The ‘Downfall’ meme continues to spread.
Here’s one about the Nikon D3X.
Thanks to Geoff Einon for spotting it.
Monthly Archives: December 2008
The Wikipedia – IWF spat
Rory Cellan-Jones has a thoughtful post looking back on the furore over the image of the Scorpions’ album published in Wikipedia.
Google’s Gatekeepers
Sobering piece by Jay Jeffrey Rosen exploring the critical role that Google’s corporate gatekeepers play in deciding what can and cannot be shown to audiences.
“Right now, we’re trusting Google because it’s good, but of course, we run the risk that the day will come when Google goes bad,” [Timothy] Wu told me. In his view, that day might come when Google allowed its automated Web crawlers, or search bots, to be used for law-enforcement and national-security purposes. “Under pressure to fight terrorism or to pacify repressive governments, Google could track everything we’ve searched for, everything we’re writing on gmail, everything we’re writing on Google docs, to figure out who we are and what we do,” he said. “It would make the Internet a much scarier place for free expression.” The question of free speech online isn’t just about what a company like Google lets us read or see; it’s also about what it does with what we write, search and view.
Source: NYTimes.com.
Ed Felten adds this:
Rosen worries that too much power to decide what can be seen is being concentrated in the hands of one company. He acknowledges that Google has behaved reasonably so far, but he worries about what might happen in the future.
I understand his point, but it’s hard to see an alternative that would be better in practice. If Google, as the owner of YouTube, is not going to have this power, then the power will have to be given to somebody else. Any nominations? I don’t have any.
What we’re left with, then, is Google making the decisions. But this doesn’t mean all of us are out in the cold, without influence. As consumers of Google’s services, we have a certain amount of leverage. And this is not just hypothetical — Google’s “don’t be evil” reputation contributes greatly to the value of its brand. The moment people think Google is misbehaving is the moment they’ll consider taking their business elsewhere.
Now that’s what I call a ‘government of all the talents’
The NYT is reporting that Obama will nominate Steven Chu, the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as his energy secretary. What’s interesting about that? Well, Mr Chu has a Nobel Prize for physics. Rather puts Gordon Brown’s feeble efforts to attract talent to his administration in perspective, doesn’t it. Who was it he appointed — a guy called Digby Jones?
Ignorance scales new heights
Fascinating insight into the mind of the invincibly ignorant. This is an excerpt from an email sent by a Texan school teacher to Ken Starks, an open source evangelist:
"…observed one of my students with a group of other children gathered around his laptop. Upon looking at his computer, I saw he was giving a demonstration of some sort. The student was showing the ability of the laptop and handing out Linux disks. After confiscating the disks I called a confrence with the student and that is how I came to discover you and your organization. Mr. Starks, I am sure you strongly believe in what you are doing but I cannot either support your efforts or allow them to happen in my classroom. At this point, I am not sure what you are doing is legal. No software is free and spreading that misconception is harmful. These children look up to adults for guidance and discipline. I will research this as time allows and I want to assure you, if you are doing anything illegal, I will pursue charges as the law allows. Mr. Starks, I along with many others tried Linux during college and I assure you, the claims you make are grossly over-stated and hinge on falsehoods. I admire your attempts in getting computers in the hands of disadvantaged people but putting linux on these machines is holding our kids back.
This is a world where Windows runs on virtually every computer and putting on a carnival show for an operating system is not helping these children at all. I am sure if you contacted Microsoft, they would be more than happy to supply you with copies of an older verison of Windows and that way, your computers would actually be of service to those receiving them…"
Karen xxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxx Middle School
Source: Blog of helios: Linux – Stop holding our kids back.
Thanks to Good Morning Silicon Valley for spotting it.
Luxury rehab
The New Yorker last week carried an astonishing article about the market for luxury rehab facilities in California. Here’s the bit that caught my eye:
According to the Treatment Research Institute, nearly half of all residential treatment centers in this country have closed since the early eighties. In the late nineties, luxury rehab centers, catering to self-paying patients, began to proliferate. Today, with a twenty-one-mile coastline and a population of roughly thirteen thousand, Malibu alone has twenty-nine licensed rehab establishments. Many are operated out of palatial estates; most are for-profit, do not take insurance, and expect their fee, sometimes as high as sixty-eight thousand dollars a month, to be paid up front.
Link.
Pulitzer Prizes to Accept More Online Work
NY Times story:
Bowing to the rapid rise of news distributed digitally rather than on paper, the Pulitzer Prizes will begin immediately accepting submissions from online-only publications.
The Pulitzers, administered by Columbia University, are widely regarded as the most prestigious awards for American newspaper reporting and commentary. Beginning with the 2009 prizes, which cover work done in 2008 and which will be presented in April, Internet newspapers and other news organizations that publish online will be considered for all 14 of the journalism awards, from international reporting to criticism. The deadline for submission for 2009 is Feb. 1.
“This is an important step forward, reflecting our continued commitment to American newspapers as well as our willingness to adapt to the remarkable growth of online journalism,” Sig Gissler, the administrator of the prizes, said in a statement. “The new rules enlarge the Pulitzer tent and recognize more fully the role of the Web, while underscoring the enduring value of words and of serious reporting.”
The changes to the rules were approved in a board meeting last month. The online publications must publish at least once a week and be “primarily dedicated to original news reporting and coverage of ongoing stories,” according to the revised eligibility rules. Web sites that exist primarily to aggregate news or post commentary will not be eligible, and decisions about eligibility will be made on a case-by-case basis, the board said. Print magazines, television stations and their Web sites will remain excluded.
The Pulitzers began to accept submissions of print newspapers’ online material in 2006, in two breaking news categories.
Link: NYTimes.com.
Connectivity — bah!
I use Gmail when I’m on the move. I also have a 3G dongle from Three which is supposed to give me connectivity on the move. But for some reason, Gmail is unreachable via this connection. Twitter works (though slowly). In fact, everything is slow — see this ping testing the connection to Google.com.
Pinging Google via supposedly '3G' from Three.co.uk
Quentin uses a T-mobile USB modem and seems pleased with it. Maybe it’s time I tried another network. Or got a proper 3G phone that I could use as a modem.
Bush’s last days
Many people have been forced into having their own verbal and intellectual lenses for explaining the behaviors of George Bush.
He can’t just be insane, so — what is it? What explains his behavior?
Today, as Congress fished around for money to save the U.S. auto companies, in a pickle because they had not invested earlier in alternative – energy projects, George Bush gave a speech, suggesting that Congress take the money from alternative energy projects to prop up the dying carmakers.
Is he really an idiot?
Some day, in the not so distant future, several things may happen:
1. As laid out in Harper’s this month, the President, the Real President (Cheney) et. al may face domestic or international criminal charges for war crimes.
2. Not that George can not pardon himself or others for international crimes, as in the Nurnburg Trial. Even if he escapes domestic prosecution, he may end up like Pinochet, hounded worldwide by courts elsewhere, kidnapped, dragged around, arrested and jailed elsehwhere, etc.
3. The simplest way to understand the entire Cheney/Bush regime is to assume that family ties to the Saudis were more important than catching bin Laden, that oil in general was more important than anything Bush swore to uphold on that Bible during his inauguration, and that Bush et. al (the heading on future lawsuits, ad infinitum) were embarked on an intentional, planned, consistent program of looting taxpayer monies for their personal and private benefit.
It is impossible to forget: We still have a month and more to go. There are plenty of miscreants on a master scale who would like to have a parting shot at screwing everything up for normal people in return for private gain, at the cost of a single large check to the Bush Library (Bush doesn’t read books; what a joke).
Bend over, and Get ready. George never cared for us then, and he still doesn’t today. He serves only his family, and a few close “friends.”
Source: Mark Anderson.
Going out with a bang
First there was the Palm Pilot. Now comes the next development in PDAs — the Palm Pistol.
A small arms manufacturer in the US is taking deposits for a gun specially designed for elderly and disabled people, who may be able to get it on prescription.
The Palm Pistol is the world's first ergonomic firearm, according to Constitution Arms.
The single-shot 9mm weapon is grasped in the palm of the hand, with the barrel pointing out between the fingers.
Instead of pulling a trigger to fire the gun, users press their thumb on a button at the top.
"Point and shoot couldn't be easier," the New Jersey-based company claims on its website.
And it goes on to say: "It is ideal for seniors, disabled or others who may have dexterity limitations or difficulty sighting and controlling a traditional revolver or semi-automatic pistol."
The Palm Pistol has been certified as a Class I Medical Device by the US Food and Drug Administration, Constitution Arms said.
Thanks to Glenna for spotting it!