divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/68545?ns=guardianpageName=Media%3A+Trust+condemns+BBC%27s+failures+in+Brand+rowch=Mediac3=The+Guardianc4=BBC%2CJonathan+Ross%2CRussell+Brand%2CRadio+industry+%28Media%29%2CMedia%2CUK+newsc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CMedia+Weekly%2CComedy%2CRadio+Media%2CTelevision+Media%2CTVc6=Tara+Conlanc7=2008_11_22c8=1122231c9=articlec10=GUc11=Mediac12=BBCc13=c14=h2=GU%2FMedia%2FBBC" width="1" height="1" //divpIt took a single word - "yes" - and a click of her BlackBerry. With that Lesley Douglas, Radio 2 controller, triggered a row that led to the resignation of Russell Brand and the suspension of Jonathan Ross, and ended her own 22-year career at the BBC./ppHer one-word message sanctioned the controversial broadcast of Brand and Ross abusing the elderly actor Andrew Sachs and disparaging his granddaughter Georgina Baillie./ppThis crucial detail was revealed yesterday in a BBC internal report that the corporation hopes will draw a line under one of the most controversial episodes in its recent history. /ppDouglas, the woman credited with saving Radio 2 by modernising the once unfashionable station, quit her post last month and Ross will not broadcast again until the new year./ppThe report by BBC management lays bare a breakdown in communication over the offensive messages left on Sachs' phone answering machine and, in some cases, what the BBC yesterday accepted was a "failure of editorial judgment"./ppIn the first message, the day after the recording on October 15, the producer Nic Philps raised concerns about bad language with Radio 2 head of compliance Dave Barber: "The problem comes when Jonathan says that Russell 'f*cked' Sachs' granddaughter ... I would say take it out, but it forms the crux of the call and is VERY funny."/ppBarber, who also quit this month, subsequently emailed Douglas, repeating the phrase "it's very funny" and telling her: "Having discussed it with [Philps] and listened to the sequence, I think we should keep it in and put a 'strong language' warning at the top of the hour. I think it's editorially justified in this context and certainly within audience expectations for Russell's show and the slot. Andrew Sachs is aware and is happy with the results which were recorded his end for him to hear. Are you happy with this as a plan of action?"/ppThe next day Douglas responded simply: "Yes."/ppIn a separate report yesterday, however, the BBC Trust, which oversees the corporation, disagreed and said the transmission during Brand's late-night show was "grossly offensive" and that there was no justification for broadcasting it./ppThe report reveals that nobody at the BBC realised or checked claims that Sachs had made a complaint, with the result that BBC news bulletins reported press office denials that he had lodged a complaint. His agent had emailed Douglas but she was away from the office and did not receive it until October 26, four days later./ppThat was the day the Mail on Sunday ran its story about the October 18 broadcast, which subsequently led to 42,851 complaints to the corporation. /ppThe BBC's report also revealed that no compliance form was completed by a BBC executive or producer ahead of the transmission of the Brand show./ppDespite the report's conclusion that there was a "lack of direct control by Radio 2", the BBC Trust ruled that the sanctions already imposed by BBC management were enough./ppThe BBC Trust also criticised a further incident of bad language involving Ross, but said his three-month suspension without pay was adequate punishment. This means Ross, who is believed to be earning pound;6.9m over three years, will return to the BBC on January 24./ppIt said an episode of Ross's pre-recorded BBC1 chatshow, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, in which the presenter told Hollywood actor Gwyneth Paltrow he "would fuck her" was "gratuitous and unnecessarily offensive"./ppFollowing complaints, BBC management had originally reviewed the show, broadcast in May, and cleared it, as had the regulator Ofcom. However, the trust yesterday said it disagreed with that judgment, adding that the comment was made in an "overly sexual way" and that it had upheld a number of complaints./ppIn addition, the trust said that BBC management should investigate another incident involving Brand on Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles' show. Moyles and Brand had a conversation live on Radio 1 at 8.23am on October 21, three days after the offensive messages were broadcast on Radio 2 - but before the Sachs affair had become a crisis for the BBC./ppBrand told Moyles he had met Baillie and said he had "met her brains out"./ppBBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons said: "None of the breaches the trust is reporting today should have happened. All of them could have been avoided. The issue which links them is a lack of editorial judgment by those in control."/ppTrustee Richard Tait added that in future "this use of such offensive language must be approved at senior level"./ppHe also said the "prime responsibility rests with the BBC and the editorial management responsible"./ppThe Sachs row has led to Ross stepping down as host of this year's British Comedy Awards. Yesterday ITV announced that his place would be taken at the ceremony on December 6 by Angus Deayton. /ppLyons also revealed yesterday that, in the light of the current tough economic climate, the BBC's nine public service executive directors, including Mark Thompson, the corporation's director general, would waive their bonuses next year. Thompson has done so for the past four years./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/bbc"BBC/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/jonathan-ross"Jonathan Ross/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/russell-brand"Russell Brand/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/radio"Radio/a/li/ul/divdiv class="guRssAdvert"a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Mediacountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227317660255112201400459684"img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Mediacountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227317660255112201400459684" border="0" //a/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a

pThe Standard Model of particle physics, that old workhorse of a theory, has dodged another bullet. The model lays out the properties of all known elementary particles and describes three of the four fundamental forces that govern nature (gravity is left out--finding a home for it is one of the most pressing problems in physics). But it also raises some questions--for instance, why should protons and neutrons, which make up atomic nuclei, be so heavy when their constituent parts, quarks and gluons, are so light? (In fact, the Standard Model holds that gluons are massless.) a href=http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=new-computer-model-gives-particle-p-2008-11-21[More]/a

Palm confirmed that it has laid off an undisclosed number of workers this week.br style=clear: both;/ a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:4543c6332405dc295c7de5727eb710b3:oB%2B52PkntCGL0qbomOS5%2Bm6RdRtb0Gjqbk4Nt6Y6eTSdhXxxVtmwv6rqR7c75D5ILnQPZssl8%2BZA'img border='0' title='Add to digg' alt='Add to digg' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/digg.gif'//a a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:7ee3ab00b5ccffd9caea4d3f1fb65d2a:3ynd2zFF5mecZOODCyhlK4W04TzaCLqjluY%2FJWtmSUyg7fXPY5F8oma0ub54%2B8CmD%2BS7dFuVMkiV'img border='0' title='Add to Reddit' alt='Add to Reddit' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/reddit.png'//a a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:e7df1acdd70007db92a7d63a80cc48e8:CvCIR3g3RhY6Z5GCzQskSdQmXvF8FcClu82MsIHxqEY%2Bh7YpLE%2BFOftN1eIUk0uvK6wYftlUNifi6Q%3D%3D'img border='0' title='Add to Slashdot' alt='Add to Slashdot' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/slashdot.png'//a a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:907043caa3eb20b7b28d7bd79710d0fd:tA3Ja3Of%2FiradMHIGuRGmxwk2bzTdFVHU0ACU6DIUmbUCUg%2FR0al3vJHX%2FLrZl1n8bPOcZNV6gpV'img border='0' title='Email this Article' alt='Email this Article' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/emailthis.png'//a a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:e5363992de6949784ed87ccee58c0bd6:vy8HJ3yX4vwTz12el2csueedDsXhASnRbsy6Z0ndjopT0QQdP14LEMl75tolFsiZ58xn6tZJ9lzObA%3D%3D'img border='0' title='Add to StumbleUpon' alt='Add to StumbleUpon' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/stumbleit.gif'//a br style=clear: both;/ a href=http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=7ec5a48079a2558959a7b204f16c4a47p=1img alt= style=border: 0; border=0 src=http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=7ec5a48079a2558959a7b204f16c4a47p=1//a img src=http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=7ec5a48079a2558959a7b204f16c4a47 style=display: none; border=0 height=1 width=1 alt=/

pimg src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/tripping.jpg" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2" width="600" height="451" style="display:block;" /Who says you need drugs to have a good time? All you need is an open mind and a little imagination to tap into the psychedelic potential of your brain. Oh, and gadgets like the 10 featured here can definitely help. Even if they don't work, just remember that even without the drugs you still have sex and rock n' roll. That should be enough for anyone./p pimg src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/fiber-optic-wallpaper_02.jpg" class="center" width="537" height="452" style="display:block;" /Fiber Optic Wallpaper: Designer Camilla Diedrich has added a 21st century upgrade to drab old wallpaper by adding intricate designs illuminated with fiber optics. It's a cool ideamdash;but I would still opt for a fresh coat of paint. [a href="http://www.bodieandfou.com/productdetail.asp?prod=NATURE_RAY_CHARLES_-_BLUEpid=641cat=13subcat=104#"Bodie and Fou/a via a href="http://gizmodo.com/5084729/fiber-optics-may-change-the-way-you-view-wallpaper"Link/a]/p pobject width="494" height="400"param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1378892amp;server=vimeo.comamp;show_title=1amp;show_byline=1amp;show_portrait=0amp;color=amp;fullscreen=1" embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1378892amp;server=vimeo.comamp;show_title=1amp;show_byline=1amp;show_portrait=0amp;color=amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="494" height="400"/objectPrimal Source Fountain: Earlier this year artist Usman Haque tripped out all of Santa Monica, CA with a fountain projection that resembled a drug-induced hallucination. [a href="http://gizmodo.com/5027229/primal-source-fountain-provides-hallucinations-without-drugs"Link/a]/p pobject width="494" height="400"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QRrxKlS8gkgcolor1=0xb1b1b1color2=0xcfcfcffs=1" param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QRrxKlS8gkgcolor1=0xb1b1b1color2=0xcfcfcffs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="494" height="400"/objectGenso Kukan Aurora Simulator: This gadget claims to simulate the aurora borealis or "northern lights" on the walls in your home. The 6-inch tall Genso Kukan Aurora also features a 30-minute sleep timer to gently send you off on your own mystical journey through the mind. Plus, you will get a lot more mileage out of the $66 price tag than you would using it to purchase mind-bending substances. [a href="http://www.himeyashop.com/product_info.php/products_id/5817"HimeyaShop/a via a href="http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/battery+powered-aurora-light-projector-simulates-northern-lights-an-iffy-proposition-249975.php"Link/a]/p pimg src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/led_table.jpg" class="center" width="478" height="277" style="display:block;" /Wave LED Coffee Table: The Wave table utilizes 32 near-infrared sensors to detect movement and follow it with trails of light and color from 480 LEDs. As you move your hand or your glass over the surface of the table, the LEDs follow alongmdash;allowing you to enjoy a similar experience as a stoner that becomes momentarily captivated by the movement of his own hands. Tables can be made to order for around $1800-$2000. [a href="http://www.becausewecan.org/LED_Coffee_Table_The_Wave"Because We Can/a via a href="http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/geek-furniture/the-wave-led-coffee-table-provides-motion+seeking-light-show-278959.php"Link/a]/p pimg src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/magic-expanding-bunny.jpg" class="center" width="400" height="400" style="display:block;" /Magic Mushroom and the Incredible Expanding Bunny: Stare at the hypnotic spinning disc for around 20 seconds and then direct your eyes towards the magic mushroom and the bunny. Magically, they will both expand before your eyes. Available for around $6. [a href="http://www.iwantoneofthose.com/magic-expanding-toys/index.html#top"iwoot/a]/p pobject width="494" height="400"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Bbgo72EqfNccolor1=0xb1b1b1color2=0xcfcfcffs=1" param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Bbgo72EqfNccolor1=0xb1b1b1color2=0xcfcfcffs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="494" height="400"/objectHyposurface: These fabric and plastic walls are driven by thousands of mechanical pistons to create a morphing movement that is mesmerizing to watch in action. I tell you what, you had better be drug-free when standing in the midst of one of these Hyposurface wallsmdash;otherwise it will freak...you...out. [a href="http://www.hyposurface.org/"Hyposurface/a via a href="http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/tripping-display/hyposurface-display-makes-walls-dance-and-look-pretty-290919.php"Link/a]/p pscript type="text/javascript" newVideoPlayer("altered_gizmodo.flv", 475, 376,""); /scriptThe Good-Old Fashioned Isolation Tank: Nothing offers a drug-free hallucination better than a sensory deprivation or "isolation" tank. Just ask comedian and sober-stoner Joe Rogan. Earlier this year he gave away his old tank, and he can be seen here gushing about its psychedelic potential. [a href="http://gizmodo.com/361693/isolation-tank-makes-you-hallucinate-get-one-free-become-a-nutcase"Link/a]/p pimg src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/ganzfeld_01.jpg" width="216" height="148" class="left"Ganzfeld Hallucinations: Isolation tanks are great, but unless you get a hand out from Joe Rogan they are going to be a tad expensive. Not so with this little DIY project. All you need is a pair of headphones and a ping pong ball that has been cut in half. Apparently, if you place the ping pong ball over your eyes and listen to white noise through the headphones, you will be in for a mind altering experience. Being a burn-out probably helps with this one. [a href="http://gizmodo.com/5092869/headphones-playing-white-noise-and-a-ping-pong-ball-let-you-trip-sans-drugs"Link/a]/p pimg src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/disco-bath.jpg" class="center" width="500" height="500" style="display:block;" /Disco Bath: Place one of these mini-waterproof LED lightshows into your bath, sit back and let the psychedelic color patterns take control of your mind. Pre-order for $13. [a href="http://www.firebox.com/product/2031/Underwater-Disco-Lightshow?src_t=vid"Firebox/a via a href="http://gizmodo.com/383991/disco-bath-means-theres-a-party-in-my-tub-and-youre-all-invited"Link/a]/p pimg src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/eyecandy_relax_01.jpg" class="center" width="494" height="326" style="display:block;" /Eye Candy USB Lollipop: According to the product page, this curious confectionery "uses cutting edge Sensory Substitution Technology to transmit vivid emotive images into your mind's eye." It's based on "scientific" research conducted in the 1970s that the brain can accept certain forms of non-visual stimuli and transform it into a visual image. Using a charge via USB, Eye Candy lays down a matrix of small electrical pulses on your tongue in the shape of an object. Theoretically, you should be able to "see" the object it traces. Now here is where it really gets interesting...the pops come in six flavors designed to help you achieve the "right state of mind." For example: the pop can trace the image of a spider on your tongue to help you overcome your fears. Although the product is not currently available, the goal is to have Eye Candy out sometime in the near future at a cost of around $90. [a href="http://www.eyecandycan.com/"Eye Candy/a via a href="http://gizmodo.com/5043052/hallucinogenic-eye-candy-usb-lollies-take-your-brain-to-that-special-place-for-real"Link/a]/p br style="clear: both;"/ a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=cb551bf97817f9ff6428d9f4c93bf025p=1"img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=cb551bf97817f9ff6428d9f4c93bf025p=1"//a img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=cb551bf97817f9ff6428d9f4c93bf025" style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~f/gizmodo/full?a=10mzBNFf"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/gizmodo/full?d=120" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~f/gizmodo/full?a=yav1jqZX"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/gizmodo/full?d=41" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~f/gizmodo/full?a=Psix0ogZ"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/gizmodo/full?i=Psix0ogZ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~f/gizmodo/full?a=9CBQ1yay"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/gizmodo/full?i=9CBQ1yay" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~4/QSnzFV4Tols" height="1" width="1"/

Sezmi, the upstart set-top box maker that plans to deliver television through a combination of over-the-air transmission and broadband, today laid off 20 percent of its staff, or 20 employees, according to The New York Times.

Sezmi President and Chairman Phil Wiser denied that his company was facing problems but said the landscape is very different now than it was two months ago, and told the Times, “Any executive that does not take these changes very seriously would be irresponsible.”

Wiser also said that his company has raised a new round of funding that it would be announcing soon. We know that back at the beginning of August, Sezmi was looking to raise $50 million and that the company, formerly known as Building B, had previously raised $18 million.

We’re suspect of the company and its solution to deliver on-demand TV. It’s a combination of broadcast transmission and broadband delivery struck us as overly complicated for people to abandon their current cable or satellite subscription. The company says it just finished up successful technical trials of the product with three local broadcasters in Seattle, and is prepping for a larger trial next year.

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/20252?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+US+judge+orders+release+of+Guant%26aacute%3Bnamo+fivech=World+newsc3=The+Guardianc4=Guantanamo+Bay+%28News%29%2CUS+news%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Duncan+Campbell%2CRichard+Norton-Taylorc7=2008_11_21c8=1121626c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Guant%C3%A1namo+Bayc13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FGuant%C3%A1namo+Bay" width="1" height="1" //divpA US judge ruled yesterday that five Algerian prisoners held in Guantaacute;namo Bay must be set free, in a decision with far-reaching implications for the remaining detainees at the base in Cuba./ppDistrict court judge Richard Leon ruled in a Washington DC court that there was no legal basis to keep the five in prison. It is the first verdict in more than 200 habeas corpus petitions being brought before the US courts. The petitions challenge the American government to prove that there is evidence to justify keeping the men in Guantaacute;namo Bay. The judge, known for his conservative views, said the US government should not appeal./pp"The decision by Judge Leon lays bare the flimsy basis on which Guantaacute;namo has been founded - at best, slim evidence of dubious quality, at worst, nothing," said Zachary Katznelson, legal director of Reprieve, the British legal action charity whose lawyers represent 33 Guantaacute;namo prisoners. "This is a tough, no-nonsense judge. If he found there wasn't evidence to justify holding the men, you can be sure it wasn't there."/ppPresident-elect Barack Obama has promised to close down the prison camp as soon as he takes office, saying that Guantaacute;namo "has done much to besmirch the reputation of the United States"./ppHis team is considering what to do with detainees. One possibility is the setting up of "security courts", but the new administration is well aware it faces major diplomatic, political, and legal problems./ppThe latest hearing involved six Algerian nationals, five of whom are also Bosnian citizens and who were originally accused of plotting to blow up the US embassy in Bosnia. The men had been acquitted on these charges in Bosnia but were seized by the US and rendered to Guantaacute;namo Bay./pp"It is an illustration of the catastrophic policies of the Bush administration - ignoring the legitimate ruling of the court of an ally, rendering these men away from their homes and families, and holding them without legal recourse in Guantaacute;namo Bay for six years," said Clive Stafford Smith, director of Reprieve. "There are plenty more cases of injustice ahead of us, including the plight of the British residents who remain in this terrible place."/ppJudge Leon's ruling on the detainees is the first since the US supreme court ruled in June that every prisoner in Guantaacute;namo had the right to contest his imprisonment in the civilian courts./ppReading his ruling as the detainees listened in Guantaacute;namo via a telephone link, Leon said the US government failed to show the five detainees had planned to travel to Afghanistan to fight US forces./ppOrdering the release of the five, Leon said the allegation was based on a single source, and he did not have enough information to judge the source's reliability or credibility. He ordered the US government to take all necessary and diplomatic steps to facilitate their release "forthwith". /ppThe judge ruled the government did provide enough evidence that the sixth detainee, Belkacem Bensayah, had planned to take up arms against the United States in Afghanistan./ppLawyers acting for Binyam Mohamed, a British resident held at Guantaacute;namo Bay, are demanding his release. They want US documents - some of which have been seen by the British government - to be disclosed, saying they will reveal that Mohamed had been tortured./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/guantanamo"Guantánamo Bay/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/li/ul/divdiv class="guRssAdvert"a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Newscountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227231854895112101441449695"img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Newscountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227231854895112101441449695" border="0" //a/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/83616?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+Judge%3A+Algerian+prisoners+held+in+Guant%C3%A1namo+must+be+freedch=World+newsc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Guantanamo+Bay+%28News%29%2CAlgeria+%28News%29%2CObama+White+House+%28News%29%2CUS+news%2CGeorge+Bush+%28News%29%2CWorld+news%2CUK+newsc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CUS+Electionsc6=Duncan+Campbell%2CRichard+Norton-Taylorc7=2008_11_20c8=1121498c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Guant%C3%A1namo+Bayc13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FGuant%C3%A1namo+Bay" width="1" height="1" //divpA US judge today ruled that five Algerian prisoners held in Guantánamo Bay must be set free in a decision that has far reaching implications for the remaining detainees at the base in Cuba./ppDistrict court judge Richard Leon ruled in a Washington DC court that there was no legal basis to keep the five in prison, and ordered the US government to release them./ppIt is the first verdict in more than 200 habeas corpus petitions being brought before the US courts. The petitions challenge the US government to prove that there is evidence justifying keeping the men in Guantánamo Bay./pp"The decision by Judge Leon lays bare the flimsy basis on which Guantánamo has been founded – at best, slim evidence of dubious quality, at worst, nothing," said Zachary Katznelson, legal director of Reprieve, the British legal action charity whose lawyers represent 33 Guantánamo Bay prisoners. "This is a tough, no-nonsense judge. If he found there wasn't evidence to justify holding the men, you can be sure it wasn't there." /ppThe judge, known for his conservative views, said the US government should not appeal against his ruling./ppIt is the latest setback for President George Bush's policy and will add further weight to president-elect Barack Obama's pledge to close down the prison camp as soon as he takes office. Obama has described Guantánamo Bay as "a sad chapter in American history which has been done much to besmirch the reputation of the United States around the world"./ppHe and his team are currently considering different options about what to do with the detainees and what legal process they should subject to. One possibility is the setting up of "security courts" but the new administration is well aware it faces major diplomatic, political, and legal problems./ppThe latest hearing involved six Algerian nationals, five of who are also Bosnian citizens and who were originally accused of plotting to blow up the American embassy in Bosnia. The men had already been acquitted on these charges in Bosnia but were seized by the US and rendered to Guantánamo Bay when they were released./pp"It is an illustration of the catastrophic policies of the Bush administration – ignoring the legitimate ruling of the court of an ally, rendering these men away from their homes and families, and holding them without legal recourse in Guantánamo Bay for six years," said Clive Stafford Smith, director of Reprieve./ppHe added: "There are plenty more cases of injustice ahead of us, including the plight of the British residents who remain in this terrible place."/ppThe ruling by judge Leon is the first decision since the US Supreme Court ruled in June 2008 that every prisoner in Guantánamo has the right to contest his imprisonment in the civilian courts. Leon's ruling follows the first hearings under a landmark Supreme Court ruling in June that gave Guantánamo detainees the legal right to challenge their continued confinement./ppReading his ruling as the detainees listened in Guantánamo via a telephone hook-up, Leon said the US government failed to show the five detainees who had been living in Bosnia had planned to travel to Afghanistan to fight against US forces. /ppOrdering the release of the five men, Leon said the allegation was based on a single source, and he did not have enough information to judge the source's reliability or credibility. He ordered the US government to take all necessary and diplomatic steps to facilitate their release "forthwith." /ppLawyers acting for Binyam Mohamed, a British resident behind held at Guantánamo Bay, are demanding his release and argue US documents, some of which has been seen by the British government, should be disclosed as they will reveal that he had been tortured./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/guantanamo"Guantánamo Bay/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/algeria"Algeria/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/obama-white-house"Obama White House/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/georgebush"George Bush/a/li/ul/divdiv class="guRssAdvert"a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Newscountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227213071355112020341833652"img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Newscountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227213071355112020341833652" border="0" //a/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a

AKVIS ArtWork 1.0AKVIS ArtWork is designed to imitate different painting techniques. ArtWork helps you to create a piece of art out of any digital photo!

AKVIS ArtWork is an ideal solution for your creative expression. Combining advanced technologies with an artistic approach, the new AKVIS creative suite is a perfect virtual artist for your PC. The transformation of a picture into a painting happens before your very eyes - you can follow the birth of a work of art in real time! Your personal virtual artist lays brush strokes naturally using the original photo as a reference.

Unlike many other programs and Photoshop plug-ins claiming to be digital artists, ArtWork creates a real painting out of a photo, not just adds twisted geometric lines to make it look like one. Even with the default settings you can achieve a realistic result coming very close to hand-painted works. Tweak the options, and you can research a variety of oil painting styles.

For those in need of more flexibility and having ideas on how the final panting should look, there is a tool called Stroke Direction. This semi-automatic and highly intelligent tool is a real godsend as it gives you full control over the strokes. Use a special brush to define the guiding lines, and the virtual painter will convert the image into a painting directing the strokes to follow the drawn guiding lines. This technique allows achieving truly realistic paintings with human hair, patterns and textures going in the right direction.

The initial release of ArtWork converts photographs into oil paintings. In the future, the virtual artist will learn additional painting techniques.

The virtual painter will take care of converting a digital picture into an oil painting, but what else makes a painting look like a work of art? Canvas and artist's signature! AKVIS ArtWork offers the choice between a flat background and a rough surface (canvas, paper, etc.) that makes the impression even more stunning. You can add a signature or an inscription to the picture with your own font and color.
REQUIREMENTSMac OS X 10.3.9 or later
DEVELOPERAKVIS Software Inc.
DOWNLOADS34
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pThis Sunday I'll be preaching on the topic of Creation in an evening series at my church. Our Sunday evening format allows for only short sermons and I am trying to distill the broad topic of Creation down to the most fundamental points. I have no intention of defending Creation against evolution or of refuting the various views among Christians that conflict with the position of my church's leadership (though I am sure some of that will arise in the QA that follows the sermon). But as I was thinking about the subject of Creation, my mind was drawn to this article I read a couple of years ago. It argues that Christians can and should embrace evolution and lays out the reasons we can do so while remaining faithful to the Bible./p pemScientific American/em is a popular science magazine with a monthly circulation approaching 700,000. Including foreign language editions, the circulation increases to over 1,000,000. First published in 1845, it is the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States. Quite needless to say, it is not a publication that is particularly friendly to creationism. In the October 2006 edition is a a href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=darwin-on-the-right"column/a by Michael Shermer, publisher of emSkeptic/em, a magazine produced by The Skeptics Society, which #8220;engages in scientific investigation and journalistic research to investigate claims made by scientists, historians, and controversial figures on a wide range of subjects.#8221; His column is titled #8220;Darwin on the Right: Why Christians and conservatives should accept evolution.#8221; The column is a brief attempt to lay out six reasons that Christians should embrace evolution. I#8217;d like to take a brief look at each of Shermer#8217;s six points. He begins with statistics:/p blockquoteAccording to a 2005 Pew Research Center poll, 70 percent of evangelical Christians believe that living beings have always existed in their present form, compared with 32 percent of Protestants and 31 percent of Catholics. Politically, 60 percent of Republicans are creationists, whereas only 11 percent accept evolution, compared with 29 percent of Democrats who are creationists and 44 percent who accept evolution. A 2005 Harris Poll found that 63 percent of liberals but only 37 percent of conservatives believe that humans and apes have a common ancestry. What these figures confirm for us is that there are religious and political reasons for rejecting evolution. Can one be a conservative Christian and a Darwinian? Yes. Here#8217;s how./blockquote pOne immediate observation is that he makes a distinction between evangelicals Christians and Protestants, yet does not define these terms. In theory, every Protestant is evangelical and every evangelical is Protestant. So I am uncertain as to how we are to distinguish between these two. Regardless, we will press on./p blockquotestrong1. Evolution fits well with good theology./strong Christians believe in an omniscient and omnipotent God. What difference does it make when God created the universe#8212;10,000 years ago or 10,000,000,000 years ago? The glory of the creation commands reverence regardless of how many zeroes in the date. And what difference does it make how God created life#8212;spoken word or natural forces? The grandeur of life#8217;s complexity elicits awe regardless of what creative processes were employed. Christians (indeed, all faiths) should embrace modern science for what it has done to reveal the magnificence of the divine in a depth and detail unmatched by ancient texts./blockquote pI will be the first to affirm that the Bible is not a scientific text. Neither was it intended to be such. However, if we are to believe that the Bible is God#8217;s word and that what God has spoken is true, we must also believe that what God says about science must be true. When God says that the world was created by His command, we must believe it to be so. Shermer asks, #8220;what difference does it make how God created life#8212;spoken word or natural forces?#8221; The difference is that the Bible tells us God created the world by His spoken word. We are not able to believe in the Bible as God#8217;s word and reject Scripture#8217;s clear teaching that life was created from nothing and at God#8217;s command. I agree that #8220;Christians #8230; should embrace modern science for what it has done to reveal the magnificence of the divine in a depth and detail unmatched by ancient texts.#8221; But science has not proven evolution. It has not proven that the world was created in any way other than at God#8217;s command. I embrace modern science, but only so far as it is compatible with Scripture and plain reason. Evolution does not fit with good theology, for evolution and Scripture are wholly incompatible. If we are to embrace evolution, it will be at the expense of the Bible./p blockquotestrong2. Creationism is bad theology./strong The watchmaker God of intelligent-design creationism is delimited to being a garage tinkerer piecing together life out of available parts. This God is just a genetic engineer slightly more advanced than we are. An omniscient and omnipotent God must be above such humanlike constraints. As Protestant theologian Langdon Gilkey wrote, #8220;The Christian idea, far from merely representing a primitive anthropomorphic projection of human art upon the cosmos, systematically repudiates all direct analogy from human art.#8221; Calling God a watchmaker is belittling./blockquote pCalling God a watchmaker is clearly belittling, but I do not know of any Christians who believe that God fills this role. God is not a mere garage tinkerer who pieces life together from available parts. Rather, God is the one who not only created life as an idea, as a concept, but who created the available parts and who then assembled them in an orderly fashion. To suggest that God is only slightly more advanced than we are is to ignore the vast gaps that continue to exist in human knowledge. Humans may have been able to map the genome, but a great deal of work remains; an infinite amount of work. The more we conquer, the more we realize we still need to conquer. And one thing humans have never been able to do and will never be able to do is create life emex nihilo/em, from nothing. We may be able to arrange and rearrange the building blocks of life in some semblance of order, but we are not able to make something from nothing. That is the realm of God alone. Creationism is not bad theology, but is the theology of the Bible. It is not an optional doctrine, but something we must believe if we are to be men and women of the Bible./p blockquotestrong3. Evolution explains original sin and the Christian model of human nature./strong As a social primate, we evolved within-group amity and between-group enmity. By nature, then, we are cooperative and competitive, altruistic and selfish, greedy and generous, peaceful and bellicose; in short, good and evil. Moral codes and a society based on the rule of law are necessary to accentuate the positive and attenuate the negative sides of our evolved nature./blockquote pThis third point begins with a premise that is accepted only by evolutionists. As Christians we do not believe that humans evolved at all, but that we were deliberately placed on this earth and were made to rule it. To attempt to explain original sin through between-group enmity is to completely misrepresent original sin. Between-group enmity is unable to explain why it is that every human being, no matter his age, culture, race, or gender is sinful. It is unable to explain why we all do things that are wrong and why we all delight in doing wrong even to our within-group. It is unable to explain what is clearly spiritual. Evolution cannot explain original sin or the Christian model of human nature. It cannot explain the conscience, the soul, or sinful nature./p blockquotestrong4. Evolution explains family values./strong The following characteristics are the foundation of families and societies and are shared by humans and other social mammals: attachment and bonding, cooperation and reciprocity, sympathy and empathy, conflict resolution, community concern and reputation anxiety, and response to group social norms. As a social primate species, we evolved morality to enhance the survival of both family and community. Subsequently, religions designed moral codes based on our evolved moral natures./blockquote p#8220;Attachment and bonding, cooperation and reciprocity, sympathy and empathy, conflict resolution, community concern and reputation anxiety, and response to group social norms#8221; are all characteristics of families. However, all of these characteristics are as easily and even emmore/em easily explained by creation rather than evolution. Could God not have given us the desire to attach and bond? Could he not have made us sympathetic and make us desire to resolve conflicts amicably? Even a brief overview of the Bible will prove this to be true. To suggest that religions designed moral codes based upon moral natures is to put the cart before the horse, for is it not more likely that a moral code existed with God before creation was begun, and that our natures were created in a way consistent with this code? Is it not likely that God, whose moral nature included moral codes, designed us in His image and built that code into us? Is this not an explanation for the laws that seem so clearly to be written into the hearts of all humans? Evolution cannot explain family values and can certainly not explain more codes. A glance at the conflict over the right of homosexuals to marry will show the vast difference between an understanding of family as rooted in naturalistic evolution and of family rooted in God's creative design./p blockquotestrong5. Evolution accounts for specific Christian moral precepts./strong Much of Christian morality has to do with human relationships, most notably truth telling and marital fidelity, because the violation of these principles causes a severe breakdown in trust, which is the foundation of family and community. Evolution describes how we developed into pair-bonded primates and how adultery violates trust. Likewise, truth telling is vital for trust in our society, so lying is a sin./blockquote pChristian morality has to do primarily with imitating God who is true and who is faithful. The violation of these principles may case a severe breakdown in truth, but far worse, violation of these principles causes a growing rift between creature and Creator. Christian morality involves human relationships, but only secondarily to the relationship between God and man. Evolution may offer some description of how humans developed into pair-bonded primates and how adultery violates trust. But the Bible offers an answer that is far more clear and far more likely: God created marriage so that human beings could emulate the relationship of Jesus Christ to His people. Truth telling is vital for trust, but even more vital to maintain relationship between God and man. Lying is a sin because it makes a mockery of God who not only tells the truth, but is the very source of truth. Evolution absolutely cannot account for specific moral precepts in a way that is satisfying. And, ironically, evolution is the worldview that underlies the acceptance of non-traditional relationships such as homosexual marriage. Could it be that evolution can be used to explain anything?/p blockquotestrong6. Evolution explains conservative free-market economics./strong Charles Darwin#8217;s #8220;natural selection#8221; is precisely parallel to Adam Smith#8217;s #8220;invisible hand.#8221; Darwin showed how complex design and ecological balance were unintended consequences of competition among individual organisms. Smith showed how national wealth and social harmony were unintended consequences of competition among individual people. Nature#8217;s economy mirrors society#8217;s economy. Both are designed from the bottom up, not the top down./blockquote pThis sixth point does not seem to fit with the rest of the list. While the other five have dealt with principles that are distinctly Christian, this one turns to free-market economics. Shermer may as well have said #8220;Evolution explains the American obsession with team sports.#8221; I know little of economics, free market or otherwise, so will leave this point as-is, except to point out that simply because two theories parallel one another does not make either true./p pThe article concludes with an exhortation and a passage from Scripture. #8220;Because the theory of evolution provides a scientific foundation for the core values shared by most Christians and conservatives, it should be embraced. The senseless conflict between science and religion must end now, or else, as the Book of Proverbs (11:29) warned: #8216;He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind.#8217;#8221;/p pThere does not need to be a conflict between science and religion. In a perfect world, there would be no conflict, and, indeed, when the world is remade there emwill/em be no conflict. What we see in this debate is not a competition between science and religion, but a conflict between worldviews. These worldviews are wholly incompatible. Michael Ruse, a well-known evolutionist, speaks truthfully when he says #8220;evolution came into being as a kind of secular ideology, an explicit substitute for Christianity#8230;Evolution is a religion. This was true of evolution in the beginning, and is true of evolution still today.#8221; Evolution is not mere science, but is religion dressed as science. Evolution, and the naturalism that lies behind it, is a full-blown worldview, and in reality, is a religious system that stands in direct opposition to Christianity. The true conflict, the conflict between evolution and creationism, is a conflict of truth and error, a conflict of God and man. Creationism embraces God as the Creator and Sustainer of the world; evolutionism rejects God replaces Him with time, chance and opportunity. The debate between creationism and evolutionism is by no means senseless, for it is a defense of the truth and a defense of the One who is Truth./pa href="http://www.amazon.com/?tag=dietofbookwor-20"img src="http://www.adgrab.org/www/images/amazon-christmas.jpg" //adiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/challies/XhEt?a=4bpdN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/challies/XhEt?i=4bpdN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/challies/XhEt?a=GkWtn"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/challies/XhEt?i=GkWtn" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/challies/XhEt?a=lPQwn"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/challies/XhEt?i=lPQwn" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/challies/XhEt/~4/459612244" height="1" width="1"/