Slashdot Mirror
New Linux-based PVR from Sony: Cocoon
jivany writes "Linux based set-top box being offered by Sony that has a broadband internet connection and may offer the option of being programmed from a cell phone." Japan-only for now. There's an article in Japanese with assorted photos and screenshots.
1st "Japan gets all the high-tech stuff" post
That this was posted just because it has the word Linux in it.
Can i use your calling card?
Hill leaders, Bush to talk Iraq
Dole: 'I think I would try the arms inspection one more time'
WASHINGTON (CNN) --Key Congressional leaders, including the chairmen and ranking minority party members of the Senate and House intelligence committees, headed to the White House on Wednesday to talk with President Bush about his administration's Iraq policy.
A senior administration official described the meetings as the beginning of a concerted White House effort to counter critics who say either that the president is in a rush toward a military confrontation or that the administration is sending confusing or conflicting signals about its policies and intentions.
"We believe a lot of this is media-driven and exaggerated," the official said. "But that said, there is some confusion and a legitimate debate and over the next couple of weeks we think there is an opportunity to clarify some things."
Congressional leaders want to know Bush's timetable for a military offensive, how many troops and how much money would be involved, the feasibility of pursuing such a strategy without support from a coalition of other nations, and whether the administration would accept a new round of weapons inspections in Iraq.
The president is expected to make a major policy speech on Iraq next week to the U.N. General Assembly.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will also meet with senators on Capitol Hill Wednesday -- at his request -- to discuss Iraq, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, told reporters Tuesday.
Upon returning Tuesday from their August break, many members of the Senate said they were skeptical about going to war with Iraq at this time.
Asked if the Bush administration has been speaking with a coherent voice on Iraq, Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, smiled and said, "I'd like a couple more days before I respond to that."
Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, was less diplomatic, telling reporters he believes the "administration's position is very confusing."
A Democratic source said Bush "would almost without question" be able to win passage of a congressional resolution backing military confrontation with Iraq.
"The question for them is, do they want a big vote or a not-so-big vote?" the source said. "If they want a big vote, it requires a lot of work and a lot of talking to a lot of people. If this meeting is the beginning of that, then good for them."
Clinton: 'He knows he'll be toast'
Appearing on CNN's Larry King Live on Tuesday, former President Bill Clinton said Bush should have congressional approval, not simply advice, before undertaking military action in Iraq. And Clinton indicated that he favors cooperation with U.S. allies in making a decision. (Full story)
Clinton said he supports a new regime to replace that of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The challenge, he said, will be the lack of surprise this time around.
"If he has chemical and biological agents -- and I believe he does -- he will have no incentive not to use them if he knew he was going to be killed anyway and deposed," Clinton said. "He's got a lot of incentive not to use them now because he knows he'll be toast if he does."
The question is not whether to attack Iraq, but how, and under what circumstances, he said.
Former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, also speaking with Larry King, said he'd recommend military action "only if we not only consult with Congress, but have a vote. And then I think I would try the arms inspection one more time, but not let Iraq delay and dither and all those things."
Powell: 'Lots of differences' within administration
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell delivered a speech Wednesday at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, but did not mention U.S. plans for military action against Iraq, which the United States accuses of building up chemical and biological weapons.
Tuesday, Powell acknowledged that the debate among administration officials is ongoing.
"I see there are lots of differences. Some are real, some are perceived, some are over-hyped," Powell said.
"There are lots of views in the administration, outside the administration, up on [Capitol] Hill, throughout the talk shows, the media and throughout the international community. The president is considering it all," he said. (Full story)
At the Johannesburg summit Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told reporters that he had told Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz that weapons inspectors must be permitted into the country and that Iraq must comply with U.N. resolutions on the inspections.
Annan said leaders in the region and throughout the world, including those sympathetic with Iraq, agree that Iraq must comply with the resolutions.
Aziz said Tuesday he would be open to negotiations over weapons inspections if that included the elimination of no-fly zones and the economic embargo that has was placed on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in 1990. (Full story)
In Baghdad on Wednesday, Saddam issued a "letter to the Iraqi people, Arabs and all free-minded people in the world" that made allusions to the hostility between the United States and Iraq.
The letter was published in the Iraqi media.
"Victory is faith inside the hearts, and when it becomes a faith it becomes immune to all confusion created by surrounding matter including the kinds of weapons and technical means that your enemy has," the letter said.
"And the negative media and fabricated news and psychological confusion created by the enemy, not the weakness around you, nor the enemy's negative propaganda... God will Bless your faith."
Saddam was to meet Wednesday in Baghdad with Arab parliamentarians, while Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri was attending a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo, Egypt.
In Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said the position of the foreign ministers is "very clear."
"We reject any attack, major attack on Iraq and we believe that everybody should abide by the U.N. security resolutions. And I think this is a position that we made clear at the highest level."
He said that he believes Iraq "has no objection in principle" to the return of inspectors.
"But it wants to make sure what are the circumstances in which observers will be admitted," Maher said.
Imagine a beowulf cluster of those!
INTEHLITREASEEWILBOPSHUNAL!
Oh and by the way
Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.
Why thank you, Slashdot!