Gift catalogs help the more fortunate

Robb Report offers a 144-carat diamond necklace at $10-million, the new $350,000 Daimler-Chrysler Maybach 62 sedan, a $1.6-million Formula One Ferrari, a residence in London's fabled Regent's Park for $29.9-million and a $1.25-million America's Cup vacation. Too expensive? How about an original copy of Ian Fleming's You Only Live Twice, signed by the author, for $75,000?

Astoria Times does an article with Anna Berger of the Upper West Side, who plays the mother of mobster Paulie Walnuts in the Sopranos.

BBC NEWS: Callas letters sold to mystery buyer

Private letters revealing opera star Maria Callas' desire for revenge after she was jilted by billionaire Aristotle Onassis have sold at auction in Rome. The letters fetched more than £4,000 at a Christie's auction on Wednesday, selling to a mystery bidder.

Eleven lots of the opera singer's letters and photographs sold for £13,000, much more than was expected before the sale.

Days after Onassis wed the widow of assassinated US President John F Kennedy in October 1969, Callas wrote: "It's cruel, it isn't true - both should pay and both will pay, you'll see."

Callas died alone, depressed and unfulfilled, in Paris in September 1977. She was 53.
Onassis, who had once given her a $1m diamond ring, died in March 1975.
Written as her nine-year affair with Onassis was collapsing, Callas' letters also touched on the disillusion she felt and her battle to lose weight.

The Macomb Daily has a cool proposal story...

Hidden beneath the surface: Authenticity

In another tagging method, minute mixes of metals are sprayed on goods and then examined using X-rays, Barron said. A South African diamond supplier uses the method to mark gems, and a copper supplier uses it in overhead high-voltage wires, which are often stolen and resold as scrap in poor countries.

Former Miss America to Become a Mrs.

Ebner proposed about three weeks ago, on one knee, a diamond ring waiting on his Bible and red roses scattered around the house.

"When I saw it, I was blown away," Harman said of the ring that Ebner had made for her in secret. "It was better than I imagined."

Maureen Dowd wrote an article in the NY Times: A Golden Couple Chasing Away a Black Cloud, that's being widely discussed on the net these days...

Thanks to 2 Tigers Online: Tools for Nuclear and Radiation Emergencies by Two Tigers Radiological for the banner. If you ever want to know the warning status of our HomeLand Security, simply click on the permalink for this entry. Today the warning level is:

Asia Times: India's Little Gems

China, though, is nibbling away at the diamond processing pie that India controls, with increasing numbers of diamond processors from Israel and Belgium, and even India, setting up bases in China, for a variety of reasons:

The labor force is cheap and disciplined.

China's economic growth is continuing, and the number of wealthier consumers within the country rising, while India has to rely almost solely on exports.

De Beers, the world's largest supplier of rough diamonds, is increasingly favoring China in order to reduce its dependence on India.

The quality of Chinese workmanship is steadily improving.

Policies such as single window clearance largely favor foreign businessmen.

This argument will probably not receive much sympathy. How about if they work together with the anti-pop-up software to help ensure that people who don't like popups won't visit their sites ;) ?

When the doors do open -- the plan now is for a Dec. 3 debut, 10 days late but still in time for the main holiday shopping rush -- the store will offer diamond items ranging from US$750 trinkets to -- theoretically at least -- the 203-carat De Beers Millennium Star, which was the object of a failed November 2000 robbery at London's Millennium Dome. Lorenzo said the stone was worth "several dozens of millions of dollars" and is not kept at the store. The London store is meant to be the forerunner of a chain that would include a New York store on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street, which the company hopes to open in 2004. The US accounts for half the world's US$60 billion in sales of cut and polished diamonds, but it is also problematic for the parent company, De Beers, because of a variety of antitrust investigations that preclude it from openly doing business there.

Or remember any of these?:

Sword of Justice with Dack Rambo of Dallas, as Jack Cole handing out those 3 of spades... Larry Hagman was in the pilot and Belinda Montgomery was in the second episode.

Remember Man From Atlantis with Patrick Duffy and the webbed hands and feet? Belinda Montgomery was in that one too. As was Victor Buono. Victor Buono was a great villain for the fun original Wild Wild West against Ross Martin and Robert "I dare you to knock this battery off my shoulder" Conrad.

Or the original TV version of Mission Impossible.

Anyone recognize this guy from SWAT?

Or any of the versions The Paper Chase with the brilliant John "We make money the old-fashioned way, we Eeeeeaaaarrrrnnn it" Houseman? The movie version starred Lindsey "Bionic Woman" Wagner....

Also fun was The Six Million Dollar Man, I still remember the original song before the show was repackaged and redone...there was later a reunion show with Sandra Bullock.

The Greatest American Hero was fun and finally, before the current Saturday Night Live, anyone remember the variety show Saturday Night Live? If I recall correctly, it starred Howard Cosell....

The internet answers all questions. Today's episode: What time is it?

A 5 minutes preview of Star Trek Nemesis is now online at iFilm.

Would you like a Belgian chocolate?

Science Toys looks like a really cool site...offering science toys you can make with your kids.

Well I'm surprised to see that Yahoo! has responded.

If MyWay gets much better, it will definitely eat into Yahoo...but I've said this before...

A Rolex wristwatch that belonged to the former emperor of Vietnam sold for a record $235,000, the auctioneers said Tuesday.

Lydia Diamond founders receive trading bans over misuse of company funds

The husband-and-wife founders of Lydia Diamond Exploration Ltd. plan to appeal an order by the country's largest stock regulator that forces them to sever formal ties to the company for misusing funds and improperly selling millions of shares to the public. A panel of the Ontario Securities Commission also ordered Tuesday that Jurgen von Anhalt and Emilia von Anhalt - who claim royal titles of prince and princess from Saxony, a former German principality - must resign as directors and officers of the company and can't attend directors meetings.

Charles sees Marines in Bond-style spectacular before 007 screening

Before the film, the Prince, wearing the uniform of a vice admiral, watched intently as actors and servicemen played out an 007 scenario. The plot centred around the kidnapping of a TV reporter who has uncovered a diamond smuggling racket.

Buffalo Reflex has a report about State Commemorative Coins.

"Illinois will feature Abraham Lincoln; Alabama plans to honor Helen Keller. Maine will feature a lighthouse on the coast and a ship at sea. The Arkansas quarter, which will follow Missouri's, will showcase the state's natural resources, showing a stalk of rice, a duck in flight and a cut diamond."

Instapundit points to USA Today and Mitch Berg, who suggest George Will as a replacement for Stephanopoulos on This Week, which is tanking.

It was so obvious to everyone except for the lunatics who were behind the decision to put Steph there that it would fail. I never knew Brinkley's politics, but always looked forward to his witty little comment at the end of the show. He never made too much talk about his feelings on how the political game is played in Washington. His face said it all. The way he moved the show along as politician after politician would dodge questions like the pros they are and deliver their talking points despite Donaldson's tenacity, was poetic.

I'm not too sure that Will will ever take over, nor do I know if it would play to his strengths....

I remember reading years ago during speculation about Brinkley retiring one day, that Will would never consider taking over the hosting chair nor would ABC News let him due to his independent yet paid status on ABC News. Maybe someone can find the reference or knows how the hierarchy works at ABC News...

Although perhaps one day they will find someone who can make This Week successful again, it will never be the same. It will be like The Tonight with Jay Leno is Vs. what The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson was.

Salon.com reports: Political spam: Get used to it

Now I'm furious....Political SPAM??? Not only aren't they doing anything about spam but now they are sending it to us? What else can politicians do to make us trust them less? This is so ridiculous.

Speaking of Salon.com, they have a new gimmick.

"Salon.com has introduced an unusual advertising program that waives subscription fees for readers willing to wade through an interactive commercial."

Sorry, I just don't think it will work. I think the direction of ads in the future will be like what I read the latest James Bond movie's nickname is: "Buy Another Day". Product placement is the future of ads. Which makes it a big problem for content sites like Salon.com. Good content is not like good entertainment...product placement hurts the quality of the content far more than it hurts entertainment. When you watch a TV show, who cares if the actors drink Coke or Pepsi? Basically only Coke or Pepsi care... even if it affects our purchasing habits, personally I still couldn't care less. I'd gladly trade in commercials for product placement...but not in written content.

What people are not understanding is that the Internet has made it cheap enough to create quality content that ad driven content is not that huge a moneymaker.

There are 500,000 blogs out there. Take the cream of the crop and you will find some awesome content including up to date news and articles for free. Why wade through an excessive Mercedes Benz commercial just to read Salon? A few clicks on the net and you'll find plenty of value to read...

It's not that I don't sympathize with Salon. I appreciate quality writing and would be happy if the average person placed more value on it. But reality is reality and they will probably never be as big a business as they or their investors wish them to be.... and dancing ads may help them a tiny bit, but not enough to keep them afloat...

Jackson dangles child off balcony.

Unfortunately, Michael Jackson made the news again today. I hope what I will say doesn't come off the wrong way...

It's sad to see the direction he's taken... I do hope he gets some help, because it's clear that he is unbalanced.... I saw the video... I don't know what is considered to be dangerous to children but I don't think what he did was appropriate at all. It's easy to judge people when you don't have a camera on you 24/7, sometimes people do stupid things...but based on what I've seen lately, it does seem like he could use some counseling... if not for himself, then for his kids..

Ora Coren of the newspaper Ha'Aretz reports Dozens of diamond merchants to lose preferred De Beers Status.

The European Commission's Antitrust Authority has approved global diamond monopoly De Beers' new strategic plan. Israeli diamond merchants noted that implementation of the plan was expected to cause a revolution in the global diamond trade. They said it was slated to halve the company's regular customer list of about 120 site owners, including about 35 in Israel.

The global industry is expected to go from basing its relationships on per-month contracts to six-month to two-year contracts, which will require restructuring in the finance, production and marketing areas.

The De Beers strategic plan is based on two-year contracts in which diamond merchants will prepare marketing plans for periods no shorter than six months, on the basis of which they will ask for rough diamonds from De Beers. De Beers will attempt to meet those demands in order to maintain its status as their central supplier.

TheStar reports:

Canada's growing diamond industry could see its first northern jewelry manufacturer as a result of an agreement northern aboriginals signed with renowned U.S. jeweller Tiffany & Co. The memorandum of understanding, signed last week between Tiffany's and Kitikmeot Corp., commits the parties to look for new ways to exploit the North's rich diamond deposits.

In the matter of Lydia Diamond Exploration of Canada Ltd., Jurgen von Anhalt and Emilia von Anhalt

The decision of the panel in the matter of Lydia Diamond Exploration of Canada Ltd., Jurgen von Anhalt and Emilia von Anhalt will be released on November 19, 2002. The hearing originally scheduled for Tuesday, November 19, 2002 at 9:00 a.m. will not be convened.

George Lazenby made an appearance at the most recent grand opening of Die Another Day, the latest James Bond movie. Although you can argue about his performance as Bond, if you actually watched the movie, it was perhaps the best Bond Film from all of them. Although Goldfinger was great, and Spy Who Loved Me was the best of Roger Moore, Her Majesty's Secret Service was fun as a Bond Flick but was actually good as a Spy Flick too... it's worth renting for sure...

I've been saying this about Spam for a long time and have been surprised at how slow the pace has been for this to happen... We'll see if it does eventually get there...

So, sophisticated Internet users are turning to a new approach. Instead of trying to block spam while allowing everything else, these users employ software that blocks everything except messages from already known, accepted senders. These systems, called "whitelists," change e-mail from an open system to a closed one. Whitelist applications available today include MailFrontier, ChoiceMail from DigiPortal, Vanquish, and the freeware Tagged Message Delivery Agent. There's also a whitelist option built into Hotmail, known as the "exclusive" setting. Though it's hidden in the preferences menu (click "Options," then "Junk Mail Filter"), more than 10 percent of Hotmail users reportedly invoke it. Before long, expect all e-mail applications to offer this function.

If you have $150,000 to spare this diamond ring given to Princess Diana may interest you.

Royal Memorabilia has lots of items for sale. You can learn more about the topic in this Mirror article.

Joi Ito points to this cartoon by Invisible Shoebox. Cool.

Adbusters is sponsoring the Buy Nothing Day...

Joe Pantoliano is gone for good from Sopranos, but you will be able to catch him in Ben Affleck's turn as DareDevil. I liked this comic book when I was younger. Some talented people worked on it, including Frank Miller if memory serves...

Some other movies coming soon:

Gigli during the filming of which Affleck met and finally proposed to Jennifer Lopez..

Star Trek Nemesis without blogger Wil Wheaton who announced on his blog that his scene was cut...

Dumb and Dumberer a prequel without Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels ...

Batman Year 1, screenplay by Frank Miller which is a good sign...

Once upon a time in Mexico, the third in the trilogy of El Mariachi & Desperado, this film will have an all-star cast including Antonio Banderas, Pedro Armenduriz, Ruben Blades, Willem Dafoe, Johnny Depp, Salma Hayek, Enrique Iglesias, Marco Leonardi, Cheech Marin, Eva Mendes, Mickey Rourke & Danny Trejo...

XMen2 with Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, Halle Berry, Brian Cox, Alan Cumming, Bruce Davison, Kelly Hu, James Marsden, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Shawn Ashmore, Steve Bacic, James Bamford, Daniel Cudmore, Shauna Kain, Michael Reid McKay, Cotter Smith, Aaron Stanford, Katie Stuart, Connor Widdows, Peter Wingfield & Kea Wong...

Fantastic Four,

American Wedding which is the third in the American Pie Movies..

The Hulk which features a cameo of Lou Ferrigno who can be seen this month on HBO in the Pumping Iron movies... Sam Elliott and Jennifer Connelly will star... boding well for the movie is that it will be directed by Ang Lee of Crouching Tiget Hidden Dragon acclaim...

The Matrix Reloaded...

Arnold says I'll be back for Terminator 3...

and in the farther off future is The Amazing Spider Man 2

and even though Harry Potter 2 is now playing, Part 3 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban will be in theatres in 2004.

Surfing can be a fun diversion sometimes...and you never know where it will take you. I started out at Anonova's tech news and found out that Philips is announcing a new device, a remote control that uses WIFI. They foresee a future with less wires and making computing more human centric.

Going along with this theme I found out about Project Oxygen. From there I saw a creepy technology demonstration video. I say creepy because just like I'm not interested in a video phone, I'm not interested in wearing a GPS that will announce my whereabouts to visitors.

Anyways, from there I found out about tech photographer Sam Ogden. Turns out the Borg have already invaded earth in real life. Somehow I'm not surprised that they live at MIT:

ABCNEWS.com : Marketing Scheme Misusing 20/20's Name

Hopefully this will get them to do some aggressive reporting on Spam. They should start with the Direct Marketing Association and then move on to the states that still haven't put anything on their books about spam...

But what will really change the face of spam will be the day when spammers start to send emails in the names of congressmen. Once it touches our bureaucrats personally, THEN they'll finally do something about it....

ABC News has a nice slideshow of Elizabeth Taylor's Jewelry.

Those of you who have been interested in the beautiful Jewelry worn by various celebrities may enjoy Cathy Waterman's site. She designed Sarah Michele Gellar's engagement ring for Freddie Prinze, as well as pieces for Gwyneth Paltrow and a line of Jewelry for Tom Hank's wife, Rita Wilson.

New York Metro has a breakdown of celebrity rings...

I just ran across this story... Michael has been having a rough patch lately. But it really is too bad that the plastic surgeons that kept taking his money didn't Just Say No at some point. Now he's suing one of them, but no matter how much money he gets back, no one will be able to fix the damage that's been done...

Movielink is Hollywood's answer to Napster, Kazaa, Morpheus and Gnutella. I don't think it will do that well, I'd rather stick with BlockBuster or Hollywood video. Even their help system, which you think would be geared towards newbies, is more complicated than the site itself..

TriggerStreet.com is Kevin Spacey's new site where screenplay writers around the world, known and unknown, can upload their screenplay, get critiqued by other screenwriters, and if they got good feedback ratings, get the attention of moviemakers and eventually funding... Great idea. I think Spacey is a great actor and after seeing an extensive interview with him on PBS, I'd say he's a great guy too. Good work Kevin.

In his words, this website is about him "sending the elevator back down", now that he got a ride up himself...

Wow...these guys are as mad about AOL cds as I am about Spam. And they are determined. Perhaps after they have achieved their goal they can be persuaded to do something about spam!

German scientists develop chip to beat the action replay.

I've been waiting for this type of thing to come around. Although the definition of a strike in baseball might make it tough to create an electronic method of saying ball or strike, with today's terchnology they should be able to put a sensor on a puck and detect if it went into a net...

Boston Dynamics has been doing some incredible work on simulating the human form. Who knows, soon the movies won't need real actors...

Boston Dynamics, the leader in dynamic human simulation, announced today that it has been awarded a contract by the US Army Soldier Systems Center to measure and validate the accuracy of its physics-based human simulation software, Digital Biomechanics(tm). The contract follows on a contract the Army awarded Boston Dynamics earlier this year to develop Digital Biomechanics for virtual prototyping of next-generation soldier equipment.

Sharp Develops LCD Switchable Between 2D and 3D Viewing

Sharp Corporation and Sharp Laboratories of Europe, Ltd. have succeeded in developing a new LCD capable of displaying 3D images, which does not require the use of special glasses. This LCD is electrically switchable between 2D viewing (planar mode) and 3D viewing (stereo mode). This innovative display can lead not only to the development of dedicated 3D display equipment that provides a realistic sense of depth and presence, but can also be used in existing LCD application products, opening up new worlds of enjoyment far beyond what is currently available. For example, in the PC field, it functions as an ordinary 2D display for applications such as word processing or spreadsheets. Switching to 3D display mode, it lets users enjoy specialized 3D content such as computer graphics or games with an amazingly vivid sense of depth and immediacy.

This is cool, I did see a preview of the scene with the surgical Robot for the upcoming Bond Flick, Die Another Day...I didn't know the surgical robot was actually in use in a couple of hospitals.

You may ask "What is Hyper-Threading Technology?"

Before giving you Intel's answer, I'll give you the short one...if you like to multitask (as I do, with literally about 50 open windows right now), this will make it faster. Here's their answer:

"HT Technology brings increased performance to computer users in two ways: using multithreaded software or using software in a multitasking environment. Software applications that have been written to use multiple pieces of code called "threads" view the Pentium 4 processor at 3.06 GHz with HT Technology as two processors. HT Technology allows the processor to work on two separate threads at the same time rather than one at a time. In addition, applications can benefit in a multitasking environment - operating two or more different software programs at the same time - when run under operating systems such as Windows*XP or Linux*. Both ways add up to extra performance and less waiting for the computer user."

To commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the West Wing, the White House is offering a Virtual Tour.

Rowling's legal team says the dust jacket of The Irresistible Rise of Harry Potter gave the misleading impression it was officially endorsed.

Scotland on Sunday reports the cover's purple colour scheme, typography and use of star symbols would be thought to have given the impression that it had been approved by Rowling.

They may also want to do something about the blackmarket copies of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets going around the Internet.

Dr. Walkden, of the University of Aberdeen has found a strange piece of rock, turns out to be ancient and a key discovery: Daily Record: SCOTS BOFFIN SOLVES SPACE ROCK RIDDLE

Dr Walkden found it in the Bristol countryside several years ago.

No-one was able to identify the strange lump of rock made up of tiny bright green spheres and he kept it in a drawer at work.

However, as more evidence of the dinosaur-killing impact was discovered, Dr Walkden realised his rock was identical.

He said: "I had collected a piece of this strange rock with tiny, bright green spheres. No-one knew what it was so I kept it in a drawer and looked at if every so often.

"Then, as recent details of the dinosaur-killing Mexico impact were being publicised, it became clear the sphere structures were identical - what we had was evidence of a major asteroid impact.

Anne Geddes takes awesome baby pictures.
She's inviting you to send in yours.

"When I created my collection of designer baby clothes, I imagined how I would feel the first time I saw a baby on the street who was dressed in one of my outfits. And I was totally unprepared for the fact that people would go to so much trouble to send me their baby pictures - gorgeous photographs of their babies dressed in my clothing! So we all thought it would be a great idea to launch a monthly 'BABY PHOTO QUEST'!"

They didn't mention too much about the film, and although I'd love to see it, perhaps it's too soon to see a movie about women in racing as things stands today, Sarah Fisher notwitshtanding, Britney Spears is doing a movie about car racing and taking lessons in Las Vegas. For fans of racing, Danica Patrick is certainly one to watch, if she could only get a drive.

Whatever happened to the film they were talking about doing of Ayrton Senna? I'm still waiting... Formula 1 hasn't been the same without him.

De Beers, LVMH to open first store

De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd and luxury goods group LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton will open their first joint venture jewellery store in London shortly

Mineral collecting is really cool.

While you're there don't miss Mineral collecting is in their blood and The Show: This year, emeralds are Carnegie's best friend...they even have a Bride's Guide.

If you're doing any skiing in Colorado, you may also want to catch some upcoming Gem and Jewelry shows and auctions...

A sleuthing father tracked down his daughter's cello using deductive reasoning. BTW, if you live near South Bend, IN, and your jewelry is missing or stolen, you may want to contact the police there...they have some unidentified jewelry in custody...

Jerusalem Post Internet Edition: Exports decline 3.2%, Diamond Exports up.

The Natal Witness Group has an article about the effects of the Kimberly Process

Since I brought up the issue of violence on the Sopranos, may as well mention that I wasn't the only one.

Remember I mentioned one month ago that Brian Mcwilliams at Wired wrote about breaking into Hussein's email account? Well Yahoo via AP finally caught up to the story and it's one of the most popular stories of today.

It was an interesting episode. If you can catch a rerun, it's worth it to see a Jewelry Auction at Sotheby's. Seems it isn't the first time Joan Lunden has covered Jewelry. She also did a show on DeBeers.

Here's a video of Joan grabbing a huge parcel of diamonds.

And here's one where she tries on some amazing Jewelry.

This is a scary story: JS Online: Seeking a link in disappearances.

Ben Affleck's purchase of a Pink Diamond Ring for Jennifer Lopez is sure to make pink diamonds a hot fashion trend, so here's a site that specializes in Pink Diamonds.

The Internet Lost and Found: The world's online lost and found resource.

This is a great resource and they have a Jewelry section of course.

Befuddled asks Yahoo: What are blogs and how did they become so popular?

Miss Cleo hangs up her phones.

Facto.org pointed out this article on sports stats guru Jeff Sagarin. An interesting read.

The Iowa Channel talks about J-Lo's ring. Here are the important bits:

"Entertainment Tonight" reports that it's a 6.1 carat intense pink, radiant cut diamond.

That kind of diamond is among the most sought-after in the world. And it's rare even to find a one-carat stone. The ring was custom-made by Harry Winston Jewelers.

The diamond's mounted on a classic platinum and 18-carat pink gold band with two, white diamond trapezoid-shaped, side stone accents.

This is amazing!

Following an in-depth article in The Wall Street Journal of spam queen Laura Betterly, SlashDot readers tracked down her email address and other info. Remember that episode of Seinfeld where a phone company cold calls Jerry and he turns it around and asks the cold caller for his home phone number to studio audience applause? Well the Slashdot readers are suggesting a similar poetic irony...

What I got out of the article was confirmation that if spam was actually illegal, it would reduce spam considerably...

Stradivarius sold at Christies

A rare instrument by the world's most celebrated violin-maker Antonio Stradivari fetched nearly two-thirds of a million pounds at auction on Wednesday but failed to make its reserve price.

The violin, one of only 500 remaining, went to a private collector for $966,600.

It had been expected to sell for up to 850,000 pounds at the sale in London by auction house Christie's but was hampered by its lack of concert performance history.

What a story: Save Karyn.

Karyn ran up a credit card debt of $20k. She got laid off. Opened a website asking people to help her pay off her debt. Listed herself in DMOZ, listed some stuff on eBay, published a Daily mE-Mail (every week or so) and is now debt-free and the talk of the net. Go figure.

The owner is as yet unidentified...

Woman Finds Diamond Ring in Storm Debris

Amidst the death and destruction of Sunday night's tornadoes in Morgan County, a small surprise has emerged.

Terry Vespie was looking through a relative's home in the Joyner Community when she found a woman's diamond engagement ring. She says she thinks the wind may have carried the ring from a nearby mobile home.

As I've mentioned before on DT, a personal experience taught me to start questioning how news stories become news stories. In brief, a company I worked for had vaporware..nothing there at all and was not noticed at all either. Until they hired a PR firm and got some tremendous press at one of the premiere publications for business news, I guess it won't take you long to guess the name. Anyways, they covered this non-product in such detail that I was amazed, because it was completely fabricated.

So when instapundit pointed out that one newspaper was going open source, I was intrigued. The idea being that the media would explain where the story came from. ;)

P.S. this issue cuts across political boundaries and types of news, be it entertainment, business, politics or what have you...

I've been following the Jennifer Lopez engagement story because I wanted to get a good picture of her pink diamond ring for our readers. Well, now that she's "officially" engaged, you will be able to see her flash her ring on Primetime Live tonight.

Now I'm not going to get cynical as some others might try to make a connection to her engagement announcement at this time being fortuitous since she is releasing a brand new album on November 26....but I will say that I was surprised that people find it compelling tv to watch Entertainment Tonight. I happen to be flicking the channels as I saw a story on JLO come on...and really couldn't believe my ears to hear Mary Hart have an exclusive phone interview with Diane Sawyer, who had an exclusive interview with Jennifer Lopez.

I missed the first few minutes of the Sopranos last night because I went to see Femme Fatale with Rebecca Stamos and Antonio Banderas (mostly due to hearing that the plot revolved around diamonds). So I missed the beginning of the show with the other Antonio...Antonio Soprano...and I didn't find out why Ralph broke up with the character played by Leslie Bega (I think her character is called Valentina?)....

Anyways, it turned out to be a rather violent show. Interesting to see how society and culture changes in your lifetime. When I was a kid, I remember how scary Jaws was and I wondered if it would be too scary for me to see in the theatre. I saw it much later on video. Today they would probably censor the nudity, but other than that, it would and has been shown on TV without much if any violence removed. Nothing in the Jaws movie touches what was on cable TV on the Sopranos last night.

I could have done without it. I suppose the producers put it in because they wanted to show how brutal some criminals can be and to balance out the parts where they are likeable characters. As if to say, hey, these are still gangsters... Somehow the Godfather had some very graphic moments too, and heavy drama. Perhaps I still feel that since the manner this is brought to me is television, albeit cable and not a movie theatre, I expect a certain restraint...which made it more graphic (and effective?).

My spam filter missed this email address:
Florence Craddock

How could a spam filter detect this? Well, if it's aol.com, hotmail.com or yahoo.com, and it has a ton of letters and no vowels...99%, it's spam!

A reader of Art Bell sent pictures of Al Qaeda prisoners being transported:

The pentagon is trying to find the source. I don't think they are very happy about it. For the rest of the pictures click here.

Haven't heard people talking about it much yet but I think we can expect more tomorrow...

After all these years, I finally tried Opera! I always heard it was faster and less bloated, which I assumed to mean less features as well. Boy was I wrong. This is a major upgrade from IE as far as I'm concerned. I bought a paid version right away and am waiting for them to send me the key...but even with the banner ad this browser does so much more than IE. I hope I won't find any major downsides and can keep this puppy!

So this is the first entry using Opera. Try it, you'll like it!

Kirk Israel has some cool mini gif cinema to show you.

Ever feel like someone's been pulling you by the nose?

Pawn Ware up for grabs: $1 million in Jewelry

Pawn ware up for grabs A GLITTERING event will take place next Tuesday in the presidential room at Hotel Royal - the official receiver of Wang Wang Pawnshop will auction jewellery worth more than $1 million. According to the auction notice, 'more than 750 lots of new and used set jewellery including diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, jade, star ruby, star sapphire and pearl rings, necklaces, bangles, diamond pendants, earrings, bracelets, and gold etc' will be up for grabs. The notice also invites tenders for the purchase of the pawnshop's shares, outstanding pledges and computer software - with a database identifying the pawners.

Timothy is a smart and funny guy. I learned that from reading his little article: Give these fine folks a call why don'tcha?

I learned something else from this article. First, that call blocking doesn't work when you are calling an 800 number. Huh!!! Nice of the phone companies to mention that...

Second, that some spammers give you their toll-free number.

Well, how about that. Timothy seems to intimate that some joy may come from making some phone calls. I guess I can understand that somehow...but it gave me an idea.

First, wouldn't it, theoretically speaking of course, be ironic if people were to get those automated junk faxes, MCI phone reps, Sprint phone reps, etc.. to have those 800 numbers on their lists?

Second, since email addresses should never be placed on websites, because spammers harvest them...wouldn't it be cool if someone compiled a list of the REAL EMAIL ADDRESSES OF SPAMMERS and people used a service similar to Blog Rolling to serve up the latest spammers real addresses on your website, so that they get swamped by their own harvesters?

Sheer Poetry :)

Squirrel terrorises town

A squirrel is spreading terror in a Cheshire town where it keeps attacking people.

Its latest victim was a two-year-old girl, newspapers reported on Thursday.

Children have been attacked, grown men chased and residents of Knutsford are fearful of letting their kids out to play, the Times newspaper said.
The rogue squirrel's latest attack was on toddler Kelsi Morley who was bitten on the forehead.

I find this article confusing. They say Bubonic plague is not contagious but then the way they describe how it spreads sounds contagious to me...

I hope the couple turn out to be ok....

Couple in NY Evaluated for Bubonic Plague Wed Nov 6,10:12 PM ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - A couple visiting from New Mexico are believed to have contracted bubonic plague and if confirmed this would constitute the first case of the illness in New York City in more than 100 years, health officials said on Wednesday.

The two are "being evaluated for plague," Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden told a news conference. The male patient, 53, is a presumptive positive for the illness and is in critical condition, he said. The female patient, 47, is in stable condition, officials said.

There is no risk to New Yorkers as bubonic plague is not contagious, Frieden said. Officials are "confident" the couple's exposure to the plague occurred in New Mexico, he said.
"All the epidemiological evidence suggests that these infections were naturally acquired in New Mexico," Frieden said. The source of the infection is "believed to be rodents or rodent fleas near their home," he said.

Plague is spread among people when an infected person has plague pneumonia and coughs droplets containing the plague bacteria into air that is breathed by a non-infected person.

Don't they know? We need a picture of the ring to go with the story.

Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan made sure - win or lose - that Election Night was going to be memorable.

As ballots were being counted in the governor's race, Brogan dropped to one knee, pulled out a diamond ring and asked Courtney Strickland to marry him.

My vote, Thumbs up!

Now we just need to wait for Diet-Caffeine-Free-Vanilla-Cherry-Coke-With-Lemon and the variety we always waited for will finally be upon us :)

Judge rules in Aussie countess con claim.

They came up with a perfect name for their forthcoming Jewelry Store in Perth:

MAKING people feel comfortable in the presence of precious stones that are more expensive than a small car is one of the aims of the owners of Perth's newest jewellery store.

Dee Taylor and Marie Georgiou will open their first jewellery store, Carbon: Chemistry of Diamonds, in Subiaco later this month and promise to offer something unique to Perth's jewellery store market.

Super Mario Lemieux is living up to his namesake...his name in french means the best..he is averaging about 2 and a half points per game.... Mark Messier, even older than Super Mario, is amazing...recovering from a shoulder injury that took him out for half the season last year, that I thought would end his career...well he's proven how good he is... 7 goals already for the poor Rangers... Only 2 assists, I guess the people he's passing to aren't scoring...

Eric Lindros was supposed to lead the team but he has only a couple of goals and 5 assists...

Michael Jordan is doing ok...10 points tonight, a bad game one, but 21 points in 21 minutes the other night.

So the old fogies still have a thing or two to show the younguns...

I'm thinking of trying Ortho-K instead of Lasik. Far safer...Here's a log of one person's experience. Not that encouraging but still sounds better than lasik to me.. Every medical professional I know personally shudders when I mention lasik so I'm not a believer in it..

May I help you?

What a difference 1.2 inches of glass makes:

Cynthia Nixon, a cast member of Sex and the City,

Here's another picture of Jennifer Lopez's Pink Diamond Engagement Ring.

The Kentucky Post has the whole story.

And here's a picture of a crack caused by the Alaskan Earthquake:

Here's a picture of that crash I was mentioning:

ABCNEWS.com : Idaho's High Desert Hides Opal

Spencer, population 38, holds one of the largest opal deposits in the United States and is home to rare star opals. Though white is the most common color worldwide, Spencer miners find rarer blue, pink or red gems. "Our customers are generally jewelers and distributors," said Bob Thompson, who owns Opal Mountain Mines with his wife, Susan. "In the winters we close up and go to California because you can't mine when the ground is covered in snow. But people do stop in from the highway, and they're generally surprised at all we have."

Nearly 200 cars collide in California.

Nearly 200 cars and big-rig trucks collided on a foggy stretch of Long Beach Freeway early Sunday, injuring dozens of people, nine critically, and closing the highway for hours.

Anchorage Daily News | Earthquake opens cracks in highways, topples fuel tanks

A major earthquake rocked a sparsely populated area of interior Alaska early Sunday afternoon, cracking highways and roads, knocking over fuel tanks and shaking rural homes. Bruce Turner of the West Coast and Alaska and Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer said the magnitude 7.9 quake hit at 1:13 p.m Alaska Standard Time and was centered 90 miles south of Fairbanks. "It shook for a good 30 seconds," he said. The quake was felt strongly in Anchorage about 270 miles south of the epicenter. The earthquake occurred on the Denali Fault and had a shallow depth, said John Lahr, geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo. Shallow earthquakes generally are felt over a wider area. "We expected this would have surface rupture that geologists could see on the ground and study," he said.

45 Countries to endorse rules to combat conflict diamonds

LONDON - Representatives of 45 countries that produce, sell or trade in diamonds are about to endorse the beginnings of a system to prevent Africa's warlords from fueling their conflicts through so-called blood diamonds. The representatives will meet at Interlaken, Switzerland, on Monday and Tuesday, two years after a passionate debate over illicit diamond sales galvanized the gem industry and forced even the giant De Beers cartel into a major shift of corporate strategy. The 45 nations, which include the United States, are to give formal approval to new rules intended to make sure that diamonds will be certified as untainted. The goal is to prevent illicit diamonds being used to pay for the weapons used in wars, from Angola to Sierra Leone.

Reviving Tiffany at Tiffany's

John Loring is trying to put the Tiffany back into Tiffany & Company. Louis Comfort Tiffany, that is, the son of the company's founder, Charles Lewis Tiffany, and its design director from 1902 to 1918. Apparently, the company has been trying to forget him since 1955, when Walter Hoving bought a controlling interest in it from Tiffany family members.

The Frontier Post From Peshawar Pakistan: Gemstones worth $60.5m exported since '96

ISLAMABAD (APP): Gemstones worth $ 60.5 million were exported since 1996 due to measures taken by the present government, Director General, Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), NWFP, Sayed Asif Ali Bokhari said on Saturday.The gemstone being exported to various countries included Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, Topaz, Aquamarine, Tourmaline, Quartz, Garnet, Pargasite, Spinal, Diamond Albite, Neutrofite, Polucite, and Peridote, he said while speaking in a PTV programme.

Photography is this company's real gem

Harmon Group is a full-service advertising and marketing company that produces, among other things, high-quality photos of jewelry for the nation's top retail and wholesale jewelers. Those high-quality photos, which show even the tiniest details of diamond rings or Rolex watches, are at the heart of the agency's core business %u2014 catalogs. The photos become part of a company library that is used to customize catalogs for jewelers.

The NYTimes has added to the list of papers covering the JAR exhibition.

"The Jewels of JAR," on display here at the Gilbert Collection through Jan. 26, represents the kaleidoscopic mind, and the improbable career, of the Bronx-born jeweler Joel A. Rosenthal. With some 400 pieces lent by private clients, this is the first full-scale JAR retrospective, and it was Mr. Rosenthal's idea, with a nod from Lord Rothschild, who initiated the exhibition, to show his work by flashlight. And let people play.

Danish prince at Sydney wedding.

Crown Prince Frederik and Ms Donaldson were among guests at the ceremony at St Mark's in Darling Point, who were later taken by boat on a sun-drenched Sydney Harbour to the reception at an exclusive Rose Bay Restaurant.

It was the fifth wedding since January attended by the rumoured expected soon-to-be royal couple.

At one of those weddings, for one of the Crown Prince's close friends, Ms Donaldson was pictured with what seemed to be a large diamond engagement ring.

But that ring was not on her finger during today's wedding ceremony and celebrations.

The Daily World has an article describing a Halloween Proposal Story.

Google CEO to Advertisers: Stop Scaring Users

Nice article with some great points!

DiamondDave points out at DT that 400 red diamonds have been found in the Lipetsk region of Russia. If this pans out, we should be seeing some magnificent Red Diamonds soon...

Business in Brief

Uncut diamond monopoly Alrosa plans to launch four new mines before the end of 2010, Alrosa president Vladimir Kalitin said at a diamond and precious metals market conference Thursday. He said these four mines would have an annual production capacity of 6 million metric tons and require $2.6 billion of investment.

BBC NEWS: De Beers opens Angola negotiations

International mining giant De Beers has opened negotiations with the Angolan government to restart diamond mining in the central African country.

Overstock.com showing triple digit sales growth.

Overstock.com, which sells a lot of Jewelry btw, is really doing well lately. Seems they are selling a lot of books as well, at about 50% of the prices of Amazon.com according to Patrick Bryne.

Ice, ice baby