January 2009 Archives

Wondering what's going on in Sacramento? You can get a first-hand view of how the state government is run and get paid for it with a California Senate fellowship.

Eighteen positions are open in the program, which provides an 11-month job in the Capitol office of a senator or Senate policy committee. Fellows receive a stipend of $1,972 per month plus health and dental benefits. You'd also get 12 graduate credits from California State University, Sacramento Center for California Studies.

"The Senate Fellows program is a great way to learn about the legislative process and public policy in California," said Sen. Darrell Steinberg, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee. "The program provides valuable on-the-job training and an opportunity to help solve the problems facing California."

Fellows get involved in weekly seminars with senators, staff, journalists, lobbyists and government officials. Many of them go on to staff jobs in the Legislature and executive branch, and others move back and forth between the public and private sectors during their careers, according to the program. Some become elected officials.

Interested? Here's what you need to do:

• Applicants must be at least 20 years old and a graduate of a four-year college by Sept. 1. There is no preferred major.


• People with advanced degrees and those in midcareer are encouraged to apply.


• No political or legislative experience is required, but applicants should have a strong interest in public policy and politics.


• Applications are available from state senators' offices or the Senate Rules Committee, State Capitol, Room 405, Sacramento, CA 95814. Brochures and applications are also available by calling 916-651-4160 or on the Senate Web site .


• The deadline to apply is Feb. 25. After an initial screening and a panel interview for semifinalists, the 18 fellows will be chosen by May. The program begins in late October.

YouTube gets more ecclesiastical as the head of the Catholic Church joins President Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth II on the Web video site.

Pope Benedict XVI launched his own site Friday welcoming viewers to this "great family that knows no borders" and said he hoped they would "feel

involved in this great dialogue of truth."

The Pope's site was launched the same day the pontiff praised as a "gift to humanity" the benefits of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace in forging friendships and understanding.

He joins President Barack Obama and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in reaching out to the digital generation.

The Vatican said it was launching the channel to broaden Benedict's audience while also giving the Holy See better control over the papal image online.

And while Benedict sees some benefits to virtual socializing, he warned that "obsessive" online networking could isolate people from real social interaction and broaden the digital divide by further marginalizing people.

And in his message for the World Day of Communications, he urged producers of new media to ensure that the content respected human dignity and the "goodness and intimacy of human sexuality."

The 81-year-old pope has been extremely wary of new media and their effect on society, warning about what he has called the tendency of entertainment media, in particular, to trivialize sex and promote violence.

But Monsignor Claudio Maria Celli, who heads the Vatican's social communications office, said the pope fully approved of the Vatican YouTube channel, saying Benedict was "a man of dialogue" who wanted to engage with people wherever they were.

"It's true that not all of humanity is found on YouTube, but millions of people meet on YouTube," Celli told reporters.

Benedict is joining the White House, which launched its own YouTube channel after Obama's inauguration day, as well as Queen Elizabeth II, who went online with her royal YouTube channel in December 2007.

Celli likened the Vatican channel to the pontiff's pilgrimages around the world, in which he meets with millions of the faithful. The Internet and YouTube,

Celli said, allowed for a more intimate interaction during which the user "enters in a personal dialogue with the pope."

Celli said the Vatican was launching the channel in part to have some control over the pontiff's image, which he said already was being used on sites respectful of the papacy and not.

"It's undeniable that certain images are already circulating," Celli said. While there is little the Vatican can do legally to shut down blasphemous or pornographic sites that use the papal or other Church images, he said it can at least control the content of what it puts up on its own channel.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the Vatican hoped that YouTube owner Google, Inc., would help the Holy See determine where Vatican images are being used so that it can better protect its own images.

He said no money exchanged hands to launch the channel and that the Vatican wouldn't earn anything with publicity. "We didn't pay a cent to Google," he said, adding that the channel was the Vatican's "offer" to the world.

The Vatican plans to update the YouTube site daily with the most important papal news items that are produced by the Vatican's television station, CTV.

The messages are available in Italian, German, English and Spanish.

Google's managing director for media solutions, Henrique de Castro, said Google was working out details to ensure the site was available in China, where authorities occasionally block foreign news sites. The Vatican and China have no diplomatic relations, and Church authorities have accused

Beijing in the past of blocking the faithful's access to the pontiff's messages.

Celli said the YouTube channel was the next logical step after the Vatican entered the digital age on Christmas Day in 1995, launching its Web site with Pope John Paul II's traditional Urbi et Orbi message.

The site has been expanded over the years and now includes virtual tours of the Vatican Museums, audio feeds from Vatican Radio, as well as the Vatican's daily news bulletin and key Church documents.

NASA and Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library based in San
Francisco, made available the most comprehensive compilation ever of NASA's
vast collection of photographs, historic film and video Thursday. Located at
The NASA site combines for the first time 21 major
NASA imagery collections into a single, searchable online resource last
summer.
Internet Archive includes a variety of
videos and images ranging from a constellation
collision that happened 140 million years ago to the film
shorts from the 40s and 50s that Mystery Science Fiction Theater 3000 used
to mock. The site will also recommend a clip or an item of the day from the
various categories presented. These range from text to audio to one
collection on how to be a good teenager of the 1950s.

Today is the first day of the Chinese new year, the Year of the Ox, an event marked by parades and fireworks the world over.

But centuries ago, that fanfare wasn't just celebration -- it was a safety precaution.

According to a History Channel account, "legend spoke of the wild beast Nien (which also is the word for 'year') that appeared at the end of each year, attacking and killing villagers. Loud noises and bright lights were used to scare the beast away."

But we're up against a different beast this year, and those noises and lights might not be enough.

Even though the year has a bullish sign, it lacks the element of fire, which Chinese mythology says is essential to financial well-being.

The concerns aren't only about the economy. Some fortunetellers predict earthquakes, rising U.S.-Russian tensions and a rough start for President Barack Obama, even though he was born under in a Year of the Ox, in 1961.

The problem is that the ox zodiac sign conflicts with a traditional Chinese divinity called the "God of Year." He is also the 44th president, a number the Chinese deem extremely unlucky, because "four" is pronounced the same as "death" in Chinese.

"The new U.S. president is not having good luck this year. His honeymoon will only be short-lived," said fortuneteller Alion Yeo, predicting Obama may even face impeachment in his first year in office. "The Year of the Ox looks slightly better and less dire than last year, but it will still be bumpy."

But don't count Obama out yet.

Malaysian numerologist Weng Shi Ming suggested Obama's birth year would offset his bad luck. Weng said the symmetry of 1961 is "the perfect mix of ying and yang," rendering Obama "immune to the effects of 44."

After all, the ox, one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, symbolizes calm, hard work, resolve and tenacity.

So it might be a bad year for Obama, but what about you? Get your Chinese horoscope based on your zodiac sign (determined by your birth year). And get even more insight into your fortune by finding out what your element is. All you need to enter is your birth date and time.

If your element is soil, prepare for some good news in April, because while the Chinese year of 4706 lacks fire, it contains strong earth.

And if that's not enough luck for you, wait a day to clean your house and wash your hair. Chinese superstition holds that performing either task at the start of the year will sweep away your good fortune.

Confused by the fire, the yin and the yang of the Chinese calendar? Learn a bit about how the elements and numbers work.

At a time when good jobs are hard to find and keep, every worker needs to do more than work hard. There are a number of sites that focus on the notion that not only do you need to be hard worker but you need to work well with others. Some behaviors, which might be ignored in better times, become a problem when the operating budget gets tight: Hitting on co-workers; inappropriate remarks or presenting the image of not carrying one's weight are all ways to find your name on the layoff list. There's enough drama on TV and in your personal life, don't add it to the workplace.

Justaguything.com uses a just one of the guys voice to remind browsers that behaviors that are appropriate in the frat house or around other guys outside of the workplace, don't pave the road to success. Oh and just a warning while the office etiquette guide is safe for the workplace other places on the site are nsfw and clearly break some of the etiquette guide principles.

Howtodothings offers 10 succinct points of office behavor that are designed to keep you from being the subject of mumbles and and angry stares. The Howtodothings.com site also provides tips for job seekers on interviewing and resume writing.

Careerplanning.about.com also has advice about office misbehaviors that will make career planning a waste of time. But if you follow the advice at Careerplanning.about.com, you should be in position to take advantage of it other recommendations on succeeding in your career.

Are you looking for a sturdy tote that doesn't look like it came from a catalog? Tread lightly on the earth and keep the wind at your back with a recycled sailcloth tote from Sea Bags. Since 1999, the company has turned old sails into custom bags.

Each bag has a cotton rope handle hand-spliced at the shop in Portland, Maine. There are three sizes, including a limited edition Pink Ribbon bag -- 50% of the $125 purchase price goes to the Maine Cancer Foundation. If you happen have a used sail lying around, Sea Bags will gladly trade you a bag for your castaway -- or if you don't need a bag, the company will make a donation to a children's sailing school in your honor.

Couldn't make it to Washington, D.C., to witness the inauguration of Barack Obama? Magnify.net has created a live Flickr stream of photos from the historic event that will be constantly updated over the next few days by users who upload images tagged "inauguration."

You can also share these photos with friends by placing a slideshow on your own blog. But be aware, the photos are not filtered or edited so some inappropriate content may appear.

Got an Phone? If so, you can catch the inauguration on your cell phone using the application Ustream. Just go to this Web site for instructions. With this application you can also participate in live chat with people across the world.

So with the technologies today, there's no reason to miss out on these historic events.

Are the newspapers you proudly kept to remember Barack Obama's
historic election as president starting to look a little yellowed or
ragged around the edges? Stop the march of time, and also be ready to
take care of newspaper memorabilia from Obama's inauguration Jan. 20.

Here are some tips from Alison Moore, a librarian at the California
Historical Society, and Susan Goldstein, a San Francisco city
archivist:

-- Store papers in a cool, dry place. Forget putting them in attics
and basements where temperatures and humidity can be extreme.

-- Keep papers away from light. A metal file cabinet or a dark, dry
closet will do.

-- Store newspapers flat and unfolded in archival or acid-free
storage boxes.

-- Place the newspapers in big folders made of acid-free material.
Don't store them loose inside drawers or other containers. Don't pile
anything on top of the folders.

-- Keep newspapers separate from other paper items you're saving.
Newsprint is acidic and can damage other paper.

-- Make copies of the newspaper for everyday use. That way you can
avoid over handling the original.

For more information, see Moore's brochure on how to preserve
newspapers and an assortment of family papers on the Society of
California Archivists' Web site.

Obama's team often talked about creating a transparent, participatory government. Here are four ways you can interact with the president:

Give him your advice
The Obama team's Web site, change.gov, has several ways to share your views. At the Citizens Briefing Book, you can weigh in on an issue or see what other Americans have said and rank their opinions. The ideas with the highest rankings will be put in a "Citizen's Briefing Book" for Obama.
You can ask questions at the Open for Questions section. More than 76,000 questions have been asked and some have already been answered.

Peek behind the scenes
Check out the Obama team's photos at www.flickr.com/photos/changedotgov to see events like Obama's meet-and-greet with the Supreme Court and Malia and Sasha's first day of school.

But there's more
If you think those projects are something, you might like personaldemocracy.com and techpresident.com. The blogs will keep you up to date on how politicians and the government use technology. You'll see, for example, a running total of Obama's Facebook friends.

Let Obama give you some love for a change
Request an official greeting from the White House. Here's how:
You have to be a U.S. citizen.
You have to be 80 or older to get a birthday card, and he doesn't want to hear about your anniversary unless you've toughed it out for 50 years or more.
To get a congratulations for a baby's birth, the child must have been born during Obama's administration. You can also get a presidential congratulations for a wedding, Eagle Scout or Girl Scout Gold Awards, bar and bat mitzvahs or an equivalent occasion.

Write up the following:

• Name and home address of honoree(s)


• Form of address (Mr., Ms., Mrs., Dr., etc.)


• Exact date of occasion (month, day, year)


• Age (birthdays) or years of marriage


• The requestor's name and phone number


• Mailing instructions if other than to honoree's address


• For a baby's birth, send the date of birth and full names and address of the parents

Send the request to:
The White House
Attn: Greetings Office
Washington, D.C. 20502-0039

Send your request at least six weeks in advance of the event date, except for births. Expect your greeting about 10 days before the event.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is more than just a holiday; since 1994, Congress has also designated it as a national day of community service.

It's coming up Monday, and to commemorate King's legacy and address the needs of our nation, President-elect Barack Obama has launched an effort on the eve of his inauguration as part of his ``Renew America Together'' initiative. He and Vice President-elect Joe Biden and their families will be participating in service activities on Monday, and you and your family can join him, too.

Here is a list of more than 20 volunteering events in or near Torrance, or do your own search at www.usaservice.org. Listed happenings start today through Tuesday, so you can give a little piece of yourself and help out your neighborhood all weekend long. There's something for everyone -- food drives, beautification projects, environmental events and more. Several local inaugural celebration balls are listed, too.

A few of the opportunities happening today include a shore cleanup project at Redondo Beach, a Red Cross blood drive in Torrance and a youth volunteer event at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. You can even submit your own volunteer activity, but the cutoff date to add your event is today.

"At this moment of great purpose and great promise, President-elect Obama is calling on all Americans to make an ongoing commitment to serve their communities and their country,'' said Gen. Colin Powell at a news conference. "The Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday is not only a day off but also for the last 14 years, it has been a day on. It's a day to reach out to our fellow citizens in need.''

The Grand Canyon, Mount Everest and Loch Ness will vie with more than 200 other spectacular places in the next phase of the global competition for the New 7 Wonders of Nature, organizers said.

The 261 nominees from 222 countries include some of the most famous mountain peaks, lakes, and other attractions, such as the Great Barrier Reef and Niagara Falls.

More than a billion voters are expected to join in Internet voting that will nominate 77
semifinalists for the top natural wonders, which will share in the glory already enjoyed by the seven man-made wonders chosen 18 months ago.

Votes can be cast through July 7. Registration on the Web site aims to prevent people from voting twice.

"We are calling on people all over the world to actively show their appreciation for our ... natural world by joining together to celebrate the most extraordinary sites on our planet," said Tia Viering, spokeswoman of the New 7 Wonders campaign.

The Swiss-based nonprofit foundation collected 441 nominations over the Internet since it opened the selection process in 2007.

The foundation then chose the top vote-getter from each country, making a list of 222 sites. The overall list rose to 261 with the inclusion of sites shared by two or more countries -- such as Niagara Falls and Lake Superior between Canada and the United States and the Matterhorn, between Switzerland and Italy.

A panel of experts, chaired by Federico Mayor, former chief of UNESCO, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, will reduce the list to 21 finalists in July.

The seven winners will then be chosen in another round of public voting lasting until 2011, this time by Internet, telephone and text messages.

Choosing world wonders has been a continuing fascination over the centuries. UNESCO keeps updating its list of World Heritage Sites, which now totals 878 places.

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A revamped government Web site offers a service that could help save your life.

The Associated Press reports:

It happens all the time: Filling out that clipboard at the doctor's office, you can't remember what cancer killed Aunt Sally or when Dad had his heart attack.

A good family health history is far more important than a gene test in predicting your future medical needs, but it's hugely underused. Today, the government begins offering a free new service to try to change that.
It will help people compile a family history at home, then e-mail it to relatives who can fill in the gaps and even pop it straight into doctors' computers.

It's private; users download the information to their own computers. Then they can e-mail a tree-in-progress to family members to fill in missing information.

And with a simple keystroke, relatives can "reindex" the tree so it shows the biggest risks for Cousin Bill's side of the family instead of the risks for Cousin Sue who started the project.

Finally, the tool is readable, even customizable, by many of the computer systems that doctors are using to create "electronic medical records," something Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt calls key to ushering in better quality health care.

Even if your doctor hasn't gone digital, keeping a printout of the tree's detailed information in a patient's chart still provides crucial information, such as steering someone away from gene tests they don't really need.

He was 16 when he left Marina del Rey on June 14 on a quest to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the world solo by yacht. He's 17 now and despite numerous adventures that have included a broken tiller and a broken boom, a pirate scare, storms and a communication loss that had his parents on the verge of calling for a search party, Zac Sunderland is on track to complete his mission before he turns 18.

He's been on a stopover for repairs and rest in Durban, South Africa, and his latest blog entry tells us he planned to leave Saturday morning for the next leg of his journey, a relatively short but hazardous 250 miles around the Cape of Good Hope. "I have made some good friends in Durban which makes it hard to leave," Zac says.

In addition to his blog, Zac's Web site offers photos of his adventures, FAQs about his journey and his yacht, Intrepid, and YouTube videos of his life at sea.

Daily Breeze columnist John Bogert, the sage of the South Bay, revealed a bombshell in his Jan. 8 column, "Too many are in the 'know-nothing' party." Among the startling revelations:

• The average score on a quiz administered by the American Civil Literacy Program, www.americancivicliteracy.org, was 49 percent out of a sample of a little more than 2,500 test-takers?
• This score was merely six (!) points lower than the average when said test was given to college educators -- people who had graduate- or doctorate-level scholarship in these subjects and later go on to teach this to the rest of us.
• The American Civil Literacy Program has mathematical proof verifying the Peter principle. A sample of 164 elected officials, on average, scored five points less than the general population.

Bogert, who admits to a "Jeffersonian" score when he took the test, provides a few questions to prep before taking the exam.

Now, tax your American knowledge. It's 33 multiple-choice questions and open-book, but there is the option of entering your ZIP code, income and education level.

Feel free to boast about your score in the comments.

Wannabe stargazers can bid on red-carpet bleacher seats for the Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony in an online auction that will continue through Monday.

Ninety seats with views of the stars arriving at the Shrine Auditorium Jan. 25 are up for grabs in the auction benefiting the charitable SAG Foundation. A gift bag from People magazine is included.

The seats are available in 15 sets of two and 15 sets of four.

Another auction, of items connected with nominated actors, will begin Jan. 23. Past auctions have included autographed scripts, posters, wardrobe pieces and props.

Want to hear Cameron Crowe's thoughts on winning an Oscar or see how king-sized movie posters are assembled? How about a sneak peek at some of the exclusive exhibitions held at the film academy's Beverly Hills headquarters?

The newly revamped Web site of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which launched Tuesday. Film fans of all kinds are welcome, said AMPAS Executive Administrator Ric Robertson.

"It's for almost anyone with an interest in movies," he said. "Depending on the level of interest, there's something there for just about everybody."

The site is more than an extensive homage to the Academy Awards. Visitors can learn about the academy's vast film and script archives (both open to the public), discover educational programs for young filmmakers, glimpse artwork from upcoming academy exhibitions (Fellini's sketches are on view now) and meet the people who vote on the Oscars via video.

There's also a link to Oscars' YouTube page and a chance to receive automated Oscar trivia questions each day from now until the Academy Awards are presented Feb. 22.

"The Academy Awards is this wonderful, huge phenomenon, and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't know what that is," Robertson said. "In a way, that makes it difficult for us to let the world know all the other stuff the academy does."

That's one of the reasons the organization embarked on an eight-month effort to overhaul its site. The group aims to spread the word about its year-round events that encourage appreciation of movies and the folks who make them in a way that appeals to film fans and filmmakers alike.

"We really serve very distinct constituencies: the research community, journalists and the industry," Robertson said. "But the academy is also an incredibly dynamic organization dedicated to movies, and it has an incredible amount to offer to those who just love movies."

Ever been at a dinner or cocktail party where the bon mots are flying
in every direction and you aren't even sure what a bon mot is? Then
this link Great film speeches will provide you with a fund of clever lines that were produced by writers who could
have, as some did, hold their own at the Algonquin Round Table. It
also could be the source for a your own personal trivia-pursuit game based on the
movies. The site truly proves that all most
Americans know about life they learned at the Bijou.

Throwing a party for a crossword fanatic?
How about an invitation and guest list in crossword form?
Can't draw boxes or make all the words fit together? Then this easy crosswords site is perfect for you. It provides a free service that lets you create a variety of crosswords for every occasion. Just type in the answer and the clue and it will construct a puzzle in just a few seconds. It comes with a number of prepared puzzles, which can help children or adults study for upcoming tests or tasks.
While the site says for a small fee it will provide more decorative options, they aren't really necessary.
There are a number of crossword creator site on the Web: This site for educators has an annoying pop-up but is designed for teachers;
This site points out that newspaper crossword puzzles aren't easy to generate but boasts it can provide you with simple crosswords with just a push of the button;
This site offers already prepared educational crosswords for ages 4-18.
One article on the Web claims that creating crosswords is now easier than solving them. And these sites and few others on the Web bear out that statement.

At least since the Romans decided to name the first month of the year after the god Janus (his two faces made it easy for him to look back and forward), the New Year has been a time for taking stock.

Although some sources say the practice of making New Year's resolutions has declined, 40 to 45 percent of American adults make one or more resolutions each year, according to http://www.proactivechange.com/motivation/resolutions/index.htm, which also offers tips on keeping resolutions in a free download, "Resolutions that Work."

Although the "goals guy" offers a number of goal-oriented services, http://www.goalsguy.com/Events/n_facts.html, whets the appetite for change with a look at New Year history, greetings in various language, a list of Jan. 1-born celebrities and even the complete text of "Auld Lang Syne."

More tips, and links to helpful Web sites, are available at http://www.ehow.com/how_12076_keep-new-years.html which suggests avoiding resolution overload ("it's difficult for the average person to follow through on even one resolution"), setting rewards and even waiting until a spring date, perhaps May 1.

By The Associated Press

Ladies, picture this: You search for weeks before finding the perfect gown for an inaugural ball. You're thrilled; its silhouette and color are exactly what you had imagined.

Then, on the night of the fete, you spot another woman wearing the same dress.

Oh, the horror!

A new Web site, www.dressregistry.com, hopes to limit these social nightmares by allowing you to "register" the gown you're wearing to a specific inaugural ball. It includes a place to detail the color, length, designer, neckline description and other distinguishing characteristics. You can even upload a photo.

The genius behind it? A man.

Andrew Jones got the idea after his wife traveled from their home in West Palm Beach, Fla., to New York City to buy a gown for a charity ball in their hometown -- solely to avoid seeing the same dress at the event.

"I kind of put two and two together and I said, 'I think there's a way technology can help us here,' " said Jones, a 42-year-old automotive industry consultant.

The dress duplication problem has long caused anxiety among women.

Hollywood's A-list stars know their garb may end up on a magazine page -- with a side-by-side comparison to someone who wore it better. Jones cited first lady Laura Bush's "Oh, no!" moment at the 2006 Kennedy Center Honors, when she was one of four women wearing the same red Oscar de la Renta gown. Bush quickly changed into something different.

"If it could happen to the first lady, it could happen to anyone," Jones said. "With the inauguration, it just all came together in my mind. I thought it would be a great time to roll it out."

At specialty stores in the Washington area, some thought the Web site a novel idea but suggested it may not be foolproof.

"Nothing's exclusive anymore," said LaShea Green, couture buyer at Saks Jandel in Chevy Chase, Md., who had not yet heard of Jones' Web site. "I don't care how much you register, there's going to be someone (at an event) who didn't register."

So far, inaugural partygoers have registered about 100 gowns for more than two dozen official and unofficial events, including the Constitution Ball, the American Indian Inaugural Ball and the Green Inaugural Ball hosted by Al Gore. As the inaugural festivities near, the registries keep growing.

"I've had people self-registering their events every day," said Jones, adding that he's recorded some 300,000 hits and more than 10,000 unique visitors since the Web site launched Dec. 1.