, por lo que se procedió a dar aviso al Ministerio Publico en Atención al Turista para que se hiciera cargo de las diligencias de la defunción.

La habitante de Troncones Julieta Altamirano manifestó su consternación por este lamentable hecho y reprochó a las autoridades municipales que no se preocupan por este destino turístico, pues las playas no cuentan con señalamientos ni mucho menos salvavidas ni instituciones de auxilio, por lo que coincidió con varias personas que en esta costa constantemente hay turistas apunto de ahogarse.

Entrevistado al respecto, el segundo oficial de resguardo marítimo federal de la Capitanía de Puerto, José Ángel Lara Magaña, El Angel del Mar, sostuvo que luego de conocer del ataque de este animal reconoció que algunos buzos han mencionado la presencia de un tiburón tigre, pero en toda la costa del Pacífico no se había registrado un ataque de esta naturaleza.

Al respecto, aseguró que este día comenzarán acciones con palangres para extinguir al escualo en coordinación con la Armada de México. Indicó que estos animales se encuentran en zonas de aguas frías y turbias, entre el oleaje de mediana profundidad, a una distancia de lo por lo menos 300 metros de la orilla. Explicó que este hecho no representa amenaza para los bañistas.

Por su parte, su compañero de viaje Brant Helms y un vecino de Troncones, que dijo llamarse Osman Altamirano, auxiliaron al Adrián Ruiz para sacarlo del agua y trasportarlo en la camioneta de Telmex al hospital naval militar de Ixtapa, quienes no daban crédito a lo ocurrido en su primer día de vacaciones.

La víctima presentaba una herida de 38 centímetros de largo, desde su cadera hasta cerca de su rodilla; la mordedura le desprendió piel, tejido celular, subcutáneo y músculos.

Conocedores estiman que este animal podría tener un peso aproximado de entre doscientos y trescientos kilos, y podría derivarse haber comido carne humana con la pérdida de un turista que se ahogó en esta misma zona hace unos 15 días, pues su cuerpo no ha sido recuperado.

From Reuters via SMH …

A shark has killed an American tourist surfing in western Mexico, police say, the second fatal attack along North America’s Pacific coast in four days.

A shark bit 24-year-old San Francisco resident Adrian Ruiz in the leg, opening a 38cm wound from his hip to his knee and exposing his femur

Ruiz, who was surfing near the beach town of Troncones, 35km north of the Ixtapa holiday resort, was pulled to the beach by a friend.

“He was rushed in a bystander’s vehicle to the military naval hospital, where he died soon after from blood loss,”

On Friday, a 66-year-old man was attacked and killed by a shark in the ocean near San Diego in the United States, the first person to die in a shark encounter off Southern California in nearly 50 years.

Fatal shark attacks in Mexico are also uncommon. The last one was in the Caribbean in 1997

No one has been killed by a shark on Mexico’s Pacific coast in over 30 years

Attacks on the Atlantic coast are more frequent, especially in Florida, which has about 25 to 30 a year.

Animal news from Fox news …

A Ukrainian official says a bear fatally mauled a woman who wandered into its cage on an animal farm.

the middle-aged woman may have been drunk when she stepped into the cage Monday on a farm outside the eastern city of Donetsk.

He says one of the two bears inside the cage then attacked the woman.

He said Tuesday that officials were trying to figure out how she got into the cage unnoticed.

There have been a number of cases of animal attacks involving intoxicated zoo and farm visitors in Ukraine, where safety rules are often neglected.

The Hawaii Open Source Education Foundation …

We are a collection of volunteer citizens, students, professionals, retirees, and other members of the general public.

There is no criteria or qualification other than that you want to learn or do more.

What we do is promote and sustain the use of Free and Open Source Software. This is software with source code owned by the general public rather than a specific individual or company.

We sustain its use by collecting, refurbishing, and donating hardware running open source software like the k12ltsp to schools and other non-profit organizations. With the donation of hardware, we provide the installation, training and support to make it useful. We promote its use by sponsoring classes, seminars, meetings, and conferences.

In addition to donating hardware, we focus on education. Throughout the year we have classes demonstrating specific strengths of open source software.

As a publicly supported charitable non-profit we do not have resources invested in any particular location.

Like many states, Hawaii needs to save money. We are dependent on software and information technologies that are developed on the mainland at great cost to our taxpayers and at diminished profit to our entrepreneurs. This is a cost that some eventually may not be able to afford. The per seat software licensing fee for many schools, businesses, and government agencies comes at the expense of needed public services. We can change this.

By using openly sourced software, our local graduates and professionals control the code. It enables local businesses and individuals to provide the support and training our schools, charities, and government need and often pay outrageous rates for. By keeping the software cycle of development, testing, and deployment local, our economy grows stronger. The money not spent with proprietary software vendors stays here.

Schools are starved for resources. They can ill afford software licensing fees when teachers are underpaid, books are outdated, and facilities are decaying. Open Source Software benefits them two-fold: by eliminating certain and costly licensing fees and, more importantly, by exposing interested students to the source code that makes programs work.

By installing and supporting Open Source Computer labs, HOSEF is building the technology work force that can support and sustain businesses operating OSS. By hosting workshops, classes, conferences, and seminars, we are educating our Business, Education, Legal, and Government communities about the ramifications of choosing or not choosing OSS solutions.

They are very Linux/GPL centric, and some of the stuff in their About section is questionable, I also get the impression that they feel free open source is always the best solution, however it seems like an admirable cause and should they be interested in expanding their repertoire or knowledge base here in Hilo, I would be more than happy to help.

From Reuters via Yahoo-oo-oo …

Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men’s penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft.

Reports of so-called penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, where belief in traditional religions and witchcraft remains widespread, and where ritual killings to obtain blood or body parts still occur.

Rumors of penis theft began circulating last week in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo’s sprawling capital of some 8 million inhabitants. They quickly dominated radio call-in shows, with listeners advised to beware of fellow passengers in communal taxis wearing gold rings.

Purported victims, 14 of whom were also detained by police, claimed that sorcerers simply touched them to make their genitals shrink or disappear, in what some residents said was an attempt to extort cash with the promise of a cure.

Police arrested the accused sorcerers and their victims in an effort to avoid the sort of bloodshed seen in Ghana a decade ago, when 12 suspected penis snatchers were beaten to death by angry mobs. The 27 men have since been released.

“I’m tempted to say it’s one huge joke,”

“But when you try to tell the victims that their penises are still there, they tell you that it’s become tiny or that they’ve become impotent. To that I tell them, ‘How do you know if you haven’t gone home and tried it’,” he said.

Some Kinshasa residents accuse a separatist sect from nearby Bas-Congo province of being behind the witchcraft in revenge for a recent government crackdown on its members.

“It’s real. Just yesterday here, there was a man who was a victim. We saw. What was left was tiny,”

If your worried I can sell you pills which will increase the size of penis*, sure they look like M&Ms, but the experience will be totally sweet.

* results may vary from those advertised, sucker.

From the AP via MSNBC …

Two pilots for Hawaii’s go! airlines who overshot a runway by 15 miles while trying to land on the state’s big island have been fired.

Investigators had said they were looking into whether the pilots had fallen asleep when their plane carrying 40 passengers drifted off course during a Feb. 13 flight from Honolulu to Hilo. Air traffic controllers were unable to contact the cockpit for 25 minutes.

The plane landed safely in Hilo.

UPDATE : Reminds me of the joke, “When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my father … not screaming in terror like his passengers.”

I used to have an IDE which used to say that to me occasionally on startup.

From the Motley Fool …

Leave it to Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) to keep everyone guessing.

Late Tuesday, the Mac’s daddy told Forbes that it had acquired chip designer P.A. Semi for $278 million in cash, according to the magazine’s estimates. Apple won’t say why it made the deal, or what role the 150-person chip company will have in the design of future products.

Not surprisingly, all that selling has fattened Apple’s wallet. Cash and short-term investments are up $1 billion since I first suggested that the iEmpire consider buying Akamai (Nasdaq: AKAM), Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), or Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: JAVA).

Alas, Steve ignored my advice altogether, choosing instead to buy P.A. Semi, whose designs — ironically — are based on the PowerPC platform that Apple ditched in 2005 to hook up with Intel (Nasdaq: INTC).

Apple’s chip history
In 1990, the iEmpire was among the original triumvirate providing funding for chip designer Advanced RISC Machines. We know this firm today as ARM Holdings. Among its earliest works, ARM created the brains for a quirky but failed PDA known as the Apple Newton.

Apple also was the “A” in the so-called AIM Alliance, in which the company joined with IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Motorola (NYSE: MOT) to produce the PowerPC processors on which a decade’s worth of Macs were built, including the one my wife still uses today.

As for P.A. Semi, co-founder and CEO Dan Dobberpuhl was a lead designer for Digital Equipment’s ultra-fast Alpha chip and StrongARM microprocessor.

Digital intended Alpha to be a server chip. But StrongARM, as you might guess, was a joint venture with ARM Holdings. Its low-power design was intended for PDAs, phones, and set-top boxes. Intel acquired the technology in 1997 in a legal settlement.

See the pattern emerging here? Apple has a history of investing in low-power chip designs that have paradigm-busting potential. P.A. Semi’s team has a history of producing … low-power chip designs with paradigm-busting potential.

That’s certainly true of the company’s PWRficient chip. The editors of trade magazine Electronic Design just said as much, when they named the processor one of their “Products of the Year” for 2007. PWRficient, the editors wrote, is “said to be the most power efficient in its class.”

So, to recap:

* Apple has a history of teaming with or funding firms that supply low-power paradigm-busting chips, especially for new products.
* P.A. Semi’s team has experience creating efficient processors for handheld devices and set-top boxes.
* PWRficient is a low-power paradigm-busting chip that has won industry acclaim.
* Apple’s most rebellious new products are the iPhone smartphone and Apple TV set-top box.

As such, I think it’s ludicrous to assume that this week’s deal for P.A. Semi signals the beginning of the end of Apple’s relationship with Intel.

http://optimist.geekisp.com/retro.

Previously …

Tor @ Dirty Stop Out, December 2006.

I haven’t heard it yet, but Tor is a good mate of mine with a good ear for a tune ( well he has always spoken highly of my music ;O) so I’m posting it anyway.

Spirit Catcher - Space Crash (Winding Road)
Gaz Nevada - Love Affair - Munk Edit (Mantra Vibes Italy)
In Deep - Last Night A Dj Saved My Life (Sound Of New York)
Outlines - Listen To The Drums - Jazzanova Remix (Sonar Kollektiv)
Jazzanova - Boom Clicky Boom Clack - Mr Scruff Vocal Mix (Sonar Kollectiv)
Black Joy - Untitled (Freerange)
Dirty Jesus - Don’t Fuck With My Shit - Late Night Cruising Mix (Paper)
Trentemoller - Latenight Cab Driving (White)
All Good Funk Alliance - Sock It To Ya (Funk Weapons)
Kerri Chandler - Planet Sonic vs Spank Rock - Bump (White)
My Robot Friend - Rapture (Soma)
Todd Terje - Bodies - Prins Thomas Orgasmatron Mix (Bear Funk)
All Good Funk Alliance - Get Busy (Funk Weapons)
Metro Area - Orange Alert - DFA Remix (EMI)
Mr V - Jus Dance - Quentin Harris Remix (Vega)
Shur-I-Kan - Fantasy (Freerange)

From the AP …

The grizzly bear that wrestled Will Ferrell’s character in the recent film “Semi-Pro” seemed to obediently follow cues — which made its killing of its trainer with a bite to the neck all the more stunning.

Three experienced handlers were working with the grizzly Tuesday at the Predators in Action wild animal training center when the bear attacked Stephan Miller, 39

Pepper spray was used to subdue and contain the bear, and there were no other injuries, Beavers said. Paramedics arriving shortly after the initial emergency call around 3 p.m. were unable to revive Stephan Miller.

Fish and game spokesman Harry Morse told the San Bernardino Sun Tuesday his department would not decide whether the bear will be euthanized because the attack occurred outside its jurisdiction during a training session on facility grounds.

Morse speculated that the county animal care officials may decide the bear’s fate.

the bear was a 5-year-old male named Rocky. The Predators in Action Web site said Rocky is 7 1/2 feet tall and weighs 700 pounds.

The site, which was off-line early Wednesday due to overtaxed bandwidth

In a February interview, Randy Miller called Rocky “the best working bear in the business,” the San Bernardino Sun reported on its Web site Wednesday. But, the paper quoted him as saying, “If one of these animals gets a hold of your throat, you’re finished.”

Randy Miller has 25 years of experience training animals and his facility has had a perfect safety record

Randy Miller won a World Stunt Academy Award for his work wrestling tigers in the 2000 blockbuster “Gladiator”

He also helped recreate animal attacks for National Geographic documentaries and the Discovery Channel.

It was not immediately known how long Rocky has been at the facility.

Denise Richards, who works with wild animals at Moonridge Zoo, a sanctuary for injured and homeless wildlife in nearby Big Bear Lake, said trained animals that turn on their handlers are often destroyed.

“You can train them and use as many safety precautions as you can, but you’re still taking a chance if you’re putting yourself in contact with them,” Richards said. “It’s still a wild animal. Even though it may appear that the bear attacked for no reason, there was a reason. I’m sure Randy understands why it happened. They’re not cold-blooded killers.”

Native grizzly bears are extinct in California.

Not a true “When animals attack …” but note worthy none the less.

From the Beeb …

More than 140 mourners at a funeral in northern Thailand are reported to have been taken ill after eating a dish that appears to have contained puffer fish.

The mourners were rushed to hospital after being served soup containing fish balls bought at a local market in Nan province

They started vomiting and complained of numb tongues and shortness of breath.

Doctors said the symptoms were consistent with puffer fish poisoning, which can be fatal even after cooking.

The fish contains a poison known as tetrodotoxin, which paralyses the diner’s muscles. There is no antidote.

I saw a program about this, apparently because it causes temporary paralysis people tend to die of asphyxiation, in order to keep someone alive they need to have their breathing done for them. The Samwise blog cannot be held responsible for any death, injury or other adverse effect as a result of following this advice.

Puffer fish meat is sometimes used illegally in Thailand to produce fish balls because it is cheaper than most other fish meat

Seven of those taken to hospital are reported to be in a serious condition.

Also …

Fugu is the Japanese term for a fish native to the Pacific Ocean. The name comes from fuku meaning ‘to swell’.

It also means ‘good luck’.

you’re gonna need it ;O)

It is the generic term for any fish in the Tetraodontoid family; these are the ‘puffer’ fish, also known as blowfish or balloon fish.

or globe fish

It is a rather unattractive fish

your not so attractive yourself

which has the ability to puff its body up to 300 times its usual volume and extend spikes for protection. The fish pumps air or water into the first two thirds of its stomach. The skin is able to stretch due to collagen fibres that reinforce it, also providing strength. If it is caught and eaten, it has been known to inflate after it has been swallowed, killing the predator, and then gnawing its way out of the stomach.

cool

If this doesn’t work, the predator will die from the toxin.

cool

It has a beak-like mouth with a toothed plate on the upper and lower biting surfaces. The arrangement of the muscles in the jaw gives it huge amounts of crushing force, but little speed or suction.

Some of the fish’s organs - the ovaries, testicles, skin, muscles and particularly the liver - contain tetrodotoxin, a powerful poison. Tetrodotoxin is 1,200 times deadlier than cyanide, and one fish contains enough poison to kill 30 people. Acting mainly on the nervous system, the symptoms in order of severity are:

* Physical discomfort
* Pallor
* Dizziness
* Prickling or tingling of the mouth
* Vomiting
* Diarrhoea
* Numbness
* Hypersalivation
* Sweating
* Weakness
* Subnormal temperature
* Hypotension
* Rapid weak pulse
* Respiratory distress/arrest
* Death

There is no known antidote.

This fish is considered a delicacy in Japan.

Chefs have to be specially trained and licensed to prepare and cook fugu, as there are many different types of fugu and the poisonous parts vary. There is a written and practical test; only a quarter of applicants pass the written test, and the practical test includes eating the fish that has been prepared.

The preparation requires a 30-step process, leaving just enough of the tetrodotoxin so that the mildest effects tantalise the diner, yet leaving them safe from the devastating and irreversible effects of a fatal amount. Deaths do, however, still occur. From 1974 until 1983 there were 646 reported cases of fugu fish-poisoning in Japan, with 179 fatalities. It is a continuing problem in Japan, with between 30 and 100 cases of poisoning reported every year, although most of these cases are caused by home preparation.

The rules for preparing fugu are extremely strict. There are rules for cleanliness and preparation, storage of the toxic parts, and careful reporting on the amount of fish handled and the distribution of the internal organs. People with poor vision or who are colour blind are not eligible to train as fugu chefs.

There is a certain ceremony to eating fugu. The fish is shown to the diners, and then the chef takes it back to the kitchen where the fish is opened and the organs removed. The fins are cut off, fried and served in hot sake. The fish is skinned and the spikes removed, the skin then served in a salad. The head is cut off, the fish filleted and then paper-thin slices are served raw.

Due to the metabolism slowing down so much when the poison is ingested, breathing and heartbeat are often imperceptible. This can result in the victim suddenly ‘returning from the dead’ when the effects have worn off. The houngan of Haiti use a powder made from a similar fish in their zombie rituals. Hollywood hype would have us believe that zombies are raised from the dead, but the victims are ‘killed’ using the powder. Victims are conscious of sound and sight while their bodies are paralysed. The houngan retrieves the ‘corpse’ and revives it, keeping the victim sedated. This makes it appear that the body is alive but the soul is dead. The zombie is usually hired out as manual labour, so making it profitable for the houngan.

The attractions of this fish are many and varied. Some say that the delicate flavour is the main attraction, others say that the testes in a glass of hot sake are a powerful aphrodisiac. Part of the experience of eating the fish is the warm tingling and slight numbing of the lips that is one of the symptoms of eating the toxin. But without a doubt, the biggest thrill is the kudos gained from eating a meal that could cost your life, and surviving.

The fugu ryotei (restaurants specialising in fugu) are easily recognisable. They all display a lantern made out of the skin of a fugu on the outside of the premises. They also have a picture of the fish painted on the entrance. Here are a few places in Tokyo where you can try fugu for yourself:

* Shunsagami - Odakyu Manhattan Hills 13F, 1-1-3 Nishi Shinjuku. Nearest station: Shinjuku, west exit.
* Tsukitei - 1-39-1 Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku. Nearest station: Ikebukuro, west exit, behind the Tobu department store.
* Ajioka - New Comparu Bldg. 6F, 7-7-12 Ginza. Nearest station: Ginza, near Chuo Dori.
* Ikesu - 1-5-25 Higashi-machi, Kichijoji. 0422-21-1438. Nearest station: Kichijoji, near Seiyu.
* Fuguyoshi - 1-5-2-13-8 Ikebukuro. Nearest station: Ikebukuro, west exit.