"Several wasp species can be found around the yard. Although wasps feed on insects such as house flies and garden pests, some can also be dangerous to people. Most wasps typically ignore people. For example, social insects that live in colonies will readily sting when they perceive their nest or territory is threatened while solitary insects only sting in self-defense when mishandled. "

If these damned things continue to reproduce at this rate we'll have to build bubble cities to escape them.

Yard Wasps

"Nests are started in early spring by these solitary, fertilized queens. These queens are often seen feeding on spring flowers or searching for a suitable nest site. Normally, nests are established in an abandoned rodent or bird nest in the ground. The solitary queen begins the colony by collecting pollen and forming it into a small lump. She lays six to eight worker eggs on this pollen. After four to five days, the eggs hatch into larvae (immature forms), which begin to feed on the lump of pollen. "

Summer in the south is full of annoying things that hurt.

Bumble Bees Around the House

"That is too bad, because I am eager to hear their defense of such an irrational system. Try your best to learn and you're in trouble. Blow off the assignment and you're safe. And it is getting worse. A brand-new rule says a computer science student is wrong to try to seek answers to questions ANYWHERE other than from course materials or Georgia Tech staff. Rooting around in old books in the library, checking the Internet, calling your cousin at Caltech--all are forbidden."

The reason this author is having so much trouble "comprehending" these policies is because they are a figment of his imagination. Unfortunately, Tech's reputation will suffer as a result of this regardless of what is really going on here.

Georgia Tech slammed by Washington Post

Cyan and her cellphone...

deviantART; Urban Angel 2 by jasinski

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) said it planned to file a lawsuit in a U.S. District Court today after receiving no response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act for background information on national ID plans.

Court Asked To Crack Secrecy Over National ID Plans

"The patent office has tightened its rules in recent years and has declared that some kinds of DNA are not patentable. What's a biotech company to do? Take a page from Tin Pan Alley, perhaps. An executive with one Silicon Valley company is now suggesting that DNA sequences be converted to digital music, arguing that they might then be protected under copyright law."

Don't like the intellectual property rules that apply to you? If you can turn it into music it will never go into the public domain!

DNA Ditties

"BRUTE! responds to the attacks of September 11th.
(click the icon for a larger view of the piece):"

These are interesting.

BRUTE! Propaganda: Store: Prints

Rejection can dramatically reduce a person's IQ and their ability to reason analytically, while increasing their aggression, according to new research.

New Scientist

"Last month that changed. Before boarding a Toronto-bound plane at St. John's International Airport in Newfoundland, Dr. Mann says, he went through a three-day ordeal in which he was ultimately strip- searched and injured by security personnel. During the incident, he said, $56,800 worth of his $500,000 equipment was lost or damaged beyond repair, including the eyeglasses that serve as his display screen."

At Airport Gate, a Cyborg Unplugged

"DigitalConsumer.org is doing something about it. We are advocating a Consumer Technology Bill of Rights that will positively assert a consumer's rights to fair use. "

Hrm... These people mean well, but my experience has been that Congress doesn't care unless you can directly correlate these petitions to votes in a district. I think there is a need for a tool that political activists can use to track voter jurisdiction and correlate it with votes.

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