29 Jun 2007
It's official: 'iDay' has dawned

At the 5th Avenue Apple store in Manhattan, which recently passed 100 people in line for the iPhone's release, there was a countdown at midnight to mark the official start of what's being referred to as "iDay."

(link) [CNET News.com]

05:44 /Technology | 1 comment | permanent link

27 Jun 2007
Animal-human embryos need human rights, bishops say

The fact that we're considering animal-human hybrids is scary - even scarier is that the Church isn't exercising it's influence to stop it, just to insure that any chimeras so produced are given human rights.

Why do I feel like I'm living on the Island of Dr. Moreau? It's not even Friday yet.

Reuters - Hybrid animal-human embryos created for medical research should be viewed as human and permitted to develop into children, Roman Catholic bishops have urged the British parliament.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

21:45 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

World Wildlife Fund warns against plan by Planktos, Inc.

Somebody oughta remind these people of a saying my mother ingrained into me: sometimes the cure is worse than the disease.

World Wildlife Fund today announced its opposition to a plan by Planktos, Inc. to dump iron dust in the open ocean west of the Galapagos Islands. The experiment seeks to induce phytoplankton blooms in the hopes that the microscopic marine plants will absorb carbon dioxide.

(link) [EurekAlert!]

21:44 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Music biz agrees: stop shooting self in foot

Wow. Maybe they'll get their shit together after all. But I'm not holding my breath - we've heard reports like this before.

At the Norwegian summer resort of Kristiansand in Norway last week, representatives of all corners of the British (and global) music business came together to think the unthinkable.

(link) [The Register]

21:38 /Copywrongs | 1 comment | permanent link

26 Jun 2007
Apple to Take the Pain Out of Buying a Cell Phone

If Apple can pull this off, the iPhone will be a hit despite any technical shortcomings.

Rumor has it that Apple's introducing a new way to buy a mobile phone -- pleasant and easy, with all the pleasure of private unboxing in true Apple tradition.

(link) [Wired Top Stories]

06:55 /Technology | 1 comment | permanent link

25 Jun 2007
Personal comments by physicians distract from patient needs

For a quick lesson in "modern" healthcare, repeat after me - the physician is irrelevant, only the treatment matters. Doctors could be replaced by machines or trained monkeys, as long as they make the correct diagnoses. Health is purely a matter of objective physical causes, and has nothing whatsoever to do with state of mind, beliefs or relationships.

Now get in line, and get your health, which is, of course, sold by volume, not by weight. Just don't try to think of doctors, nurses or other workers in the system as human beings - you'll just distract them from "serving" more patients.

In well-intentioned efforts to establish relationships, some physicians tell patients about their own family members, health problems, travel experiences and political beliefs. While such disclosures seem an important way to build a personal connection, a University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry investigation of secretly-recorded first-time patient visits to experienced primary care physicians has found these personal disclosures have no demonstrable benefits and may even disrupt the flow of important patient information.

(link) [EurekAlert!]

17:01 /Politics | 1 comment | permanent link

Skinhead inmate kills corrections officer

Was this an escape attempt? Check out the dude's picture, and then tell me where and how he was planning on hiding after his "escape". Because I can't see escape as an option in this case. Unless he could somehow escape from himself.

An inmate stole the gun from a corrections officer and shot him to death Monday when the prisoner was unshackled for a doctor's appointment, authorities said.

(link) [CNN.com]

16:56 /Home | 1 comment | permanent link

Virtual Bubblewrap

I don't know if it's the "worst" gadget ever made, but it certainly has to be among the most annoying. I wonder if it comes packed in real bubblewrap?

Bandai Asovision has taken possibly the most enjoyable side benefit of having a gadget obsessed life and made it 100% legitimate with the PuchiPuchi, a gadget that emulates the joy of popping bubble wrap.

(link) [Engadget]

16:48 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

24 Jun 2007
Virtualization May Break Vista DRM

Now. here's an interesting theory! I know that I've been having massive problems of all sorts with Vista - from getting code to run at all to simply inconsistant results based on version/user login. I've wondered how much of this is due to the DRM schemes built into it. Now I wonder more.

An article in Computerworld posits that the reason Microsoft has flip-flopped on allowing all versions of Vista to be run in virtual machines, is that it breaks the Vista DRM beyond detection, or repair. So is every future advance in computer security and/or usability going to be held hostage to the gods of Hollywood and Digital Restrictions Management? 'Will encouraging consumer virtualization result in a major uptick in piracy? Not anytime soon, say analysts. One of the main obstacles is the massive size of VMs. Because they include the operating system, the simulated hardware, as well as the software and/or multimedia files, VMs can easily run in the tens of gigabytes, making them hard to exchange over the Internet. But DeGroot says that problem can be partly overcome with .zip and compression tools -- some, ironically, even supplied by Microsoft itself.'

(link) [Slashdot]

09:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Pagans to Rally for Religious Rights in Front of the White House on July 4th

Two noted Heathens in this group: Steve McNallen of the Asatru Folk Assembly and Diana Paxson of The Troth.

A group of Pagan religious leaders from diverse denominations will gather in Lafayette Square Park on the Fourth of July to advocate for a Pagan military chaplain, request more approved Pagan religious symbols from the Department of Veterans Affairs and call for universal freedom of religious expression.

(link) [Yahoo News]

08:31 /Asatru | 1 comment | permanent link

The Violence of the Lambs

(Trailer also available at YouTube)

After decades of filling Britain's supermarket shelves with lamb, New Zealanders are exporting sheep of a different kind.

(link) [The Telegraph]

08:03 /Humor | 1 comment | permanent link

23 Jun 2007
Lawyers' words are kerosene on the flaming H-1B bonfire

The only thing unbelievable here is that this fellow is so brazen.

Pittsburgh lawyers advise on how not to have to hire an American worker.

(link) [CNET News.com]

09:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

22 Jun 2007
Okinawa anger at textbook plans

If the Germans can deal with the Holocaust, why can't the Japanese deal with their WWII history?

The Japanese island of Okinawa protests at plans to revise textbook accounts of army WWII activities.

(link) [BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition]

06:54 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Second Life Without Sex Would Be a Sad Life, Indeed

There are some things that are so "out there" as to be uncategorizable.This is one of them. I was originally going to post this in 'Humor' with the tag line "Personally, I prefer sex in my First Life".... but then I actually read the article. And realized that some people, players and company alike, have a difficult time distinguishing fantasy from reality, the virtual from the real. And that's way too sad for comedy.

So into the tech section it goes, but chalk it up as a sad commentary on the modern world - and hope it's not our epitaph.

One of the great joys of a virtual world like Second Life is the ability to indulge in fantasy limited only by your own patience and skill with the tools. But there's nothing virtual about the anxiety felt by Second Life residents after Linden Labs "clarifies" its policies on Mature content.

(link) [Wired Top Stories]

06:49 /Technology | 1 comment | permanent link

20 Jun 2007
The Ethanol Scam

Ed over at Dispatches from the Culture Wars has started a fascinating conversation on the whole madness of ethanol - read the article, for sure, but be sure to take in the comments as well.

21:44 /Agriculture | 1 comment | permanent link