SCO vs. IBM vs. SCO: Is the end in sight?

Methinks the Register is being overly optomistic here: after all, there are lawyers involved...

Big Blue seeks declaratory judgement

(link) [The Register]

00:00 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link


Bush official defends outsourcing

I could go on about this for pages and pages, but I've said enough to refute and lambast these apologists for multinational corporations. Suffice it to say here that this is proving to be the issue of the 2004 Presidential campaign: and there's a very clear choice.

Treasury Secretary argues that the benefits of free trade outweigh the costs.

(link) [CNET News.com]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link


Completely Unexpected

Well, this has gotta have the loonies are in a tizzy! Seems as though one of their own, former Representative Bob Barr (R-Ga.), the receipient of a The Burning Times Award, has come out against the proposed Marriage Amendment, using language that sounds, well, almost rational!

"I don't think it's the function of Congress to monkey around with state court jurisdiction," Barr said in testimony that put him at odds with Judiciary Committee Republicans looking back from the dais.

What's the world coming to?

Proposed amendment on same-sex marriage draws conservative foe

(link) [CNN]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link


US opposes Oklahoma headscarf ban

As I've said before, I'm not certain of the need for a complete ban on religious ornaments in public schools. But in the case of attire, especially headgear, it behooves us to remember that most gangs identify their members by clothing and/or headgear. So I dunno - it's a tough one.

The justice department files a complaint on behalf of a Muslim girl sent home from school for wearing a scarf.

(link) [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link


Liberal Voices (Some Sharp) Get New Home on Radio Dial

It will sure be nice to have a choice on the AM dial for talk radio ... listening to Limbaugh, Hannity and Ingram et. al. on my recent drive to Florida was enough to turn me into a flaming Commie. Maybe if I could listen to some of the doom and gloom policy wonks on the left it would even my perspective out again.

Air America, which makes its debut on Wednesday with Al Franken at the microphone, intends to challenge the hegemony of conservatives on commercial talk radio.

(link) [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link


Maybe the Music's Just Lousy?

Well, doh!

The recording industry insists that CD sales are off because everyone's online stealing the music. Now a study comes along saying that piracy has little, if anything, to do with stagnant sales.

(link) [Wired News]

00:00 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link


Making A Better Browser History

I was cursing the so-called 'History Feature' in Firebird yesterday: it's virtually unusable. This sounds like an interesting idea, but it's always tough to get the public to accept new models for data representation.

tudents at the University of Illinois have released TrailBlazer, a new user interface to represent your web browsing history. It lays out the pages you visit in a simple 2D map with thumbnails and summaries.

(link) [Slashdot]

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link



Subdomains Part Of The Patent Frenzy

According to the article, this patent was issued in 1999. I owned a subdomain (ravenswood.sheridan.org) in 1994. Can you say "prior art"?

This is just another legal extortion attempt.

A company called Ideaflood that has been sending out letters to web hosting firms claiming that they own a patent on subdomains.

(link) [Slashdot]

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link


Nigerian Islamists veto vaccines

This is just mind-boggling ... the level of paranoia displayed here is something right out of a medieval text. Unfortunately, I'm sure that the latest news from the world of biotechnology won't do much to allievate this paranoia.

"We depend on our religion," says Mohammed Kabir, a Kano student. "Anything our leader says, we are going to agree with him."

You know, I "depend" on my religion, too. And I can't see for the life of me what that has to do with blind obedience to the leader - sounds more like "Führerprinzip" to me.

But the sad thing is that it's gonna be the children in this province that will ultimately bear the cost for their elders fundamentalism.

Nigeria's boycott of recent polio vaccine campaigns threatens efforts to eradicate the disease by year's end.

(link) [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link


Delusions

Today's edition of Moore's Lore has an absolutely wonderful bit about delusions, generations and the last years of the 20th Century - The Age of Nixon

Read it.

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link


Bizarre attractive force found in mayonnaise

I've always thought mayonnaise was weird stuff ... little did I suspect how weird.

Scientists have discovered that a little-understood tensile force, which was previously thought to be an oddity found only in the types of plastics used to make bulletproof vests, occurs in everyday emulsions like mayonnaise and salad dressing.

(link) [Science Blog]

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link


Playas Pay to Spread the Luv

Fascinating play on the whole social network thing. Take a "standard" social network, add a dab of impulsive consumerism, a bit of romantic flair and a touch of greed and you've got this potential money maker. I always wondered if somebody would try to do this with social nets - now I have my answer.

FunHi's role-playing gangstas are spending big bucks to shower each other with virtual geegaws, and they don't seem to mind spending the money. By Daniel Terdiman.

(link) [Wired News]

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link


Waiter, There's a Drug in My Rice

What's it gonna take to stop this lunacy? May I suggest that a solution will come from a [unfortunately likely] place ... lawyers.

"Even food-processing corporations are very upset about this as well, because they know all you need is one shipment of corn flakes that has a contraceptive in it and there's a real problem, obviously," Achitoff said.

One dose of digitalis to a six year old from his Rice Krispies will be enough for any decent trail lawyer to shut down Monsanto. But it will probably be too late to prevent genetic contamination of the world's most ubiquitous cereal grain.

A California biotech company may soon plant the first commercially grown crop that has been genetically altered to contain drugs. Rice growers, consumer advocates and environmentalists ask regulators to just say no. By Kristen Philipkoski.

(link) [Wired News]

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BJP to act against conversions

More on loony fundies in India. It seems as though if you're a dalit (low caste Hindu, aka 'untouchable') they want to prevent you from changing religions...

The BJP has always been uneasy about religious conversions, especially involving low caste Hindus who they argue have been brainwashed or coerced into changing their religious faith.

I wonder how they'd react if the dalits simply became atheists? Would that be a "conversion"?

India's BJP promises to ban forcible religious conversions and stop foreigners from occupying high offices.

(link) [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link


Lambing Season

So much for the weather forecast: a beautiful day, temps approaching 60º F and sunny. Now it's supposed to rain and get cold tonight: I'll believe it when I see it.

"Snot-nose" (ewe #88) had her single this morning: and it was a difficult birth. Kevyn came over to help, very glad that we'd decided to do this in the right season, and not in January when it was -20º F! Believe it or not, that's when most modern shepherds "schedule" their lambing. Why? It's utterly beyond me!

The ewe lamb lived, and so did mom. It was presented head first, but with three legs tucked under and behind. Kevyn (and Kris) literally pushed the poor little girl back into mom, turned her around and tried to get her out right. But when it became apparent that she was still alive and gasping for air, Kevyn decided to just drag her out as it - and it worked! The only problem was that her tongue had swollen, and she couldn't get a good grip on the nipple to nurse. But that problem is subsiding as the swelling goes down, and tonight she's doing fine. No pix, however - with six more due in the next few days, if I posted photos of each I'd run out of space on my drive! Ha!

But I'm more convinced than ever that we made the right choice in breeds with the Scottish Blackface: they're tough as nails, have a great mothering instinct and are pretty damn smart (for sheep). Snot-nose was just about as calm an animal as you could ask for while we worked frantically on her - no wild, bucking and pushing bullshit from her. I've heard horror stories from other shepherds about Suffolks and how difficult they are at lambing. In fact, Kevyn commented this moring that had we been dealing with a Suffolk this morning, both mom and lamb would be dead.

I've been many things over the course of the last forty seven years, but I never expected to become an ovine obstetrician.

00:00 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link