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The universe is constantly expanding, but it eventually will reverse itself and ends up as it was before. Is this the ultimate cosmic cycle?

The first time I heart about Itzhak Bentov was on a Netflix DVD documentation titledFrom Atom to Cosmos. This production is probably over 25 years old and made available on DVD in 2005. Itzhak Bentov holds no degree in science or any other topic, which makes this presentation easy to follow.

He has written two books about higher consciousness and both of them are a good introduction into quantum physics. The most interesting topic is his concept of the universe. Benthov has a new twist on the big bang theory. He believes that in the middle of the universe is a nucleus or seed. On one end is a white hole and on the other end a black hole. The white hole releases new universes along with the space time continuum, and the black hole sucks in space and time.

Depending were we are in this space time, we experience either the universe as expanding or contracting.

• Our bodies mirror the universe, down to the working of each cell.
• We are pulsating beings in a vibrating universe, in constant motion between the finite and the infinite.
• The universe and all matter is consciousness in the process of developing.
• Our brains are thought amplifiers, not thought’s source.
• The universe is a hologram. And so is the brain - a hologram interpreting a holographic universe.

About the Author:
Itzhak Bentov was an outstanding exponent of the new science of consciousness up until his untimely death in 1979. He specialized in bio-medical engineering and instrumentation. He was also the author of "A Cosmic Book".

1. If you owe someone money, always pay them back in a bar. Preferably during happy hour.

2. Always toast before doing a shot.

3. Whoever buys the shot gets the first chance to offer a toast.

4. Change your toast at least once a month.

5. Buying someone a drink is five times better than a handshake.

6. Buying a strange woman a drink is still cool. Buying all her drinks is dumb.

7. Never borrow more than one cigarette from the same person in one night.

8. When the bartender is slammed, resist the powerful urge to order a slightly-dirty, very-dry, in-and-out, super-chilled half-and-half martini with a lemon twist. Limit orders to beer, straight shots and two-part cocktails.

9. Get the bartender's attention with eye contact and a smile.

10. Do not make eye contact with the bartender if you do not want a drink.

11. Unacceptable things to say after doing a shot: Great, now I’m going to get drunk. I hate shots. It’s coming back up.

12. Never, ever tell a bartender he made your drink too strong.

13. If he makes it too weak, order a double next time. He'll get the message.

14. If you offer to buy a woman a drink and she refuses, she does not like you.

15. If you offer to buy a woman a drink and she accepts, she still might not like you.

16. If she buys you a drink, she likes you.

17. If someone offers to buy you a drink, do not upgrade your liquor preference.

18. Always have a corkscrew in your house.

19. If you don't have a corkscrew, push the cork down into the bottle with a pen.

20. Drink one girly drink in public and you will forever be known as the guy who drinks girly drinks.

21. Our parents were better drinkers than we are.

22. Never talk to someone in the restroom unless you're doing the same thing—urinating, waiting in line or washing your hands.

23. Girls hang out, apply make-up, and have long talks in the bathroom. Men do not.

24. After your sixth drink, do not look at yourself in the mirror. It will shake your confidence.

25. It is only permissible to shout 'woo-hoo!' if you are doing a shot with four or more people.

26. If there is a d.j., you can request a song only once per night. If he doesn't play it within half an hour, do not approach him again. If he does play it, do not approach him again.

27. Learn how to make a rose out of a bar napkin. You'll be surprised how well it works.

28. If you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to drink in a bar. Go to the liquor store.

29. If you owe someone twenty dollars or less, you may pay them back in beer.

30. Never complain about the quality or brand of a free drink.

31. If you have been roommates with someone more than six months, you may drink all their beer, even if it's hidden, as long as you leave them one.

32. You can have a shot of their hard liquor only if the cap has been cracked and the bottle goes for less than $25.

33. The only thing that tastes better than free liquor is stolen liquor.

34. If you bring Old Milwaukee to a party, you must drink at least two cans before you start drinking the imported beer in the fridge.

35. Learn to appreciate hangovers. If it was all good times every jackass would be doing it.

36. If you ever feel depressed, get out a bartender’s guide and browse through all the drinks you’ve never tried.

37. Try one new drink each week.

38. If you are the bar's sole customer, you are obliged to make small talk with the bartender until he stops acknowledging you. Then you're off the hook. The same goes for him.

39. Never tip with coins that have touched you. If your change is $1.50, you can tell the barmaid to keep the change, but once she has handed it to you, you cannot give it back. To a bartender or cocktail waitress, small change has no value.

40. If you have ever told a bartender, “Hey, it all spends the same,” then you are a cheap ass.

41. Anyone on stage or behind a bar is fifty percent better looking.

42. You can tell how hard a drinker someone is by how close they keep their drink to their mouth.

43. A bar is a college, not a nursery. If you spill a beer, clean it up. If you break a glass, wait for a staff member to clean it up, then blame it on someone else.

44. Being drunk is feeling sophisticated without being able to say it.

45. It's okay to drink alone.

46. After three drinks, you will forget a woman's name two seconds after she tells you. The rest of the night you will call her “baby” or “darling”.

47. Nothing screams 'nancy boy' louder than swirling an oversized brandy snifter.

48. Men don't drink from straws. Unless you're doing a Mind or Face Eraser.

49. If you do a shot, finish it. If you don't plan to finish it, don't accept it.

50. Never brood in a dance bar. Never dance in a dive bar.

51. Never play more than three songs by the same artist in a row.

52. Your songs will come on as you're leaving the bar.

53. Never yell out jukebox selections to someone you don't know.

54. Never lie in a bar. You may, however, grossly exaggerate and lean.

55. If you think you might be slurring a little, then you are slurring a lot. If you think you are slurring a lot, then you are not speaking English.

56. Screaming, “Someone buy me a drink!” has never worked.

57. For every drink, there is a five percent better chance you will get in a fight. There is also a three percent better chance you will lose the fight.

58. Fighting an extremely drunk person when you are sober is hilarious.

59. If you are broke and a friend is “sporting you”, you must laugh at all his jokes and play wingman when he makes his move.

60. If you are broke and a friend is “making sport of you”, you may steal any drink he leaves unattended.

61. Never rest your head on a table or bar top. It is the equivalent of voluntarily putting your head on a chopping block.

62. If you are trading rounds with a friend and he asks if you're ready for another, always say yes. Once you fall out of sync you will end up buying more drinks than him.

63. If you're going to hit on a member of the bar staff, make sure you tip well before and after, regardless of her response.

64. The people with the most money are rarely the best tippers.

65. Before you die, single-handedly make one decent martini.

66. Asking a bartender what beers are on tap when the handles are right in front of you is the equivalent of saying, “I'm an idiot.”

67. Never ask a bartender “what's good tonight?” They do not fly in the scotch fresh from the coast every morning.

68. If there is a line for drinks, get your goddamn drink and step the hell away from the bar.

69. If there is ever any confusion, the fuller beer is yours.

70. The patrons at your local bar are your extended family, your fathers and mothers, your brothers and sisters. Except you get to sleep with these sisters. And if you're really drunk, the mothers.

71. It's acceptable, traditional in fact, to disappear during a night of hard drinking. You will appear mysterious and your friends will understand. If they even notice.

72. Never argue your tab at the end of the night. Remember, you're hammered and they’re sober. It's akin to a precocious five-year-old arguing the super-string theory with a physicist. 99.9% of the time you're wrong and either way you're going to come off as a jackass.

73. If you bring booze to a party, you must drink it or leave it.

74. If you hesitate more than three seconds after the bartender looks at you, you do not deserve a drink.

75. Beer makes you mellow, champagne makes you silly, wine makes you dramatic, tequila makes you felonious.

76. The greatest thing a drunkard can do is buy a round of drinks for a packed bar.

77. Never preface a conversation with a bartender with “I know this is going to be a hassle, but . . .”

78. When you’re in a bar and drunk, your boss is just another guy begging for a fat lip. Unless he’s buying.

79. If you are 86’d, do not return for at least three months. To come back sooner makes it appear no other bar wants you.

80. Anyone with three or more drinks in his hands has the right of way.

81. If you’re going to drink on the job, drink vodka. It’s the no-tell liquor.

82. There’s nothing wrong with drinking before noon. Especially if you’re supposed to be at work.

83. The bar clock moves twice as fast from midnight to last call.

84. A flask engraved with a personal message is one of the best gifts you can ever give. And make sure there’s something in it.

85. On the intimacy scale, sharing a quiet drink is between a handshake and a kiss.

86. You will forget every one of these rules by your fifth drink.

--Frank Rich

All competing wind generators use bladed two-dimensional disk-like structures and rigid towers. The Magenn Power Air Rotor system is a closed three-dimensional structure (cylinder). It offers high torque, low starting speeds, and superior overall efficiency thanks to its ability to deploy higher. The closed structure allows Magenn Power to produce wind rotors from very small to very large sizes at a fraction of the cost of current wind generators.

The Magenn system concept is deployment-flexible. Large MARS units may be deployed to supplement established grid systems supporting the electrical requirements of large urban areas. Small MARS units would be deployed in emergency, as-needed, and/or mobile applications (e.g., pack version deployed by a hiker, motorist, boater, or for military and emergency response applications). Various in-between sizes would be ideal for farms, houses and cottages located where grid power is nonexistent. Small to medium sized systems could also be air-dropped into disaster areas for emergency electrical power for medical and all other uses.

The distinct advantages of the Magenn Air Rotor System design are as follows:

• Magenn Air Rotor System is less expensive per unit of actual electrical energy output than competing wind power systems.
• Magenn Power Air Rotor System will deliver time-averaged output much closer to its rated capacity than the capacity factor typical with conventional designs. Magenn efficiency will be 40 to 50 percent. This is hugely important, since doubling capacity factor cuts the cost of each delivered watt by half.
• Wind farms can be placed closer to demand centers, reducing transmission line costs and transmission line loses.
• Conventional wind generators are only operable in wind speeds between 3 meters/sec and 28 meters/sec. Magenn Air Rotors are operable between 1 meter/sec and in excess of 28 meters/sec.
• Magenn Air Rotors can be raised to higher altitudes, thus capitalizing on higher winds aloft. Altitudes from 400-ft to 1,000-ft above ground level are possible, without having to build an expensive tower, or use a crane to perform maintenance.
• Magenn Air Rotors are mobile and can be easily moved to different locations to correspond to changing wind patterns. Mobility is also useful in emergency deployment and disaster relief situations.

These points are mutually inclusive. The advantages above combine to make Magenn the most cost-effective wind electrical generation system.

http://www.magenn.com/technology.php

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Justice Department has issued a detailed legal justification for President Bush's decision to order the National Security Agency's controversial domestic surveillance program.

The department's white paper said Thursday that the president has the legal authority to approve the program because of the power given to him in the Constitution to protect the country as well as in the post-9/11 authorization to use military force passed by Congress.

The administration has been on the defensive since reports revealed last month that Bush authorized the NSA shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks to eavesdrop without a court warrant on people in the United States, including American citizens, suspected of communicating with al Qaeda members overseas.

Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have staunchly defended the program. (Watch Gonzales defend spying efforts -- 4:16)

"Congress by statute has confirmed and supplemented the president's recognized authority under Article II of the Constitution to conduct such warrantless surveillance to prevent catastrophic attacks on the homeland," the Justice Department document said.

The White House has made similar arguments before to justify the surveillance, but this document provides more detail to support its case.

Critics argue the program is unconstitutional and say the president is exceeding his authority to authorize eavesdropping because to do so bypasses the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. FISA requires a warrant for any surveillance done in the United States. (Watch former Vice President Al Gore hammer Bush -- 2:35)

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights filed lawsuits this week against the government to stop the program.

ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero criticized the release of the new legal review.

"Any opinion coming from the Justice Department has to be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism, given Attorney General Gonzales' involvement in the warrantless spying as White House counsel," he said in a written statement. "The fox may now be guarding the henhouse, which is why we need an independent special counsel."

He added, "Congress must hold open, substantive hearings to let the American public know how their privacy was invaded. The president must not use a claim of preserving the nation as justification to undermine the very principles that define our nation. Freedom, liberty and privacy must be protected and preserved."

Justice Department lawyers argued this program was part of the government's need to gather foreign intelligence, which does not explicitly require agents to go through the process of getting a warrant, as is required under the FISA law.

In a press briefing, Assistant Attorney General Steven Bradbury said the Justice Department believes the monitoring can be done legally outside the normal scope of the FISA law. He argued that the congressional authorization to use military force allows such surveillance since intercepting an enemy's communications is a key part of engaging in war.

"The government's interest in engaging in the NSA activities is the most compelling interest possible -- securing the nation from foreign attack in the midst of an armed conflict. One attack already has taken thousands of lives and placed the nation in state of armed conflict," the document said.

The Justice Department argued that this program does not violate the constitutional ban on unreasonable searches since it was part of the effort to thwart terrorism.

"The government's overwhelming interest in detecting and thwarting further al Qaeda attacks is easily sufficient to make reasonable the intrusion into privacy involved in intercepting one-end foreign communications where there is 'a reasonable basis to conclude that one party to the communication is a member of al Qaeda, affiliated with al Qaeda or a member of an organization affiliated with al Qaeda.' "

Gonzales is scheduled to appear February 6 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will be examining the NSA program's legality.

There have been a lot of recent studies of depression, stress and workplace tensions and their effect on health. They did not make a pretty picture. These things can kill you.

Finally, however, there is a movement to study positive feelings and happy thoughts and, yes, laughter which was once labeled "The Best Medicine", and their effects. It is a happier picture. Perhaps even a comedy.

After my heart attack I noticed that movies affected me more. I might, in private, cry over a melodrama that I would have turned off before . The good, funny movies really did make me feel better as does a good joke or an amusing book. It does help to laugh. Not as a clown who laughs with tears but the good laugh that is convivial and enervating.

A study reported by Reuters shows this wasn't just an emotional feeling, but had a real positive effect on the heart. The work is from the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.

Exactly why laughing might give a jolt to the circulation isn't clear. It's possible that it counters the effects that stress hormones can have on blood vessel function, Miller and his colleagues speculate. In addition, laughter may spur the body's production of nitric oxide, a chemical that helps dilate blood vessels.

The research used 20 young adults who "watched a movie that made them laugh". The tests showed that their blood pressure showed a similar drop as had been noted after aerobic exercise. The study is being published in the February journal Heart.

Dr. Michael Miller, chief author of the study, warned that giving up aerobic exercise is not indicated. He suggested, instead, that perhaps people could watch funny movies while working on exercise machines like a treadmill.

The testers had their subjects watch a comedy, Something About Mary which I didn't find funny but that is neither here nor there. Either the subjects or the researchers did. They were tested with non-invasive blood flow measurements after that film and after a "distressing film", like Saving Private Ryan. The results showed a 50% improvement in blood flow after the comedy over the heavier flick.

There have been a number of quantifying studies recently that proved the hypothesis that depression is bad for the health, shortens life and increases illness. There have also been some which showed beyond a shadow of a doubt that being middle class or affluent was good for you. Wow! Ain't science grand?

I’m sure most of you realize this. Waking up feeling refreshed is not a matter of how much you sleep. It’s about waking up in the correct stage of your sleep cycle. Here’s a great article explaining sleep cycle in detail. In short, if you want to wake up feeling refreshed, aXbo Sleep Phase Alarm Clock can help.

To use, simply put on the wireless wristband, set the time you need to wake up no matter what, and the aXbo alarm clock will attempt to detect the right time to wake you up, within a specified time window (e.g. 30 minutes).

The obvious advantage over similar products like SleepTracker, is that the alarm won’t get muffled when you tuck your hands under the pillow. The aXbo also runs on mains and/or batteries, eliminating the problem of the alarm running out of juice in the middle of the night. And as a bonus, the aXbo also comes with 3 sleep-inducing melodies which automatically stop when aXbo notices that you’re asleep. Brilliant!

The aXbo alarm clock is available for pre-order now. If your sleep’s worth more than €199 (US$244), then the aXbo alarm clock is for you!

HEFEI, 01/21 - A full superconducting experimental Tokamak fusion device, which aims to generate infinite, clean nuclear-fusion-based energy, will be built in March or April in Hefei, capital city of east China`s Anhui Province.

Experiments with the advanced new device will start in July or August. If the experiments prove successful, China will become the first country in the world to build a full superconducting experimental Tokamak fusion device, nicknamed "artificial sun", experts here said.

The project, dubbed EAST (experimental advanced superconducting Tokamak), is being undertaken by the Hefei-based Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It will require a total investment of nearly 300 million yuan (37 million U.S. dollars), only one fifteenth to one twentieth the cost of similar devices being developed in the other parts of the world.

The new device will be an upgrade of China`s first superconducting Tokamak device, dubbed HT-7, which was also built by the plasma physics institute, in partnership with Russia, in the early 1990s. HT-7 made China the fourth country in the world, after Russia, France and Japan, to have such a device.

"The EAST project research results will be significant for the International Thermonuclear Experiment Reactor, or ITER, in terms of basic research both in engineering technology and physics," said Wan Yuanxi, who is in charge of the project.

Wan said ITER will also be a full superconducting experimental Tokamak fusion device with an advanced configuration, but much larger than EAST.

The program, still in its initial stages, involves Russia, Japan, the United States, the European Union, China and the Republic of Korea.

Controlled nuclear fusion is seen as an efficient way for people to generate infinite, clean energy to offset the dearth of fossil fuels such as oil and coal.

Scientists believe that deuterium can be extracted from the sea and an enormous amount of energy can be obtained from a deuterium-tritium fusion reaction under huge temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius. After nuclear fusion, the deuterium extracted from one liter of sea water will produce energy equivalent to 300 liters of gasoline.

If a device is developed that can withstand temperatures as high as 100 million Celsius degrees and control a deuterium-tritium reaction, it will be as though an "artificial sun" had been created able to supply infinite, clean energy for human beings.

AN EXTRAORDINARY "hyperspace" engine that could make interstellar space travel a reality by flying into other dimensions is being investigated by the United States government.

The hypothetical device, which has been outlined in principle but is based on a controversial theory about the fabric of the universe, could potentially allow a spacecraft to travel to Mars in three hours and journey to a star 11 light years away in just 80 days, according to a report in today's New Scientist magazine.

The theoretical engine works by creating an intense magnetic field that, according to ideas first developed by the late scientist Burkhard Heim in the 1950s, would produce a gravitational field and result in thrust for a spacecraft.

Also, if a large enough magnetic field was created, the craft would slip into a different dimension, where the speed of light is faster, allowing incredible speeds to be reached. Switching off the magnetic field would result in the engine reappearing in our current dimension.

The US air force has expressed an interest in the idea and scientists working for the American Department of Energy - which has a device known as the Z Machine that could generate the kind of magnetic fields required to drive the engine - say they may carry out a test if the theory withstands further scrutiny.

Professor Jochem Hauser, one of the scientists who put forward the idea, told The Scotsman that if everything went well a working engine could be tested in about five years.

However, Prof Hauser, a physicist at the Applied Sciences University in Salzgitter, Germany, and a former chief of aerodynamics at the European Space Agency, cautioned it was based on a highly controversial theory that would require a significant change in the current understanding of the laws of physics.

"It would be amazing. I have been working on propulsion systems for quite a while and it would be the most amazing thing. The benefits would be almost unlimited," he said.

"But this thing is not around the corner; we first have to prove the basic science is correct and there are quite a few physicists who have a different opinion.

"It's our job to prove we are right and we are working on that."

He said the engine would enable spaceships to travel to different solar systems. "If the theory is correct then this is not science fiction, it is science fact," Prof Hauser said.

"NASA have contacted me and next week I'm going to see someone from the [US] air force to talk about it further, but it is at a very early stage. I think the best-case scenario would be within the next five years [to build a test device] if the technology works."

The US authorities' attention was attracted after Prof Hauser and an Austrian colleague, Walter Droscher, wrote a paper called "Guidelines for a space propulsion device based on Heim's quantum theory".

Related topic

• Space science

A lot of people have emailed me asking how to obtain passwords/logins for pay sites. While I don't use an in house hacker/forcer, I do know a few tactics for getting logins and passwords for paysites. The easiest overall method is the googledork. A googledork is a phrase you type into Google to get highly focused search results. Most dorks are simply a search mask in the urls of the sites within Google's database. Here is an easy googledork to start off with.Type this into Google--> inurl:passlist.txt this is just telling Google you want to see all the documents with the word 'passlist.txt' in the url. This googledork is almost the same but looks for 'password.txt' it the url.--> inurl:password.txt this next dork is for the more advanced user. You not only have to perform the googledork, but you have to crack the files you find. A little involved but worth the effort!

CCBill.com sells E-tickets to online entertainment and subscription-based websites. CCBill.com gives consumers access to the hottest entertainment sites on the World Wide Web. The word "hot" in this context seems appropriate when considering the type of sites that use e-tickets hint hint:) CCBill log files contain usernames and password information, but are protected with DES encryption. An attacker can crack these using the information provided on this site: http://www.hackcanada.com/blackcrawl/encrypt.html. the googledork is --> inurl:ccbill filetype:log

Finaly for the VERY advanced user who wants to try and crack MD5 hash. You would want to go here first  http://www.astalavista.com/index.php?section=dir&act=dnd&id=1388 then use this  dork-->ext:pwd inurl:(service | authors | administrators | users) "# -FrontPage-"

If you would like more googledorks, follow the related link.

Related Links

http://johnny.ihackstuff.com/index.php?module=prodreviews&func=reviewsbycat&reviewsel=13