Slashdot Mirror

A related story I caught via Google News:

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-04-11-voa11.cf m

Very interesting that just a few days ago Bill Gates blasted the education community as being obsolete. Now, Microsoft powered nanny cams to allow parents to go off and persue their interests. Doesn't seem like a very consistant message.

Unless, of course, the school reform he seeks includes tons of Microsoft products in the classrooms. Perhaps there is a Microsoft Teacher product in the works as well.

Continues to excite? It's not a just a toy, or even mostly a toy, it's still absolutely crucial in the world, especially after disasters.

It's a great way to communicate after a tsunami.

Outmoded you say? Here's a recent example that may make you change your mind on that one.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-01-05-voa24.cf m

Let's see. There is some reported voter registration fraud. Here is a case in Ohio were a registrar was paid with cocaine and registered "Dick Tracy" and "George Foreman":
http://www.cleveland.com/crime/plaindealer/index.s sf?/base/iscri/109818543096130.xml

along with non-anecdotal evidence of potential fraud (higher incidence of registrations from incorrect address).

There is record voter registration in important states:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/ a/2004/10/17/MNGAB99QEA1.DTL

The democrats have supposedly hired many lawyers to monitor polls, etc.:

http://www.voanews.com/english/US-Democrats-Republ icans-Deploy-Lawyers-for-Possible-Election-Battles .cfm

Al Gore is telling blacks to "vote early" so their vote will count, presumably not like the last time:

"Early voting is a good idea," he said. "You want to give them plenty of time to count all the votes."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/24/gore.ap/

In all, it seems like the making for a very big mess, and I think this election, with things so close, I for one would be suspicious and at least investigate.

One thing I find interesting about this story, is that there is no evidence of any actual wrongdoing, just innuendo, but perhaps this is just part of the democrat playbook, which is to allege claiming voter intimidation, whether it's true or not:

http://cleveland.indymedia.org/news/2004/10/12700. php

Oil and Gas Exploration in Disputed Waters Causes Tension Between China, Japan

The same story, direct from Reuters: Crackdown on Internet Journalists. More detail: New arrest of a journalist contributing to reformist websites. More about Iranian "religious" extremism: Iran cancels music concerts under hard-line pressure. There is political turmoil inside Iran: Iranian vice president quits. More about the social breakdown in Iran: Rights Group: Human Rights Violations on the Rise in Iran.

Don't expect leadership from the U.S. government. Members of the Bush administration can't even say Iran. It's not I-ran. It's I-rahn. During the vice-presidential debate, Cheney said I-ran, showing how little he knows about the topic. President Bush said "Moo-lah", instead of mullah, the Farsi name for religious leader. Don't underestimate their lack of interest in things that don't make money.

More Bush administration mis-pronunciation from Cheney: "Tolleybon", intead of Taliban, and "Internets".

More about U.S. government corruption: The Bush administration borrows money to give to its friends, you pay it back. Government data shows Republicans are corrupt.

From the VOA:

North Korean foreign ministry officials have told British and Chinese diplomats that the explosion was the demolition of a mountain to make way for a hydro-electric plant.

Rainer

good thing they're not having any problems selling tickets anyways, eh?"

All of which is entirely inappropriate for children in Kansas.

To demonize something, you must keep people apart from it.

Let children come in contact with marijuana or homosexuals, and they might realize that neither is as objectionable as their parents desperately want them to believe.

It would be horrible for the American media to broadcast images of soldiers being killed ("we're going to move you back...for 'security' reasons") or killing civilians, or for photographic evidence of US-led prison atrocities to be spread around ("I find that 'offensive'"), and so on and so forth. People might get stirred up, uncomfortable with what their leaders are doing.

If you want propaganda, don't bother with Fox and friends -- they feed dillute, unsatisfying gruel. For the real stuff, just read the United State's official international propaganda source (currently, it appears that they're smearing the name of the Iraqi politician that turned out to dislike the idea of being a puppet). If you want vaguely more balanced news, try the excellent news.google.com, which includes a helping of different perspectives on stories. It's always fun to read an Arab and an Israeli view on the same story. :-)

Maybe they could have left it up a few more days? We might need it pretty soon

Coke is badass! The U.S. couldn't handle Somalia, but Coke is going right in!

I agree.

Antivirus is now part of the OS. Heck, just today, we saw the first cell phone virus.

This is great news. Now, all that we need is an anti-spyware countermeasure from MS and we're all set. Stability, security and privacy. What will we all bitch about?

No, they just collapse faster.

Yes, indeed, the French like their punaise, and look what is does to them!

Heh.
The ex-boss at a company i know of was pretty widely thought to have done a bit more than taint the noosphere. These guys at JBoss may know software (1tbs is bad; however), but they make lousy ethics violators.

I'm sure I don't have to tell people here that China blocks webpages (like the Voice of America, blogger, etc.). So even though in the big cities the Chinese have killer broadband, it's not as useful as it could be.

Anyway, when VOA, whose TV/radio signals are blocked/jammed on the mainland try to get the feeds out, they'll run broadcasts through other sites, and also make everything available via P2P networks.

Whether you agree with VOA/the U.S. Government is another matter, but they're doing stories on things like the AIDS/blood donations crisis, that China won't even talk about (just back from a party with those filmmakers and some VOA reporters).

Of course, most of what people in China download over p2p is Britney or whatever, but, still, the stuff is out there and there ain't nothing the gubmint can do about it.

Best quote, from a Chinese official:

"If the U.S. is really honest and concerned about human rights, then I will be very happy one day if the United States can table a resolution to name and shame yourself," he said. "We will suggest to the United States to buy a mirror and look at yourself in it. China is a poor developing country. If you do not have a mirror, we can buy one for you."

"It allows the average citizen who rents movies or movies or software or games to understand what is correct activity and what is incorrect activity," he said. "They need to understand that there is a law involved and that law is very important, and they should abide by it."

Here is an article which includes the reasoning why they are abandoning the Hubble. Safety! I read something earlier that they will only take the shuttle into an orbit where they could use the ISS lifeboat if something happens which would keep the shuttle from surviving reentry. Or course I can't find that article again. May have been in a small local paper.

Yes, go back. The mainstream media has been doing pieces on this for months now.

>The next time you do that, I'm going to assume that you are too stupid to understand that Canada is not the US and that you are incapable of rational discussion on this subject.

Your inability to realize that contrast and comparison are a valid writing format seriously makes me wonder if YOU are capable of rational discussion.

>You might want to note the part about "Telephone harassment" and "Use of racial slurs" and "Verbal abuse" in there.

To quote from your book, "I don't really care what Washinton DC law says". This isn't about individual US cities. It's about the US as an entire country. That includes places like Hawaii and Alaska, and heck, Puerto Rico too.

Tell me, if I go on speakers corner in the US (in general, not just in a few handpicked territories) [I'm sure there's a US version of that show] and say "All Jews are faggots" *how* are you going to sue? *How*? What for? The other poster has explained you'll need to prove some form of personal financial loss. What loss? How? I'd love to be in that courtroom!

I've heard people doing this before (the joys of "Voice of America's" more eclectic programming) and they don't go to jail. They don't get sued. At worst they get angry callers and hate mail. At worst.

If I can get away with that then libel/slander don't cover hate speech in the general sense, do they? Just in the specific sense, such as me saying an untruth like "khasim is a faggot".

Yeah, we have a term and laws for that hear too, it's called Treason. There is only one punishment for it under US law, death.

Ah, yes. I suppose that any disloyalty to the government and any attempt to replace it with something better should be met with death. Maybe we should've put the men who wrote that into law to the gallows for having rebelled against their government. Then again, I suppose you're saying that the law of any local government justifies any actions it takes against its populace as long as it acts within its own frame of law. Genocide, torture, and rape for political dissent and rebellion is all okay as long as that government says it is, right?

I was talking about his popularity rating, not the voting booth. Saddam [...] was EXTREMELY popular among his own people because he was reclaiming ancient land the lose of which had been a thorn to his people a very very long time.

Oh, so was Romania's Ceausescu to all outside observers until a few days before his deposition when a critical flashpoint event made his people finally snap. A man who was loudly and repeatedly praised everywhere he went was in the end executed by his own people after a quick day-and-a-half search for him. (Shades of Mussolini anyone?)

Successful dictators build cults of personality that make their people worship them no matter how awful they are to their populace. Stalin did it. Kim and his son did it. Franco did it, Hilter did it, and Saddam tried to do it too. There's a difference in how much the people actually believe in their leader in Iraq vs. these other countries. In in North Korea, it seems to be universal by all visitors' accounts. Saddam failed to engender love in his people, only fear of reprisal. In Iraq, support for him doesn't seem to be universal at all given just how many people sided with outside forces (like the aforementioned Kurds, Marsh Arabs, and Shiites) and given how many people are currently cheering his arrest there (though some feelings are mixed about the arrest).

Yes, the people mostly seem to have support the taking of Kuwait at the time from what we know from the outside, but it's really hard to gauge what the popular sentiment really was at the time based on the abrupt flipping of support now that repression isn't forcing people to pretend to love him and since Iraq's economy has severely soured in the wake of a decade of sanctions stemming from that action. If you can find me some supporting evidence that they liked it, I'd appreciate it, but I doubt that you can.

Killing and torturing traitors is a long time pastime in most nations these days.

Oh, well then -- I guess that means it's quite all right, then. Saddam's not a bad guy because other people use torture too. Well, what DO you consider a bad guy to be if you don't consider Saddam and his sons to be bad guys for torturing their people? Don't tell me that you're one of these types who actually believes that there is no such thing as right and wrong. If you didn't you wouldn't be protesting the war on Iraq so loudly, so tell us what it would take to be an evil person.

The Polish Prime Minister was the protagonist.

George Bush said that because he, unlike you, is not a fuzzy brained bunny hugger. If the enemy is predisposed to run himself up onto your bayonet, shout encouragement!

Wow, wouldn't that be great? Meanwhile, back in the real world, that's not what they do. Damn. For a second there you almost sounded like someone who gave a shit about our soldiers wounded and dying in Iraq.

George Bush said that because he, unlike you, is not a fuzzy brained bunny hugger. If the enemy is predisposed to run himself up onto your bayonet, shout encouragement!

Wow, wouldn't that be great? Meanwhile, back in the real world, that's not what they do. Damn. For a second there you almost sounded like someone who gave a shit about our soldiers wounded and dying in Iraq.

News that IBM is opening a Linux Competency Center in Russia comes a day before Moody's Investors Service upgrades Russia's foreign debt to investment grade, according to "Russia Earns Investment-Grade Status". These developments are wonderful news for Russia and the West.

Russia certainly has many flaws: there are signs that civil rights are being abridged in Russia under the Putin government. However, Russia is far ahead of China in human rights, civil rights, and basic decency. Consider the recent atrocity described in "China Detains Health Official for Publicizing AIDS Coverup". The Chinese arrested (and possibly tortured) a person for revealing that Chinese officials had attempted to sell AIDS-tainted blood products to Americans in the USA.

It is a no-brainer as to which country deserves American support. American companies should bypass China and put all their investments into Russia and Eastern Europe. American consumers can encourage the American companies to do so by boycotting any product or service that is "Made in China" (which includes "Made in Hong Kong" or "Made in Taiwan"). Furthermore, we should pull our money out of mutual funds that invest in any company located in China (which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan).

It is imperative (for the preservation of Western society) that Russia outperforms China economically. The Russian value system shares much more in common with the American value system than the Chinese value system.

... from the desk of the reporter

You know, you're right. I mean, the us would never detain people without trial under "suspision" of doing something would they? We wouldn't just toss the Geneva Conventions out the window like some common dictator would we? Oh, wait... those conventions don't apply to people designated "enemy combatants", and we do have this ongoing "WAR ON TERRORISIM", what was I thinking? You're right, guess I just don't have a clue, sorry.
Mod me flamebait, I'm sick of people mouthing off that this country is the best in the world. I will admit that this country is great, but it could be SO much better. Things are being set into motion that I feel are going to make the US more a police state than a "Land of Opportunity". Another /.'er said it best : "The cure for 1984 is 1776"

I imagine that the costs of shipping the protective radiation shielding materials alone for a Nuclear Reactor might be prohibitive (because of the weight of the materials).

One possibility would be to build the reactor a "safe" distance away from the habitats and run some sort of power lines out to it.

Of course, with Mars now so close to the Earth and putting on such a spectacular show, we can only imagine how much prettier a show it would be with a Russian Nuclear Reactor on the surface!

AP reports:

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner says he spoke to the program's director and that they both agreed "this thing should be stopped." A formal announcement is expected soon.

The senators called the idea "a federal betting parlor on atrocities and terrorism" and declared it "ridiculous" and "grotesque." The opinion was echoed Tuesday by ranking Democratic Senator Tom Daschle, who said the program was an incentive to commit terrorist acts.

Repair relations?

Quick question, where were the street protests when I was shipped to Bosnia? Where were the protests when he killed the Sudanese and Afganies?

A large majority of the world hated us when we were led by a Democrat too. And I should know I was shipped to parts of the world that didn't exactly want to *embrace* the American dream when I was there either.

The point I am trying to make is that as always people will hate us no matter what we do, so we should just do what we think in right.

Secondly, I don't think that the answer lays in either political party. They both have the same goals: the ruination of their opposing parties and the increasing of their own powers.

And in regards to the *one* person who is representing their views, it is a political calculation. The democrats would do the same thing if their main guy had a +70% approval rating, but they don't. Besides, if the are 70% approval ratings for what he is doing, that makes it a majority, right?

It's amazing to think that prior shuttle launches have had foam break off and strike the wing without this happening (according to Discovery Channel). Makes me wonder what was different, perhaps just the size of the foam chunk. It's good to know they finally tested it out to measure the impact. Tragic that people died first. Here's a link to another article on VOANews.com

It's amazing to think that prior shuttle launches have had foam break off and strike the wing without this happening (according to Discovery Channel). Makes me wonder what was different, perhaps just the size of the foam chunk. It's good to know they finally tested it out to measure the impact. Tragic that people died first. Here's a link to another article on VOANews.com

Court Approves $750M Settlement of Fraud Case Against Worldcom

A Federal court judge in New York has approved $750
million settlement between the scandal-ridden WorldCom corporation and federal
regulators.

Somebody managed to snag a 727 in Angola a while back.

If anybody's interested, here's some more links:

Discovery Channel
Sky News
Space Daily
Voice of America
BBC News

Wait you mean http://www.voanews.com/coast/... Right?

Western technology has successfully fought the Chinese cover up. The Internet and the blinding speed with which it transmits information has effectively thwarted all attempts by the Chinese to cover up their problem. In fact, here is a sampling of the information about SARS that is readily available from the Internet.

1. "How the 'global village' faced SARS"

2. "Experts Expect SARS to Continue Spreading"

3. "More SARS Cases Are Reported; Virus Found to Persist in Patients"

4. "China and SARS"

15 years ago, if an epidemic like SARS had erupted, I would have had a much harder time in finding information describing its origin and its symptoms. Now, thanks to the Internet, I know that the Chinese in Southern China "helped" to develop this disease by sleeping with farm animals. The virus crossed the species barrier from, probably, a pig into humans. The Chinese then covered up the problem and, thus, helped to spread it to the rest of the world. According to the latest reports, the SARS virus will now become a permanent part of this world.

This just in: Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was found dead at his home in suburban Maryland today, after another bout of crystal clear ambiguity in front of Congress.
He will be sorely missed. Truly an American, and dare we say, international, icon.
President Bush immediately nominated Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf to replace the fabled Fed flap-gum.
"God will roast inflation in Hell. Long live tax cuts," pronounced al-Sahaf, to the delight of his international fans.

...the Bureau website, with its editorials against human rights violations, its copy of the Freedom of Information Act, and all its press releases about sticking it to fascist regimes, hasn't a single thing on China.

No, this is actually true, for once.
Story here, among many others found at Google News.

IE6 has the ability to navigate msnbc.com in the way it was meant to be navigated. I don't know why: The menus at foxnews.com work just fine, but msnbc.com displays nothing where menus should be. windowsupdate.microsoft.com? Forget it.

Visit www.voa.gov in Mozilla and wonder why the page looks different in IE6. Simple, the comments on the page are screwy, and vim highlighting will show that. I'm thankful that voanews.com is just fine.

staroffice.com specifically does not support Netscape 6+ and will give you a message to that effect. That said, I haven't noticed any breakage. Expect more such hostility in the future from people who are happy with the one-browser market.

I can't get the RealAudio plugin to work with Mozilla. Maybe I need to install Netscape, deal with the cheesy commercial crap and special offers long enough to install the plugin, copy it to my Mozilla folder, then uninstall Netscape. A minor problem to be sure, but I'm sick of staring at that "you need a plug-in" icon for embedded objects, and I wish the Netscape plug-in finder would recognize my frustration.

I love Mozilla, but it lags behind IE6 on quite a few sites that I visit. These are just some of the sites that I visit, and I stay away from most overdone sites, especially Flash sites. I can't imagine what it's like for people who surf the web for all of its tacky glory. Mozilla has a great foundation. It just isn't there yet for the sites I visit, even less ready than the 0.9.7 moniker would suggest.

Perhaps, but I think that is unlikely. Apply Occam's Razor to the situation; is it more likely that the big media companies are conspiring all the way down to the editorial and reporter level to prevent Joe Public from reading about the case in the morning paper, or is it more likely that Joe Reporter and Joe Editor in general do not know much about technology and law issues (not to mention does Joe Law-Column-Writer knows about the technology issues involved?) to be able to understand the nuances of the story?

Also, consider an editor's take on the issue; even if the editor does understand the technology and law nuances, does he think that his audience will understand well enough to make a story worthwhile or newsworthy?

The bottom line is that YOU, the audience, need to start writing more letters-to-the-editor and op-ed submissions to make the editors and reporters realize the importance of the issue instead of laying back and producing conspiracy theories as to why the issue has not appeared in mainstream media.

I can cite all sorts of foreign (to Americans) news, including civil wars in Central and South America, kidnappings of American citizens abroad, etc. that never even make it to the "World Summary" columns of your major newspapers because the editors do not seem to think that it is newsworthy. There are stories about it; you can go to the Voice of America and read a lot of the wire copy that the major media outlets certainly get as well, but the bottom line is it is deemed "un-newsworthy" for Joe Public.