Classified ads on craigslist attract scammers from Nigeria and elsewhere.Here is a recent example when I was trying to sell something.Not that I asked for $375, and was offered more for it.Here is the first message I got:

pls can you tell me if this item is still for sale ?and the price

There are many internet scams in circulation.This section details some of them. 

2bits was commissioned to write an image watermark module.

It is now released to the community.

Please check the image watermark project page on drupal.org, as well as the demo site at creativine.

The BBC compares and contrasts the Suez crisis of 1956 to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.Britain and France allied with Israel to attack Egypt and end Gamal Abdel Nasser's rule of a few years, but the US stopped them.This was the end of Britian's Empire.There are differences too, but the mindset of going to war with deception is common.Here is the article, definitely worth a read.

The Yesha Rabbinical Council, commenting on the Qana massacre, has said that during the time of war, there are "no innocents".

Yesha Rabbinical Council: During time of war, enemy has no innocentsThe Yesha Rabbinical Council announced in response to an IDF attack in Kfar Qanna that "according to Jewish law, during a time of battle and war, there is no such term as 'innocents' of the enemy." All of the discussions on Christian morality are weakening the spirit of the army and the nation and are costing us in the blood of our soldiers and civilians," the statement said. (Efrat Weiss)(07.30.06, 17:37)

It seems that no matter what one does to educate people, some would still fall for scams.In the past, I posted on email scams saying you won the lottery, only to ask for some advance fees.Today, I got this comment on the article:

tell me please Submitted by mahmoud ...hello siri want know i am realy winer or nomy serial number 7741137002.please tell methank you .

People do not read ...

Here is another worrying statistic with implications on the distant future.As many as one third of users of digital cameras do not back up their photos. If the ancient Egyptians or Greeks did not build their temples of stone, and used perishable materials, what would our extent of knowledge of them be? At least we have the other two thirds ... 

Britian's defence secretary has said that the presence of UK troops in Afghanistan has energized the Taleban. The same goes for US and Canadian troops of course.

In a strongly tribal country, the mere presence of foreign troops can cause the previously bad guys to become heroes and defenders.

Statistics Canada released the result of a study today about internet use.It says that those who used the internet heavily tend to be more loners, but less rushed and more laid back.What is interesting is that they define heavy internet users as those who use the internet for  an hour or more per day!I guess I am way off the chart then ... 

When looking for a flower, don't miss the bird ...

Not an old wisdom or proverb, but something I just made up ...

In exploration, nature, science and even business, one must be ready for pleasant surprises.

Countless times in history, a scientist would be looking for something in their experiments, only to stumble across something completely different. The same is true in in exploration (Columbus was seeking Asia),

Similar surprises can happen in software too.

Wolfgang Ziegler (fago) is one of Google Summer of Code students for 2006, whom I am co-mentoring with Owen Barton.