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Offtopic, British lords are so hilarious. There's a secretary of transport called Lord Adonis. Had to chuckle at that.

Adonis is his real name (formerly Andrew Adonis, he's of Greek descent) and has the ironic nickname "Muscles". In fairness however he's doing a great job (unlike Mandy aka The Sinister Minister). The really rubbish thing is that both Adonis and Mandleson are key government ministers and neither are elected. The pretense of democracy is looking pretty thin now...

The Reg covered it yesterday and noted that Mandelson denied this report -- given they're due for an election in less than a year I can't believe they'd go out of their way to alienate voters.

Offtopic, British lords are so hilarious. There's a secretary of transport called Lord Adonis. Had to chuckle at that.

These guys who have (attempted) fraud on a massive scale causing losses to (incompetent) corporations and hassles for many people who's details (and identities) were stolen are only likely to get 20 years according to the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/18/american-credit-card-hacker

Whereas Gary MacKinnon, who poked around in some unprotected computers, purely out of curiosity and not for financial gain, and only causing hassle to the incompetents who had not secured their network, is threatened with 60 years imprisonment!

Crazy.

I suppose this guy had every right to carry his loaded firearm within shooting distance of Obama without being removed from the premises. Secret Service would not agree with you.

Is this a straw man? I see nothing in there about the Secrete Service removing anyone. "Secret Service" isn't even in it.

Falcon

Well, considering that your "source" is also just a blog, and your fallacy is the typical Wikipedia fallacy that a link would somehow make it more true, I say we are still head-to-head from a third perspective. And frankly I trust my sources more than yours.

But here is something for you to digest:
http://blog.bioethics.net/2009/05/merck-makes-phony-peerreview-journal/
http://laikaspoetnik.wordpress.com/2009/05/08/mercks-ghostwriters-haunted-papers-and-fake-elsevier-journals/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/09/bad-science-medical-journals-companies

I'd say the exact point of this, is to make doctors prescribe drugs, with the only reason being profit. Which was exactly my point. :)

I suppose this guy had every right to carry his loaded firearm within shooting distance of Obama without being removed from the premises. Secret Service would not agree with you.

He *does* have the right. Regardless of what some may believe (including the Secret Service) this is not the 17th Century and Obama is not Louis XIV.

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

I suppose this guy had every right to carry his loaded firearm within shooting distance of Obama without being removed from the premises. Secret Service would not agree with you.

Funny. He keeps getting reelected with double-digit margins, despite propaganda like you put forth.

This probably has something to do with the fact that he actually has his people enforcing the law, and doesn't waste money coddling criminals. Given the amount of ridiculous benefits we see in most prisons in the US that make prison a "no-brainer" for large numbers of people (see here: people actually trying to get themselves thrown in jail), I'd say I like the idea of making prison as unpalatable a concept as possible.

Of course, this isn't unique to the US. The UK is having the same debate. They just don't also have to deal with a well-funded and ridiculous propaganda campaign based on "legalizing" foreign criminals who jump our borders and cause crime while also having the debate on what prisoners should, or shouldn't, get while incarcerated.

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Film/Pix/gallery/2004/05/05/troy236723222.jpg

he has a romantic comedy coming out this weekend fer chrissake

oh wait, i see it now, nevermind

http://www.shockya.com/news/wp-content/uploads/star_trek_eric_bana_nero_movie_poster.jpg

Murder rates in the Brazilian backwater states are astronomical.

Watch the movie Manda Bala for more background on how far corruption permeates the state political systems (although current President Lula seems to be slowly driving it from the Federal system - which is perhaps the only reason that accountability is possible in cases like Souza's).

All that won't be news to most people: Crime, corruption, drugs, guns, murder in tropical states. But less known are the causes and effects. The roots of the problem are not infrequently traced to the First World, in the form of cheap cash crops (in the Amazon region), and obviously drugs (more visibly in other South American countries). But the effects are even more tragic: Environmental and social destruction on an incredible scale.

Knife crimes are reported sensationally in England but it's false that knife crimes are increasing dramatically -- see here for example. Knife crime has remained relatively stable over the past decade, most recently actually dropping by 15.7%. Maybe you're confusing knives with umbrellas?

"Seven animal rights activists who tried to close down Huntingdon Life Sciences by blackmailing companies linked to the animal testing laboratory were jailed today for between four and 11 years. ... a six-year campaign involving hoax bombs and falsified allegations of child abuse"
"The activists plotted their campaign from their headquarters, a country cottage near Hook, in Hampshire. From the building -- which police had bugged -- they used encrypted emails, spreadsheets and coded messages to organise the blackmail of the companies and individuals."
"While rarely causing physical harm, these offenders thrived on the fear they created through threats and intimidation."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jan/21/huntingdon-animal-rights

Michael Savage was recently mentioned by the UK papers as appearing on a list of "undersirables" people that would actively be denied entry to the UK based on the grounds he is; "Considered to be engaging in unacceptable behaviour by seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred which might lead to inter-community violence." The Guardian had a full list here

I think that information is coming largely from this article.

That's very... odd. Why would they require an on-line check to validate the signature? And why would there be a fee?

As understand it, it's because it's tied in with ICAO Doc 9303P1-1, which again, as I understand it, allows each passport-issuing state to have its own root CA. Now, a UK passport/ID card validator may not (and probably won't) know about the PKI for Tajikistan, say, so there needs to be a facility to allow offline checks of their passports/ID cards, based only on information the passport/ID card brings with it. Or not at all, in the case of Adam Laurie's modified clone (as some passport-issuing states may not even be signing their passports yet, or have any plans to do so). :-)

As for the fee, that's probably related to The chancellor, Gordon Brown, [making] it clear that the ID card scheme, which is estimated to cost at least £5.8bn, has to be self-financing.

The whole point of public key-based digital signatures is that you can publish the root public keys far and wide. Then anyone can validate the signature offline -- and it scales arbitrarily.
I'm not saying you're mistaken, but there's a piece missing here.

That assumes that a consensus can be obtained regarding the operation of a unified system of root CAs. Looking at disputes related to DNS and US government administration of ICANN, I don't think that's likely any time soon.

According to a report by the "Times Online" and another report by "guardian.co.uk", today is the 1-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Georgia. Russian troops has not exited the territory of Georgia though Vladimir Putin signed an agreement to do so. Further, the Kremlin has recognized the occupied territory -- Abkhazia and South Ossetia -- as independent nations although the entire family of Western nations has not.

The coordinated Internet attack against a computer account owned by a Georgian is likely not a coincidence as the attack occurred precisely on the day marking the 1-year anniversary of this show of Russian military force. For that same reason, that a pair of Russian submarines loaded with nuclear missiles were recently patrolling off the East Coast of the United States is not a coincidence.

You forgot to add that Kosovo is not recognized by the Russian Federation nor the entire "family of Western Nations" (see Spain), but that did not stop the "family" from recognizing the breakaway areas of Georgia as occupied Georgian territory. Do you see the hypocrisy? The "family of nations" may decide what is independent or occupied territory with a complete disregard for context of the situation.

The small comment of the devious Russian submarines was a nice touch trying to demonize Russia and diverting the argument, but you should also add the fact that American and Israeli advisors were directing and working with Georgian forces before and during the attack as well as supplying the country with armaments. The Russian's have every right to stay to prevent foreign aggression.

Let's also forget that the U.S has a few hundred bases around the world (including U.S naval fleets), has worked on building a missile system in Poland, attacked and invaded countless countries, subverted democratic movements by coup/covert operations and promoted "free market" Capitalism through its proxies (the IMF and World Bank) all in the name of democracy and freedom.

Yes those dirty commies are up to no good and America is the beacon of light. May the Flying Spaghetti Monster bless America.

According to a report by the "Times Online" and another report by "guardian.co.uk", today is the 1-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Georgia. Russian troops has not exited the territory of Georgia though Vladimir Putin signed an agreement to do so. Further, the Kremlin has recognized the occupied territory -- Abkhazia and South Ossetia -- as independent nations although the entire family of Western nations has not.

The coordinated Internet attack against a computer account owned by a Georgian is likely not a coincidence as the attack occurred precisely on the day marking the 1-year anniversary of this show of Russian military force. For that same reason, that a pair of Russian submarines loaded with nuclear missiles were recently patrolling off the East Coast of the United States is not a coincidence.

You forgot to add that Kosovo is not recognized by the Russian Federation nor the entire "family of Western Nations" (see Spain), but that did not stop the "family" from recognizing the breakaway areas of Georgia as occupied Georgian territory. Do you see the hypocrisy? The "family of nations" may decide what is independent or occupied territory with a complete disregard for context of the situation.

The small comment of the devious Russian submarines was a nice touch trying to demonize Russia and diverting the argument, but you should also add the fact that American and Israeli advisors were directing and working with Georgian forces before and during the attack as well as supplying the country with armaments. The Russian's have every right to stay to prevent foreign aggression.

Let's also forget that the U.S has a few hundred bases around the world (including U.S naval fleets), has worked on building a missile system in Poland, attacked and invaded countless countries, subverted democratic movements by coup/covert operations and promoted "free market" Capitalism through its proxies (the IMF and World Bank) all in the name of democracy and freedom.

Yes those dirty commies are up to no good and America is the beacon of light. May the Flying Spaghetti Monster bless America.

NewsPapers need to die.

The newspapers that I choose to read don't need to die. By comparison, AOL's "idea of how to handle the internet" seems to be "news lite", flooded with as many classifieds and the like as possible. Thanks but I'll take the Guardian and when I want to read more about the US I'll get it from Wonkette.

The coordinated Internet attack against a computer account owned by a Georgian is likely not a coincidence as the attack occurred precisely on the day marking the 1-year anniversary of this show of Russian military force. For that same reason, that a pair of Russian submarines loaded with nuclear missiles were recently patrolling off the East Coast of the United States is not a coincidence.

Whoa! I better put on my tinfoil hat before continuing to follow the linked article!

For that same reason, that a pair of Russian submarines loaded with nuclear missiles were recently patrolling off the East Coast of the United States is not a coincidence.

Doesn't make sense. Submarines spotted on the other side of the globe, not even on the day of the 1 year anniversary sounds very much like a coincidence. You think they were gonna nuke twitter servers or somethin?

The coordinated Internet attack against a computer account owned by a Georgian is likely not a coincidence as the attack occurred precisely on the day marking the 1-year anniversary of this show of Russian military force. For that same reason, that a pair of Russian submarines loaded with nuclear missiles were recently patrolling off the East Coast of the United States is not a coincidence.

The coordinated Internet attack against a computer account owned by a Georgian is likely not a coincidence as the attack occurred precisely on the day marking the 1-year anniversary of this show of Russian military force. For that same reason, that a pair of Russian submarines loaded with nuclear missiles were recently patrolling off the East Coast of the United States is not a coincidence.

CCTV all over the place

I love this part. You lot have video cameras recording every innocuous moment of your lives, except when it involves the police, whereby the video suddenly, consistently, gets "lost".

I thought with the departure of Jacqui smith, this diabolical scheme was being abolished?

Sadly that was Government spin. The "not compulsory" simply means that they're not currently planned to be mandatory for everyone, however, they will still be mandatory for a range of people, in particular anyone wanting a driving licence or passport. I.e., soon you will no longer be able to get a passport on its own, you'll have to get one combined with the ID card, with all that entails such as the massively increased cost (over £120 including processing fees), and your fingerprints and other details going on the national identity register database.

In fact, despite the alleged climbdown, only recently did MPs approve the £1000 fines for failing to notify the authorities of a change in details.

Don't be misled - ID cards are still going forward.

I thought with the departure of Jacqui smith, this diabolical scheme was being abolished?

Sadly that was Government spin. The "not compulsory" simply means that they're not currently planned to be mandatory for everyone, however, they will still be mandatory for a range of people, in particular anyone wanting a driving licence or passport. I.e., soon you will no longer be able to get a passport on its own, you'll have to get one combined with the ID card, with all that entails such as the massively increased cost (over £120 including processing fees), and your fingerprints and other details going on the national identity register database.

In fact, despite the alleged climbdown, only recently did MPs approve the £1000 fines for failing to notify the authorities of a change in details.

Don't be misled - ID cards are still going forward.

Anyway, what's all the fuss about the British National Identity Card Scheme and National Identity Register database?

Fixed that for you. The issue isn't with "ID card" in general (which can mean many different things), but with specific schemes.

Do the cards in Portugal:

* Cost £60 for a standalone card, or £120+ for a version that works as a passport? (Estimated costs including the necessary £30 processing fees for a private company to take your fingerprints etc.)

* Require taking of biometrics including fingerprints?

* Is it tied to a national database storing a range of information about everyone?

* Include £1000 fines for failing to notify the Government of a change of personal details such as name, address, gender, or for failing to report a lost or damaged card (e.g., see http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jul/06/id-cards-legislation-fines-tories , http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1537752/1000-fine-for-failing-to-update-identity-cards.html , http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7742619.stm )?

The British card seems to be a cheap piece of shit.

Indeed, although note it's far from cheap - the scheme is costing billions, and will require people to individual pay far more than any other form of ID that we already have (e.g., passports - which used to cost only about £30 a few years ago before they started converting it into the ID card. Now it's at £70, in a few years, it'll be £93 plus £30 processing fees).

For years, people have mailed me with offers to increase my penis size. I've never believed them. But now I know that my biometrics can be changed. This must be so if the Daily Mail says so.

I want one of these cards. Yes, I'll take it in gold, with diamonds.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

If you think you'll be able to get over the withdrawal symptoms of kicking your News Corp dripfeed, you could always try

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

The VAST majority of alternative doctors are swindlers and con-artists, or simply ignorant.

Much of mainstream modern medicine is not evidence-based -- i.e., is based on ignorance. And for that which claims evidence, a lot of it is simply made up,

Alternative medicines are also commonly psychosomatic, which is where many of the claims of "It works!" originate from.

The fact that modern mainstream medicine remains rooted in a sort of Cartesian dualism that divides a human into "brain" and "everything else", is one of its greatest failings. The way that alternative medical systems like Chinese Medicine or Ayurveda inherently address psychosomatic issues is their strength.

The problem with alternative medicines though is when people turn down medical care or treatment in favor of alternatives. This can get people killed, or exacerbate their conditions.

Indeed it can, and and reputable CAM practitioner will advise a patient to not discontinue their medical care, and will refer a patient to a physician if there is evidence of a serious condition. As a shiatsu therapist, I take a more detailed health history than many physicians, and I've got my hands all over someone for an hour; several times I've noticed something that concerned me and suggested to folks, "You ought to see your doctor about that."

It's too bad that few physicians will do the same, that you almost never hear a surgeon say "Before we cut you open and see if we can do anything about that knee pain (and if we canit may well be a placebo effect, maybe you should try seeing an acupuncturist -- after all, we can always cut you open later."

And here in the UK, we have people blocks, where people are held up just so the police can go on a random fishing expedition with their dog-sniffers. Even though there's clearly not even the argument of the dangers of drink-driving.

First off, let me make point you to what I actually said:

N. Korea (sic) truly IS a threat to the US and it's allies.

You attack an ally of the US, and you are attacking the US... period.

Chemical weapons:
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUST32127420090618
Don't like Reuters?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/3440771.stm
Don't like the BBC?
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/07/20097165415127287.html

They have had the ACTUAL (not imagined, like Iraq) capability to build and explode a nuclear device.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/25/north-korea-hiroshima-nuclear-test

Last, but certainly NOT least Delivery technology: (from Wiki)

# Nodong-1 â" larger and more advanced Scud modification. Liquid-fueled, road-mobile missile with a 650 kg warhead. First production variants had inertial guidance, later variants featured GPS guidance, which improves CEP accuracy to 190â"250 m.[43] Range is estimated to be between 1,300 and 1,600 km.
# Nodong-2 â" further improved variant of the Nodong-1, successfully tested in 2006. Range is estimated at about 2,000 km.
# Taepodong-1 â" two-stage Scud-derived missile. Has been tested with a satellite payload in 1998. The satellite failed, but the missile apparently flew without significant problems, therefore it is North Korea's longest-ranged operational missile with its 2,500 km maximum range. According to some analysts, the Taepodong-1 could have an intercontinental range of nearly 6,000 km with a third stage and a payload of less than 100 kg.[44][45]
# Musudan-1 â" a modified copy of the Soviet R-27 Zyb SLBM. No tests of this missile have ever been made, but it is known to be operationally deployed. Most probably it is used as a first stage to the Taepodong-2. The missile, also known under the names Nodong-B, Taepodong-X and BM25, has a range of 4,000 kilometers.
# Taepodong-2 â" North Korea's domestic ICBM attempt. First test occurred in 2006, when the missile failed 40 seconds after launch. On April 5, 2009, a space booster variant was launched with a satellite on board. As with in 1998, the satellite itself failed to reach orbit, but the missile flew several thousand kilometers before falling in the Pacific Ocean. Estimates of the range vary widely â" from 4,500 to 10,000 kilometers (most estimates put the range at about 6,700 km).

I'm not going to bother with multiple citations, since if you haven't started investigating on your own, then you're a zealot, and no amount of facts will convince you.

The guardian brought this up:

Are downloads really killing the music industry? Or is it something else?

Although CD sales are plummeting, DVD and games sales are way up, making the entertainment industry as a whole increase it's earnings.

Ok, links you shall have.

• Eco Marathon article by The Grauniad
• 9,845 MPG car, BBC
• Official site for EcoMarathon
• Microjoule (in Fronch)
• Wikipedia article on Microjoule, stating the current record for the car is 10,127.9 miles per gallon

Although the 25 watt car deserves a mention, it's not petrol/gasoline powered and therefore not what I'm talking about, which is the upper extreme of where you can take internal combustion engines.

It's completely laughable that now you're modded to +5 while the OP is now a troll.

What he said had truth in it, even if it does have a somber meaning.

I'm sure he isn't gleefully advocating the idea that no one in Africa should get immunized, and you're creating a straw man by implied he is. He's pointing out the dangerous population explosion that will occur in Africa in the next ten-ish years. Africa will not be able to handle this population explosion, and all of your silly bleeding heart rhetoric won't be able to save them.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/aug/25/uganda.mainsection

Organic means that shit loads of chemicals that damage soil, groundwater supply, and cause dead zones hundreds of square miles in size in the Gulf of Mexico are not used. This is a good idea, because it takes into account the fact that you probably want to eat in ten years as well as today, and you'll need soil that supports vegetable life in order to do so.

Organic means you don't stuff a cow full of antibiotics that cause it to be ill, infecting it's milk production with blood and puss, just so Monsanto can sell a product that's completely worthless to everyone but Monsanto.

I buy organic for the same reason I buy everything consciously, because I like going to sleep at night knowing that I have done my best not to contribute to this. That's why I don't eat at Chik-Fil-A, because the founder is a huge contributor to a hate-filled religious university in Rome, Georgia, as well as someone who buys chickens that are crammed together in their own shit for 6 weeks until they're boiled alive. It's called being an informed consumer. It's how the market is supposed to work.

You can be a cynical little bitch all you like. That doesn't change the fact that you're stupid for believing that organic lobbies have more evil designs than any other lobbyists in DC. And I'll bet dollars to donuts that people who buy organic are far more knowledgeable about food as a whole than people who eat Twinkies and regularly drive through McDonalds.

Actually, they are building reactors in the USA. Besides the S9G reactors required for building Virginia class nuclear submarines, and the reactors used in carriers, then there is stuff like this AP1000 deal.

Last week, British officials reported on a 2007 leak in a cooling tank at the decommissioned Sizewell-A nuclear plant. If the leak had not been promptly discovered, officials said, nuclear fuel rods could have caught fire and sent airborne radioactive waste along the English coast, harming plant operators or the public.

The job of the people there is to promptly discover these sorts of things. There are loud alarms available to help them with just that. It's not a lucky happenstance that the leak was promptly discovered.

Actually, it was a lucky happenstance that the leak was found:

Normally, a leak as large as the one that occurred at Sizewell would have triggered an alarm, but the alarm was not working, causing some to believe the site should have been prosecuted which the HM inspection team suggested, however no action was taken.

In fact, the only reason an explosion did not occur is because a worker in the laundry room noticed water was leaking into the room and told engineers.

Source. Another source.

The same goes for quite a few spots on the southern hemisphere. There is also the little tidbit that global warming stops desertification, and makes e.g. the sahara lose ground. The advantages of that can hardly be overstated.

Let's ignore the rest of your post, and just focus on this. I find it curious that some people will only believe climate predictions by computer models if they can find a positive aspect of Global Warming in them. But even if in the future a (small) part of the southern Sahara would turn green, large parts of Spain are turning to desert right now. And the Gobi desert doesn't seem to be shrinking yet either. And desertification doesn't even stop from the USA.

Not to burst your bubble, but "our habitat", of large mammals in general becomes actually much better (esp. much larger, but also easier to farm) at a higher global temperature. Lush forests in greenland house a hell of a lot more creatures, and humans, than ice valleys and gletsjers.

There are probably disasters that global warming causes, if it indeed happens in any significant way (ie. not like it's currently happening), but there are many good things too. The last "globally warmed" climate saw a rich civilization in Greenland, with huge orchards and wineries, lush forests, rich wildlife, etc. The same goes for a sizeable part of Siberia. With but a few degrees temperature gain, life there (and it's a fucking huge place) will become much, much easier.

The same goes for quite a few spots on the southern hemisphere. There is also the little tidbit that global warming stops desertification, and makes e.g. the sahara lose ground. The advantages of that can hardly be overstated.

But, of course, coastal cities might be in for a world of hurt (although given that holland has an average elevation of -2 meter, whereas the worst US coastal city has an average elevation of +3 meter, and something like New York has over 5, the absolute worst case sea level rise of 95 centimeters by 2100 should not be a problem for any US coastal city, or for Holland for that matter. A more problematic city is Venice, but whether or not the sea level rises, we will have to move Venice or give it to the sea in less than 150 years anyway).

We are warmblooded mammals. The reason we beat the dinosaurs was the fact that dinosaurs don't do well at all in colder climates. Mammals on the other hand, can live in temperatures as low as -40 degrees celcius on average. At current global temperature, most reptiles are limited to tropical climates. The larger reptiles are even limited to warmer-than-their-surroundings rivers in very warm climates. Not that a 6 degree rise will allow crocodiles to live in Europe, but they might colonize the mediterranean coast and a few other rivers than the nile.

When it's not "allowed" to point out issues with a theory, any theory, it has become religion, not science.

A fair point, but I've seen more cases of pressure to suppress pro-climate-change evidence, rather than the other way around. It's ironic that TFA is also about the release of relevant data that was withheld apparently for political reasons.

you're just ruining your credibility as a scientist when stating you don't understand it, then in the same sentence claim to be an authority able to state the cause

Just because a scientist doesn't fully understand something doesn't mean he/she can't draw useful conclusions. We don't know why gravity works the way it does, but we can predict its effects pretty well. In this case, the climatologists seem quite convinced, despite what they don't know. Are you more knowledgeable about the data and its uncertainties than they are?

...us all switching to electric cars. That's moving pollution, not reducing it.

Oh, true enough. But it does largely centralise that pollution, which makes it a lot more manageable (through carbon capture, or alternative energy sources like nuclear, wind, solar etc).

A very good overview, written just before the judge's ruling regarding the fair use defence, from yesterday's Guardian.

The defendant's mother is a lawyer and she drafted the response to Prof Nesson's initial offer with the opening line, "Dear Professor Godsend".

It seems the defendant offered to settle for $500 (actually sending the money order) and later on for $5,250 - but the RIAA declined, holding out for $10,500.

Darryl Stingley, the pro football player, was paralyzed after a brutal hit by Jack Tatum. Now Darryl Stingley's son plays football, and if the son should become paralyzed while playing, it will not be ironic. It will be coincidental. If Darryl Stingley's son paralyzes someone else, that will be closer to ironic. If he paralyzes Jack Tatum's son, that will be precisely ironic.

The Apple store works because Apple's customers are the kind of people that buy their computers from stores. Microsoft has those customers too, and they shop at Best Buy. If they can capture some of those customers, that's profit directly into their pockets.

You're right about that video; while it's cheesy and sophomoric, it does (accidentally) capture the distinction very well. Nobody walking down an aisle sees an iPod and wonders "what is that? let me take a look at the features." Everyone knows what an iPod is and, unless they're rich or Christmas shopping, they already know they're going to get one when they walk in the store and don't need any more convincing than the $100-budget artwork on the plain box. Apple doesn't need anything on their box except the size of the storage. Every music player is called the same name, and customers don't have to know the generation number or anything because they don't have a choice. Microsoft's offerings are more conventional: diverse and complicated.

Microsoft is clearly trying to recreate their consumer image to push ahead on this ridiculous trend of hip tech. They're going for sleek and simplified, which is obvious in Windows 7. Their packaging is getting simpler and more artistic. Some of their commercials play the quiet-and-confident keep-it-in-the-public-mind honestly-do-we-even-need-to-tell-you-what-our-product-is-because-everyone-already-knows-about-it game. Check out the amazon product description.. it goes on and on about the simplified interface and clean, innovative ways of interacting faster. I think the Microsoft store is just one arm of that movement. They've got a very modern, artwork-and-buzzword-oriented look with expensive displays and bold, clean colors. It's logical, I guess. But that game is just a huge popularity contest, and counting on fickle teens turning their attention your way is hardly a wise investment on Microsoft's part. Both companies are evil, but Apple is good at keeping its mouth shut and letting the public associate "Apple" with Apple products and not Apple the company. Microsoft's complex agreements with OEMs, retail, and enterprise customers, as well as their more diverse and wordy offerings and their arms in multiple fields (PC games, xbox subscriptions, office apps, software development, operating systems, etc, etc) make that impossible.

Their business side is still mostly consumer-garbage-free. Server is clean anyway.

"The Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant [wikipedia.org], by comparison, manages 1,096MW output. For ONE of its reactors. Do you seriously think they feel threatened by the solar cells on your roof?"

Sure a stand alone solar farm cannot compete with a reactor but we were not talking about stand alone solar farms. The roofs of Germany pump over a GW of excess back onto the grid. If the electric companies in the US don't feel threatened by every rooftop in the land generating solar power then why do they object to the idea of feedback tarrifs?

"they don't want a bunch of DIY greenies hooking equipment up to the grid incorrectly and causing problems that are difficult to trace and would likely be blamed on them, rather than the homeowner. You screwup the hookups, or the power feed isn't phased correctly, and your whole neighborhood goes dark because of your home improvement project."

No, that's not the reason they object, but it is the reason why why thousands of small-medium businesses have sprung up in Germany installing these things and now employ roughly 250,000 people.

Dreading Columbine by Mark Ames:

Why, when even attempts were made post-9/11 to understand Arab anger (feeble though they were), does America refuse to even try understanding Columbine? Why do they continue to blame cheap, easy suspects like video games, the internet, lax morals and the NRA, when the most obvious suspect - Columbine, and every other school like it - is sitting right in front of them? Because that would be tantamount to suspecting that something is genuinely hateful about Middle America.

Then, lose all that VC to government bribes and corruption: "Corruption has become so endemic in Uganda, and is an accepted way of life, that when someone is appointed or elected to a public office they think it is now their turn to take advantage." While I'm sure the price is impacted by the technological difficulty, it's the political reality that makes it cost prohibitive. This is what needs to be changed in East Africa. I can only hope that better access to communication with the rest of the world will improve that, but I don't really know if it will.

Spinvox has a denial here, claiming this is a case of disgruntled employees spreading falsehoods.

Of course one'd expect them to deny it, but they've just upped the stakes. They would be in violation of UK privacy laws *and* lying through their teeth if this denial is false.

Though it may be the first time that people are trying to draw general population attention to it. I believe the first place I saw this sort of concept revealed was by Cory Doctorow. Though the below article isn't necessarily where I saw it, it recants the same message.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/may/20/rare.events

Well this is nothing special. E.g. Greece has a similar law.