3/5/2003; 3:40:02 PM
This is a demo of a plain-text rendering of my aggregator feeds. It's rebuilt after every scan, once an hour, by a script running on the other side of the Aggregator XML-RPC API. I just want to see how fast this stuff can be, without any tables at all; and also to help get all the data flowing through the interface that we need.
CNET News.com - Enterprise (3:38:43 PM)
Grove: Centrino's our No.2 son. Chairman Andy Grove says the multimillion-dollar campaign for its soon-to-arrive Centrino chips is second only to the introduction of the Pentium in terms of its importance to Intel.
Christian Science Monitor | Living (3:38:35 PM)
Cowboys learn their lit - from the French. French writers talk about American influences on their writing.
Christian Science Monitor | Commentary (3:38:32 PM)
Sharing America. The US paid a price for closing the US Information Agency.
Foxhole Journalists. While Americans may benefit from reports of frontline action, they must also ask if journalists will become too 'embedded.'
Death penalty: How foolproof is our justice?. As sentiment seems to be growing against the death penalty, those who support it appear to be pushing harder for it.
Space exploration inspires needed mental exploration. 'Ants in Space' research inspires inner-city students.
Christian Science Monitor | The Home Forum (3:38:23 PM)
Finding some fun at 50 below. I read that 50 below is the temperature at which spit will freeze before hitting the ground.
Today's Article on Christian Science: Helping children stay free. Today's article on Christian Science.
A sap harvest sweetened my view of my father. The teenage illusions of independence I had blew away with the March winds.
Christian Science Monitor | USA (3:38:21 PM)
High court OKs 'three strikes' law. In win for tough-on-crime sentences, court says law isn't cruel and unusual.
States grapple with gay rights and definition of the family. Rules on adoption in Florida and marriage in Massachusetts face court challenges by gay couples.
Dueling drug plans: the impact on seniors. Bush's prescription plan tilts toward private insurance. Critics see funding gaps.
Bay area police scandal tarnishes top brass. Indictments in coverup case show that top police can be held accountable but reform is still needed.
Monitor Breakfast with Senator Edward Kennedy. The Massachusetts senator shares his views on Iraq, the economy, and North Korea.
Megan's Law upheld. High court allows Internet lists that track sex offenders.
CNET News.com (3:38:19 PM)
Grove: Centrino's our No.2 son. Chairman Andy Grove says the multimillion-dollar campaign for its soon-to-arrive Centrino chips is second only to the introduction of the Pentium in terms of its importance to Intel.
kottke.org remainders (3:38:18 PM)
Barbie's weblog. Barbie's weblog no, really!
Tomalak's Realm (3:38:15 PM)
InfoWorld: Spectrum allocation draws intense debate. Academics, activists, and regulators at a conference here on Saturday debated the future of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's allocation of radio spectrum, with some arguing that spectrum shouldn't even be the issue in most cases.
Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories (3:38:12 PM)
As UN split hardens, war nears. With France, Russia, and Germany balking at any resolution on war, an invasion may be only days away.
Al Qaeda-Pakistani ties deepen. High-profile arrest exposes link between Al Qaeda and Pakistan's largest Islamic political party.
Iran-backed forces join those vying for influence in N. Iraq. Prepping for post-Hussein power grab, Shiite soldiers are building a large camp in Kurdish-controlled areas.
High court OKs 'three strikes' law. In win for tough-on-crime sentences, court says law isn't cruel and unusual.
Behind Bush, but with qualms - and minds on the game. In Rome, a clash of titans.
Radio.root Updates (3:38:11 PM)
system.verbs.builtins.xml.rss.compileService changed on Wed, 05 Mar 2003 23:36:46 GMT: When doing RSS auto-discovery, look also for the newer style <link> element with type="application/xml+rss" and title="RSS", as well as the older style <link> with type="text/xml" and title="xml". Fixes a bug which would cause RSS autodiscovery not to work.
InfoWorld: Top News (3:38:07 PM)
Retail sales of PC products up in 2nd half of 2002
White House launches technological Peace Corps
Christian Science Monitor | Sci/Tech (3:38:07 PM)
Chemical kids. A boom in drug therapy for children is spurring a debate. Are psychotropic drugs overprescribed?
Your name in the stars ... or maybe not. Any company offering to name something after you in space, for a fee, is a hoax.
Christian Science Monitor | Books (3:38:06 PM)
The thirst for living water in a dry land. Obery Hendricks's debut novel imagines the life of the woman at the well.
The envelope, please. Winners of the National Book Critics Circle Awards.
America's first superstar preacher. Jonathan Edwards made saints rejoice and sinners quake.
Swing low, sweet chariot. Miraculously, slaves plucked real inspiration from their masters' religion.
Hymn-writing saved even a wretch like him. The author of 'Amazing Grace' was indeed transformed by faith.
A Monitor Guide to Religion Bestsellers. This quarterly review of bestselling religion books offers a one-stop opportunity to survey the resurgent interest in religion and spirituality.
A return to primitive Christianity in a modern age. The earliest texts provide shelter from currents of change.
New York Times: National (3:17:48 PM)
U.S. Students Protest Possible Iraq War. High school and college students around the country walked out of class Wednesday to protest a war with Iraq, holding a series of rallies organizers predicted would be the biggest campus demonstrations since the Vietnam War. By The Associated Press.
CNET News.com - Enterprise (3:17:45 PM)
U.S companies get better bang for IT buck. A new report from analytical tools company Alinean says public companies in Europe are spending almost twice the percentage of their revenue on IT than U.S. companies.
BBC News | World | UK Edition (3:17:41 PM)
Nigerian leader blamed for killing. The opposition ANPP says it holds President Obasanjo responsible for the killing of one of its senior officials.
Boing Boing Blog (3:17:39 PM)
Looking for Digital Folk Art. Clay Shirky says:
One of my students is building a collection of digital folk art, the non-commercial artifacts of re-mix culture, from Hamster Dance and the Dancing Baby to All Your Base, and wants recollections and suggestions.Link, DiscussThe intro to her project says "I am cataloging early popular web culture, putting together a collection of non-commercial digital projects that were widely distributed, the funny or strange things your friends attached in emails or the interesting websites they told you about. I'm focusing on media that was made or distributed by individuals for fun or with political intent - sort of the folk art of the digital world. It's hard to know which projects were the most popular of the most groundbreaking during the early days of the web (roughly 1994 - 1998), so I'm looking for suggestions on what to include."
She's got a form for submitting pointers.
InfoWorld: Top News (3:17:28 PM)
Web services maturity, benefits emphasized
Slashdot (3:17:25 PM)
Working as a Game Tester. DaytonCIM writes "SFGate.com has a great story on the real life of game testers. 'Life is not all fun and games, though. It's all games -- with little time ...
Rambus Destroyed Evidence In Anti-trust Trial. Marasmus writes "CNN is reporting that memory-chip maker Rambus has been found guilty of destroying evidence which was 'critical' to the anti-trust case ...
The Scobleizer Weblog (3:17:25 PM)
Even more interesting, Dave just told me the Weblog Conference Keynote thing all happened in the past 24 hours -- and Dave hasn't yet talked about it on his own weblog. OK, now, if Jupitermedia can get Evan Williams (er, Blogger) and the Trotts (Moveable Type) to come...
Well, now, this is real interesting. Dave Winer has agreed to keynote Alan Meckler's (er, Jupiter Media's) weblog conference says Jupiter Media's analyst/weblogger Michael Gartenberg.
New York Times: Books (3:17:17 PM)
New Study Supports Idea Stalin Was Poisoned. Fifty years after Stalin died, an exhaustive study of Soviet records lends new weight to an old theory that he was poisoned. By Michael Wines.
Taking a Break in Conversation. A columnist reflects on almost five years of covering the sociology of book publishing. By Martin Arnold.
Where Romantic Love Is an Uninvited Guest. Scott Spencer's deft, seductive new book galvanizes a familiar story of midlife-crisis infidelity into something much more inviting. By Janet Maslin.
Jon's Radio (3:17:05 PM)
Books are one of the object types you can place on a Spring canvas, associate actions with, and trade (mainly, for now, by way of AIM) with other Spring users. When I first began writing about my LibraryLookup project a few months ago, Spring's creator Robb Beal wrote to me suggesting that he add LibraryLookup to the list of context menu actions associated with a Spring book object. When I noticed that Spring 1.2 didn't yet include that action, I decided to see for myself how this integration could be achieved. It was remarkably easy. There's almost no documentation for Spring, but none was needed. Nor, as it turned out, were any OS X or AppleScript skills required. Although it runs only on OS X today, Spring objects are wired together using the basic principles that I know and love: URL-based services, XML data, pipelined transformations. [Full story at O'Reilly Network.] ...
A customized Spring book objectSalon.com (3:17:03 PM)
The Fix. A roundup of the day's best dirt.
"A Dangerous Place" by Marc Reisner. Plunged into the Bay? Smothered in the superstore? Californians may have forgotten about their looming apocalypse, but eco-journalist Marc Reisner's final work is here to remind them.
Michael Savage's long, strange trip. How a Jewish kid from the Bronx went from swimming naked with Allen Ginsberg to spewing the ugliest bile on talk radio.
I'm a TV viewer -- get me out of here!. Watching faux-celebrities marinate in the Australian rain forest for 15 painful hours proves that even in the alternate universe of reality TV, less is more.
Recommended listening. Sue Garner and Freakwater's Catherine Irwin play somber, intimate ballads on two rewarding solo releases.
Custom jeans for every butt. Levi's promises individualized denim for every fancy. But one explorer discovers that mass customization is trickier than it looks.
"Ten". In Tehran, even the hookers wear head scarves, and other things I learned from Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's extraordinary film.
The K Chronicles. Cop quiz: Which incident resulted in the indictment of 10 members of the SFPD?
CNET News.com (3:17:02 PM)
U.S companies get better bang for IT buck. A new report from analytical tools company Alinean says public companies in Europe are spending almost twice the percentage of their revenue on IT than U.S. companies.
Toysrus.com reports growth, profits. The e-commerce division of Toys "R" Us turns its first ever quarter of operating profit and records a 23 percent rise in sales last year.
Boing Boing Blog (2:40:22 PM)
Jack Kirby's design for a theme park. Next to Robert Crumb, the late Jack Kirby is my all time favorite cartoonist. (My last spoken word will probably be "Kamandi.") Here are some of his mind bending designs for a never-built theme park. Wow! Link Discuss (Thanks, Zed!)
CNET News.com - E-Business (2:40:12 PM)
Toysrus.com reports growth, profits. The e-commerce division of Toys "R" Us turns its first ever quarter of operating profit and records a 23 percent rise in sales last year.
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (2:39:35 PM)
Firefighters 'offered 16% pay rise'. Firefighters are to be offered a 16% pay rise over three years as part of an improved pay deal, the BBC has learned.
Man Utd late show sinks Leeds. Man Utd reduce Arsenal's Premiership lead to five points with a 2-1 win against Leeds Utd.
Boro stun Newcastle. Geremi gives Middlesbrough a 1-0 victory over high-flying Newcastle.
Slashdot (2:39:14 PM)
Human Interface Subtleties in Software. Disoriented writes "As a GUI designer and programmer I enjoy sites like this. The info here is fairly old, dating back to Classic Mac OS, but it illustrates ...
The Future That Hasn't Arrived. jonerik writes "MSNBC has this article on an exhibit starting this week at Philadelphia's Lost Highways Archive and Research Library. Entitled Radebaugh: The ...
Simon Fell (2:39:06 PM)
Swingers. Question for anyone who know's swing, given this class
import javax.swing.JOptionPane ; class foo { public static void main(String [] args) { int btn = JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, "hello world!", "foo", JOptionPane.OK_CANCEL_OPTION, JOptionPane.QUESTION_MESSAGE ) ; System.out.println("button was " + btn ) ; } }how do i make it exit once I've clicked one of the buttons on the dialog ?BBC News | World | UK Edition (2:39:05 PM)
Blast hits Colombia shopping mall. A powerful explosion rips through a busy shopping centre in north-eastern Colombia, killing at least seven.
Live: Man Utd 2-1 Leeds. Text commentary from Old Trafford.
Computerworld News (2:39:02 PM)
New WordPerfect Office 11 suite slated for April. Software maker Corel Corp. plans to debut new features and competitive pricing in its ongoing battle with Microsoft Office.
Q&A: BEA's CEO Alfred Chuang on app development, integration. Integration and convergence are two keys to what BEA has in mind for its WebLogic platform, according to its CEO.
U.S. House creates cybersecurity subcommittee. Tech-related groups hailed the decision, which they said is important to the nation's future cybersecurity.
Newly leaked Longhorn version gets lukewarm reviews. Although a spokesman for Microsoft confirmed the authenticity of the operating system build, the company stressed that the final product will look much different when it is released.
Supreme Court hears arguments in Internet filtering case. The American Library Association and other groups say the Children's Internet Protection Act is unconstitutional and its Internet filtering mandate stymies free speech and research.
Aventis hooks doc management into Siebel front end. Aventis Pharmaceuticals has developed a medical information system that connects its document management system with a Siebel front-end system for doctors and nurses in its call center.
Java News Shorts. Roundup of news in the Java world.
IBM aims at smaller businesses with DeveloperWorks tool kit. Company says it gives developers in smaller companies competitively priced access to its suite of development products.
J.D. Edwards unveils forecasting tool. It analyzes historical sales and shipment data and applies algorithms to statistically predict demand.
Toshiba launches Wi-Fi 'hot spot in a box' project. Toshiba plans to deploy 10,000 public access Wi-Fi hot spots by year's end, while Intel is giving a boost to public Wi-Fi access in Asia through an agreement with the Singapore government.
Boing Boing Blog (2:38:57 PM)
George W. Bush and Tony Blair: Endless Love. I'm a sucker for political video cut-ups. Here's George W. and Tony Blair confessing their true feelings. Link Discuss (Thanks, Kelly!)
Toshiba develops first-ever fuel cell for laptop computers.
Yesterday, Toshiba debuted the world's first-ever prototype of a fuel cell for notebook computers. The device powers a laptop for five hours, and uses concentrated methanol as fuel. Toshiba says they'll further reduce size before consumer release. Link to Agence-France Presse item via SpaceDaily, Discuss Update: Link to Toshiba press release with photos of the laptop fuel cell prototype, including the one at left.
CNET News.com - Enterprise (2:38:55 PM)
FTC antitrust judge raps Rambus. A judge slams the chip designer for destroying documents important to the trade commission's antitrust case against it and calls for the trial to go ahead as planned.
CNET News.com - Communications (2:38:39 PM)
Senate hearings urged over FCC decision. The Consumer Federation of America and the Consumers Union are asking Congress to review upcoming rule changes from the Federal Communications Commission.
CNET News.com - Entertainment & Media (2:38:38 PM)
Continental Airlines adopts Web check-in. The No. 5 U.S. carrier becomes the latest airline to offer online check-in for passengers traveling without checked luggage within the United States.
Court dismisses Falwell domain name case. A federal judge in Virginia dismisses Jerry Falwell's attempt to gain control of the Web address bearing his name, saying the court does not have jurisdiction over the matter.
High court backs 'Megan's Law' postings. The U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously in favor of a Connecticut statute, saying that states may place names and photographs of convicted sex offenders on the Internet.
Scripting News (2:38:27 PM)
Got a new camera today. ";->"
I had a long talk with Justin from Audblog last night, and we decided to scrap the XML-RPC polling interface for a couple of reasons. First, it would be error-prone. I kept getting confused about what information was required, and I was writing the software. A user would be much more likely to get it wrong. Second problem, latency. If you had Radio configured to poll every five minutes, on average you'd wait 2.5 minutes before the post appeared on your weblog. It takes about 1 minute to run out of patience, and another thirty seconds to write an angry email, leaving another full minute to wonder why you bothered. And then sometimes it would take five full minutes. That's enough time to create and edit a blog post explaining how brain damaged Dave Winer must be to design such a system. Anyway, I managed to convince Justin that sending an email was the best option, and that some enterprising Radio programmer would probably figure out how to get Radio to automatically load the email for the 1 percent of the people who want it to work that way. I'm relieved because I don't have to write any software to create audio weblog posts. Back to getting ready for my move.s
Register: MS aims at Linux with $399 Server.
3/5/99: "If Linux is going to displace NT on the server, no amount of FUD from Microsoft will stop it."
Glenn Fleishman: "Dave, well, Dave fills up the room!"
Kottke: "You've got to hand it to the ancients."
Reuters: "The US Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear arguments over whether libraries should be required to filter out porn on their Internet-connected computers."
CNET News.com (2:38:24 PM)
Senate hearings urged over FCC decision. The Consumer Federation of America and the Consumers Union are asking Congress to review upcoming rule changes from the Federal Communications Commission.
Court dismisses Falwell domain name case. A federal judge in Virginia dismisses Jerry Falwell's attempt to gain control of the Web address bearing his name, saying the court does not have jurisdiction over the matter.
High court backs 'Megan's Law' postings. The U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously in favor of a Connecticut statute, saying that states may place names and photographs of convicted sex offenders on the Internet.
icann.Blog (2:38:20 PM)
spamforeveryone.com. Every day for the last few weeks, I've received at least one piece of spam from Domainsforeveryone.com, an SRSPlus reseller. If I didn't want the company's services yesterday, or the day before that, or the day before that, etc., what makes it think today's spam will work? Maddening.
InfoWorld: Top News (2:38:18 PM)
FTC judge rules Rambus destroyed evidence
SOAP author says enough specs already
US House adds cybersecurity subcommittee
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (2:38:17 PM)
Firefighters 'offered 16% pay rise'. Firefighters are to be offered a 16% pay rise over three years as part of an improved pay deal, the BBC has learned.
Man Utd late show sinks Leeds. Man Utd reduce Arsenal's Premiership lead to five points with a 2-1 win against Leeds Utd.
Boro stun Newcastle. Geremi gives Middlesbrough a 1-0 victory over high-flying Newcastle.
War fears burden US economy. "Geopolitical uncertainties" have undermined US economic growth, but stimulated the sale of home protection goods, a key report says.
New York Times: International (2:38:11 PM)
On Ash Wednesday, Pope Urges Prayers for Peace. Pope John Paul II made several emphatic appeals today for a peaceful resolution to the conflict with Iraq. By Frank Bruni.
Turkey's Military Signals Support for Aiding U.S. Troops. The measure, blocked by the Turkish Parliament last week, would allow the U.S. to open a northern front against Iraq. By Dexter Filkins.
Arab Conference Degenerates Into a Shouting Match. A conference of Muslim nations hastily called for what was described as a last attempt by the Islamic world to help avert a war against Iraq degenerated into a shouting match today. By Jane Perlez.
CNET News.com - Enterprise (1:39:02 PM)
Groove pockets Wintel dollars. The maker of collaboration software secures more funding from existing investors, including Microsoft and Intel Capital. But it also lays off 20 percent of its work force.
Software makers play Office politics. Corel readies WordPerfect Office 11 for a late April release, even as Microsoft puts the finishing touches on an upgrade to its market-leading productivity package.
Boing Boing Blog (1:38:59 PM)
George W. Bush and Tony Blair: Endless Love. I'm a sucker for political video cut-ups. Here's George W. and Tony Blair confessing their Endless Love. Link Discuss
Armed soldiers replace bunnies in this year's Easter baskets. The Pope -- who's been lobbying against war in Iraq -- isn't gonna like this. National retailers including Kmart, Rite Aid and Walgreens are selling Easter baskets in which the traditional choco-bunny centerpiece is replaced with plastic gun-toting miltary action figures.
Link to Village Voice story, Discuss (Thanks Higgins!)At the Astor Place Kmart, the encampment is on display just inside the main entrance. A camouflaged sandy-haired soldier with an American-flag arm patch stands alert in a teal, pink, and yellow basket beneath a pretty green-and-purple bow. Within a doll-arm's reach are a machine gun, rifle, hand grenade, large knife, pistol, and round of ammunition. In the next basket a buzz-cut blond with a snazzy dress uniform hawks over homeland security, an American eagle shield on his arm, and a machine gun, pistol, Bowie knife, two grenades, truncheon, and handcuffs at the ready.
One must hunt a little harder to find the Easter sniper at Walgreens, but what lies in wait among the bunnies and chicks there is perhaps even more surreal. The Super Wrriors (sic) Battle Set and Placekeepers (sic) Military Men Play Set bristle with toy assault rifles and machine guns, tanks, troop transports, bomber planes, commanded by armored men with shaved heads and sunglasses. The assortment also includes a space-age ray gun and other imaginary hardware for orbital combat. Packets of jellybeans are tossed in as if an afterthought, nestled in the cellophane underbrush like anti-personnel mines.
Not surprisingly, the merger of religious observance and jingoistic lust sparked the ire of Christian leaders. Bishop George Packard, who oversees spiritual care for Episcopalian members of the armed services, worries about practical issues. He's concerned about creating a backlash against the military, and questions the message sent to Muslims by the melding of a Christian holiday with images of war.
The Motley Fool (1:38:55 PM)
Costco's Costly Claims. Plus, Spring Break savings, and Nestle's merger gets the deep freeze.
CNET News.com - Entertainment & Media (1:38:54 PM)
Foes lock horns in Web filtering case. The Supreme Court hears arguments to decide whether a law aimed at installing Net filters on public library systems balances free speech with the need to restrict porn.
CNET News.com - Personal Technology (1:38:50 PM)
Gateway hints at profitability plans. At a Morgan Stanley event, Gateway's CFO says the company is on the way back to profitability, despite weak first-quarter PC demand resulting from economic woes and war jitters.
0xDECAFBAD (1:38:49 PM)
Bad Apple, No Battery. So, sometime around last November, my iBook started having battery problems...
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (1:38:47 PM)
Armenia votes in election run-off. Polls close in Armenia after a second round of a presidential election marred by allegations of vote-rigging.
New York Times: Business (1:38:33 PM)
The Fed Says Economic Activity Remains Subdued. The Federal Reserve today said economic activity remained subdued in 2003 as concerns about a possible war in Iraq slowed spending by consumers and businesses. By The Associated Press.
Two U.S. Aerospace Companies Agree to Fines Over Helping China. Hughes Electronics Corp. and Boeing Satellite Systems agreed to pay $32 million to settle civil charges that they unlawfully transferred data to China in the 1990's. By Jeff Gerth.
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (1:38:30 PM)
Courts 'must cut reoffending'. Stopping offenders committing further crimes should be the priority for courts, a home office minister says.
icann.Blog (1:38:29 PM)
Salon on 'Leaving Reality Behind'. Andrew Leonard reviews the eToy v. eToys book Leaving Reality Behind in today's Salon. He thinks it may be "the best book yet" about the dotcom bust.
New York Times: National (1:38:27 PM)
Two U.S. Aerospace Companies Agree to Fines Over Helping China. Hughes Electronics Corp. and Boeing Satellite Systems agreed to pay $32 million to settle civil charges that they unlawfully transferred data to China in the 1990's. By Jeff Gerth.
Supreme Court Affirms Stringent 'Three Strikes' Law. In two 5-to-4 rulings, the Supreme Court held that state legislatures can prescribe long terms for repeat offenders. By David Stout.
Simon Fell (1:38:25 PM)
REST vs SOAP. Advocating a new approach?. It is amusing to see that Network World views me as a REST backer. Thanks go out to Dave Chappell for forwarding me this link. [Sam Ruby] Why is it always pitched as REST vs SOAP, when you can use REST and SOAP together ?
New York Times: Arts (1:38:23 PM)
Weighty Discussions in Tedium of Traffic. Abbas Kiarostami's drama is at once so powerful and so matter-of-fact that it is easy to underestimate the work that the actors are doing. By A. O. Scott.
Slashdot (1:38:19 PM)
Nanodiamonds Are Not Forever. An anonymous reader writes "Livermore Labs and the Belgian Institute of Astrophysics (Catholic University, Leuven) are reporting today that nanodiamonds ...
What Fruits Will Reduced R&D Bear For The U.S.?. lucabrasi999 writes "Here's an interesting commentary from Mike Tarsala at CBS.Marketwatch.com regarding R&D spending by U.S. companies as it compares to ...
BBC News | World | UK Edition (1:38:16 PM)
Live: Man Utd v Leeds. Text commentary from Old Trafford.
Hants want Shoaib. Hampshire offer Shoaib Akhtar a one-year deal as cover for Shane Warne.
CNET News.com (1:38:14 PM)
Gateway hints at profitability plans. At a Morgan Stanley event, Gateway's CFO says the company is on the way back to profitability, despite weak first-quarter PC demand resulting from economic woes and war jitters.
Groove pockets Wintel dollars. The maker of collaboration software secures more funding from existing investors, including Microsoft and Intel Capital. But it also lays off 20 percent of its work force.
Software makers play Office politics. Corel readies WordPerfect Office 11 for a late April release, even as Microsoft puts the finishing touches on an upgrade to its market-leading productivity package.
Foes lock horns in Web filtering case. The Supreme Court hears arguments to decide whether a law aimed at installing Net filters on public library systems balances free speech with the need to restrict porn.
New York Times: NYT HomePage (1:38:10 PM)
Two U.S. Aerospace Companies Agree to Fines Over Helping China. Hughes Electronics Corp. and Boeing Satellite Systems agreed to pay $32 million to settle civil charges that they unlawfully transferred data to China in the 1990's. By Jeff Gerth.
Supreme Court Affirms Stringent 'Three Strikes' Law. In two 5-to-4 rulings, the Supreme Court held that state legislatures can prescribe long terms for repeat offenders. By David Stout.
Turkey's Military Signals Support for Aiding U.S. Troops. The measure, blocked by the Turkish Parliament last week, would allow the U.S. to open a northern front against Iraq. By Dexter Filkins.
New York Times: Business (12:38:52 PM)
Satellite Radio Company Revamps Its Troubled Finances. Sirius Satellite Radio said today that investors had approved a plan that would enable it to avoid bankruptcy. By Barnaby J. Feder.
Werblog (12:38:52 PM)
That's a lot of processed meat!. This week, AOL blocked over one billion spams in a single day.
CNET News.com - Communications (12:38:43 PM)
T-Mobile to cut wireless-data prices. The German wireless provider is cutting wireless-data subscription prices in half to lure more users onto its new high-speed cell phone networks.
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (12:38:42 PM)
Powell urges UN to confront Saddam. The US secretary of state says Iraq shows no real sign of disarming and urges the UN to stand united against Saddam Hussein.
Lawsuit filed over US club fire. Relatives of two people killed in a nightclub fire in Rhode Island sue the club owners and the band playing there.
Insults traded at Islamic summit. An Iraq crisis summit of Islamic countries is marred by the Kuwaiti and Iraqi delegates embarking on a fierce slanging match.
CNET News.com - Enterprise (12:38:40 PM)
Platform Logic raises $3 million
The Doc Searls Weblog (12:38:40 PM)
To Technorati for passing the 100 kiloblog mark.
New York Times: Technology (12:38:36 PM)
Satellite Radio Company Revamps Its Troubled Finances. Sirius Satellite Radio said today that investors had approved a plan that would enable it to avoid bankruptcy. By Barnaby J. Feder.
InfoWorld: Top News (12:38:25 PM)
Bill would 'protect' consumers from DMCA
Former PalmSource exec joins Apple
Interview: CA set to move on distributed computing
CNET News.com - E-Business (12:38:18 PM)
Venetica kicks off with $7 million
CNET News.com (12:38:16 PM)
T-Mobile to cut wireless-data prices. The German wireless provider is cutting wireless-data subscription prices in half to lure more users onto its new high-speed cell phone networks.
Platform Logic raises $3 million
markpasc.org (12:38:14 PM)
My Programming Languages project concept. Yet another programming project. Just this one is for a grade. (155 words)
Today in 2002: To answer my own comment. To answer my own comment (since YACCS is having an outage or something at the moment), one turns a resource... (27 words)
The Scobleizer Weblog (12:38:13 PM)
Paul Thurrott tears into the latest Windows Longhorn build that was leaked over the weekend.
Slashdot (12:38:10 PM)
Toshiba To Show Laptop Fuel Cells at CeBit. war3rd writes "According to The Register, Toshiba has finally been able to build a fuel cell for laptops that they will unveil at CeBit next week. The fuel ...
BBC News | World | UK Edition (12:38:09 PM)
Powell urges UN to confront Saddam. The US secretary of state says Iraq shows no real sign of disarming and urges the UN to stand united against Saddam Hussein.
CNET News.com (11:39:31 AM)
Venetica kicks off with $7 million
CNET News.com - Personal Technology (11:39:13 AM)
Chipmaker Via takes over wireless lab
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (11:39:10 AM)
Doctors deliver bio-terror warning. The only real defence against bio-terrorist attacks is to stop the weapons being developed at all, say doctors' leaders.
Microsoft Watch from Mary Jo Foley (11:39:10 AM)
MS 'Turns On' Rights Management. Neowin.net is reporting that Microsoft has turned on the code that will enable the "information rights management" in Office 2003 Beta 2. (Microsoft is expected to begin shipping the beta to testers next week.)
icann.Blog (11:39:06 AM)
RIPE Hit By DDoS Attack. RIPE is reporting that "the RIPE NCC network suffered a large DDoS attack" late last week beginning at 14:00 UTC Thursday, February 27th. It has released a short report on the nature of the attack, its effect on the RIPE network, and the steps RIPE took in response.
Cardozo ICANN Conference. Martin Schwimmer notes an upcoming conference at Cardozo Law School on "ICANN, ccTLD, and the Legacy Root: Domain Name Lawmaking and Governance in the New Millennium." The conference will take place in New York on Monday, 17 March 2003.
CNET News.com - Enterprise (11:39:02 AM)
Zia Laser notches up $5.4 million
BEA makes pitch to woo Java developers. At its customer conference in Florida, BEA Systems fills in the details on its upcoming WebLogic Platform 8.1, and hopes Java developers will do more than just listen.
kottke.org remainders (11:38:56 AM)
The rise of "worse is better". The rise of "worse is better"
What is a third place and why are they important?. What is a third place and why are they important?
CNET News.com - Entertainment & Media (11:38:53 AM)
Consumers pay up for online content. People in the United States spent $1.3 billion for subscription services with Internet publishers last year, with a large portion going to online dating sites, a new survey says.
The Scobleizer Weblog (11:38:45 AM)
My friend Phil Weber, who works at Fawcette, tells me they just turned on an RSS Feed too. Cool. I wish Jim Fawcette had a weblog. I miss our early-morning coffee talks on the way to Peets. Maybe he doesn't want to risk having folks tell him his stuff stinks, though. Fair enough. The rewards go to people who risk their egos. Jim is very smart and his voice would be a really interesting one to hear from -- especially over the next three years since there's a whole new round of chaos heading our way from LAMP, Apple, and Microsoft. By the way, don't know what LAMP stands for? Do a Google search or go over to the Acronym finder.
Update: Phil shows how he implemented the feed in .NET and gives you sample code as well.
The Shifted Librarian (11:38:33 AM)
Ray Matthews already puts his money where his mouth is by using RSS at the Utah State Library and teaching others in state government how to do it. Now he's kicking it up a notch, though, by starting a new weblog dedicated to RSS in Government ("News about how RSS is being used in federal, state, and local government")! Of course, I count libraries as government, no matter what type of library you're at, so you should be reading his blog and subscribing to his RSS feed to track and learn more about the value of RSS. He's already posted a great essay that describes Four Models for Aggregating and Publishing RSS Headlines. [via David Fletcher's Government and Technology Weblog]
CNET News.com - Communications (11:38:24 AM)
Matsushita develops home wireless LAN chip
InfoWorld: Top News (11:38:22 AM)
Supreme Court hears CIPA appeal arguments
Slashdot (11:38:19 AM)
Do You Write Backdoors?. quaxzarron asks: "I had a recent experience where one of our group of programmers wrote backdoors on some web applications we were developing, so that he could ...
Fresh Reviews from PC Magazine (11:38:15 AM)
Yahoo! GeoCities. Like Tripod, Yahoo! GeoCities offers both ad-supported no-charge plans and ad-free plans starting at $4.95 a month.
CNET News.com (11:38:15 AM)
Zia Laser notches up $5.4 million
Venetica kicks off with $7 million
Consumers pay up for online content. People in the United States spent $1.3 billion for subscription services with Internet publishers last year, with a large portion going to online dating sites, a new survey says.
Chipmaker Via takes over wireless lab
Matsushita develops home wireless LAN chip
New York Times: International (11:38:11 AM)
Car Bomb Blast in Colombia Kills Seven. BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Suspected rebels set off a car bomb Wednesday in a shopping center in northeastern Colombia, killing at least seven people and wounding 20 others, authorities said. By The Associated Press.
C:PIRILLO.EXE (11:38:10 AM)
I Can Cry If I Want To. New Office beta to launch next week - and not one single person from Microsoft has offered to show it to me. Not one. Perhaps it's because I think that Outlook is headed down the toilet? Perhaps it's because not one of them has bothered to show me what's happening with the next version of Windows? Perhaps it's because they just don't understand what I do for a living? Perhaps it's because... you fill in the blank....
InfoWorld: Top News (10:39:05 AM)
Leaked Longhorn gets lukewarm reviews
Weblogs At Harvard (10:39:04 AM)
Kevin Marks, on the way weblogs can enhance the sense of shared context and community, which then transfers to face-to-face meetings:
OK, I admit it, I went to Joi Ito's party last night.
I'm not good at parties; I find small talk difficult, and I'm not sure how to transition into deeper subjects. [...]What I did find, though, was that I could talk to people I had previously met online, such as Cory, Dan, Joi, Ross, Aaron, Dave, Robert & Doc far more easily, skipping the small talk, and picking up on the things we've been mentioning to each other online. Mutual context is good.
Berkman Center Executive Director John Palfrey, on how he believes online communication has "huge advantages," but that the in-person complement is indispensible:
So, I was lucky enough to meet up with Halley Suitt for lunch today to talk about blogging and Harvard and knowledge management and all that. She's local here in Cambridge. It confirmed for me, yet again, the importance of the face-to-face complement to working with people online. It's increasingly clear to me that online interaction has both huge advantages and definite limits. The place it is clearest is in the teaching realm: pure distance learning allows certain people to get access to certain education that they otherwise wouldn't get, which is good, but it's *much* better if you can combine the online with the in-person.
CNET News.com - Enterprise (10:39:02 AM)
Woes mount for StorageNetworks. Weeks after cutting its staff by half, the software maker announces that two directors are stepping down and that it is exploring strategic alternatives--including, perhaps, putting itself up sale.
Corel gets set for next WordPerfect. The Canadian software maker sets a date of late April for the release of the latest version of its flagship office suite, reworked to lure in corporate buyers.
Tara Sue's Weblog News (10:39:02 AM)
I caught a clip of the movie "XXX." Appreciate your smart-ass children. They learned from the best--of what you know. The jokes on you. wE, and the root doctrine, respect the rebellion. honor the battle, participate in the fight close to us. Battles on a playground. Instead of blowing, blow after blow, back and back, until one falters to the corner, just sit down. shut up. Blowing the whistle. Time to use the ears, and the brain, not the head, or what's in it.
Too many times one caused the fight. Subnuclear fallout. Taking the path of least ray-zis-stance. Some male caused it before any world leader, according to many of the stories, coming by several names. He picked the fight. If we don't resist our temptation to control the world and everything in it, down to how we feel when we sneeze, hear certain words, see our bodies, we'll just be warring. we control the smell of our breath. Who knows what kind of stink could be produce? --without all the drama. Maybe we should start public boxing rings. Hell yes. Let them go out--start them out young. Give the brain a new evolutionary challenge. In two hundred years our skulls will be gargantuan. The most polite gesture seen has been a partial, rear exit for an anal expressiones.
CNET News.com - Entertainment & Media (10:38:56 AM)
Web companies searching for dollars. Executives at Yahoo and Overture see rosy days ahead for search technology. At a conference in Boston, however, they're long on vision but short on details.
CNET News.com - Personal Technology (10:38:54 AM)
BlackBerry to make European debut
New York Times: Business (10:38:53 AM)
Dollar Hits 4-Year Low After Treasury Chief Rattles Market. The dollar, down 4.5 percent against the euro this year, hit its low after the Treasury Secretary said he was "not particularly concerned" about the recent slide. By Eric Pfannerinternational Herald Tribune.
kottke.org remainders (10:38:50 AM)
Google Hacks. Google Hacks
Burton Amp - a jacket with controls on the sleeve for your iPod. Burton Amp - a jacket with controls on the sleeve for your iPod
New York Times: NYT HomePage (10:38:47 AM)
Millions Raised for Qaeda in Brooklyn, U.S. Says. A Yemeni cleric apprehended in Germany on charges of financing terrorism used a Brooklyn mosque to help funnel millions of dollars to Al Qaeda. By Eric Lichtblau with William Glaberson.
U.S. Reassures Seoul After Deploying Bombers in Region. South Korean officials said today that they were reassured by U.S. pledges not to stage a surprise attack against North Korea. By Don Kirk.
Court Finds 'Three-Strikes' Laws Constitutional. A divided Supreme Court today ruled that the nation's toughest three-time offender law does not lead to cruel and unusual punishment. By The Associated Press.
Dollar Hits 4-Year Low After Treasury Chief Rattles Market. The dollar, down 4.5 percent against the euro this year, hit its low after the Treasury Secretary said he was "not particularly concerned" about the recent slide. By Eric Pfannerinternational Herald Tribune.
The Register (10:38:34 AM)
T-Mobile takes axe to data prices. Catch-up
The Motley Fool (10:38:29 AM)
Spring Break Breaking the Bank?. Put the brakes on costly travel.
Costco's Costly Claims. Increased workers' comp payouts weigh on Costco's Q2 bottom line
CNET News.com (10:38:27 AM)
Web companies searching for dollars. Executives at Yahoo and Overture see rosy days ahead for search technology. At a conference in Boston, however, they're long on vision but short on details.
Woes mount for StorageNetworks. Weeks after cutting its staff by half, the software maker announces that two directors are stepping down and that it is exploring strategic alternatives--including, perhaps, putting itself up sale.
Corel gets set for next WordPerfect. The Canadian software maker sets a date of late April for the release of the latest version of its flagship office suite, reworked to lure in corporate buyers.
BlackBerry to make European debut
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (10:38:24 AM)
'Significant' pay offer in firefighter dispute. Local authority leaders are to offer firefighters a "significantly" improved pay offer, it is announced.
BBC News | World | UK Edition (10:38:20 AM)
Blast hits Colombia shopping mall. A powerful explosion rips through a busy shopping centre in north-eastern Colombia, killing at least four.
New York Times: International (10:38:19 AM)
Head of Turkey's Military Backs 2nd Vote on U.S. Troops. Gen. Hilmi Ozkok backed a second vote on whether to allow U.S. troops to use the country as a base for an attack against Iraq. By Reuters.
The Scobleizer Weblog (10:38:18 AM)
Doug Fox, the guy who runs EventWeb, wonders why I'm slamming Meckler's company for doing a weblog conference. I didn't make my point clearly. I'm not slamming him for coming up with the idea. It's a great idea. It's for not talking to webloggers about it. No one knew about this conference. Conferences are all about people, not strategies. If Meckler doesn't get webloggers involved, what makes him think he'll have a success?
Both Joshua Allen and Dori Smith said that I shouldn't judge without getting the other side's story.
Alwin Hawkins says "select the NEC" to his wife. Heh.
Alan Meckler passes the corporate weblogger test. He linked to me, even after I told him his conference plan stank. Why does this pass the corporate weblogger test? Most people are self interested and don't like criticism. Especially CEO's. Most CEO's surround themselves with yes men who'll just do what is told and not listen to harsh criticism coming back. The fact that Meckler listened and valued the feedback enough to link back and explain his position says huge things about what it must be to work for him.
OK, now about Fawcette. If I'm bitter, I'm bitter at myself. Jim Fawcette asked me (and the rest of our team there) three times to develop a conference plan for Enterprise folks. Three times we tried. Three times we failed. At a cost of a LOT of money.
I tried to learn from that failure. We put together brochures. We put together a great group of speakers. We even had great sponsors and partners. But no one came.
Why?
Because an emphasis on all is an emphasis on none.
My conference plans looked almost exactly like the ones Meckler and his team drew up.
What did I fail to take account of? Where did I go wrong?
1) I failed to see that to get people to come to an event, you must take their self interest into account. Most people are told by their boss "go to this event and come back with XYZ knowledge." The problem was, we were trying to cover the entire industry and that meant we didn't cover any one topic in depth, or for more than an hour.
2) I failed to see that there are already great ways to get general overview information on the industry (and, today, with weblogs, there are even more).
3) I failed to come up with a theme that'd get any one group of people interested. If I was smart, I would have done a "Wireless Enterprise" conference, for instance, rather than just an "Enterprise Developer" conference.
4) You might say I failed because the economy wasn't good. You'd be wrong. These tries happened in the middle of the dot come bubble.
5) I failed because I forgot to take a customer -- a single customer -- and develop a show for him/her. Instead, I was thinking of buzz words. Industries. And trying to cover them all. And I kept doing it and not calling my boss on this strategy.
6) I failed because I failed to differentiate my show from any of the others. Mine was a "me too" show and didn't add value over and above the other shows.
7) I failed because I assumed that our past success would get people interested.
8) I failed because I didn't get the right people into the room. I started with a list of technologies. What I should have started with is a list of people.
OK, let's switch gears here. When I was learning to design newspaper pages I learned a rule--if you're going to do a layout of pictures, you must ALWAYS make one picture twice as big as any of the others. Why does this rule work? Because the human mind wants to focus on one thing. If you put them all at the same size, the mind has to work to figure out what's most important.
Apply that to Meckler's list. It's a list of technologies. Yes, it covers the scope of the industry very well. But, then, so does Google. Google does not a conference make. What I had hoped for was that Alan would add some importance. Some value. Maybe he will someday. I'll keep watching cause clearly Alan isn't your usual CEO.
So, what would I have done? I would have looked at the conference a little differently. My goals, if I were Meckler, would be:
1) Do something radically different from Comdex. That way I could continue my anti Captain Smith rants, and be a disruptive technology.
2) Bootstrap. I would take a five year plan. I think Alan is taking too much of a "it's all gotta be this year" approach. A bootstrap plan would allow him to layout his vision of this industry over five years. My goal for this year would be modest -- something like getting 25% of all Comdex attendees to spend at least an hour over at my show. How do you do that? Have something interesting to hear about.
3) Have fun. So far, all Alan has shown us is a list of technology with boring names. No life. No showmanship. No "here's the sessions I'm going to attend" kind of added value.
4) Add some value. Just saying "CTO's should go here" doesn't make sense to me. Which CTO's? The ones from companies that are bigger than 100,000 employees? How about the ones who run businesses with five employees? Aren't their needs going to be different? So, take a much more people-oriented approach. If you were running the technology at a business with five to 50 employees, what is important to see at Vegas? How about if you're the guy at NEC who runs a group with thousands of employees?
5) Tell the industry what's important in the next year. Is it Linux? Say so. Is it Longhorn? Say so. Is it Tivo? Wireless?
6) Don't try to convince Scoble. I'm a geek so will probably come and check out your show no matter what. Instead, talk to the CTO for Boeing or GM. Tell him why he should come (and why he should hang out at your show instead of at Comdex).
Anyway, I wish you all the luck in the world. If you can make the kitchen sink conference plan work, you are a far better man than I am.
The Village Voice Most Popular (10:38:14 AM)
Slashdot (10:38:12 AM)
Dell Introduces Laptop With WUXGA. Cutie Pi writes "Dell has just released the Inspiron 8500, a new 15.4" widescreen notebook with a WUXGA screen--thats 1920x1200, high enough resolution to ...
Enterprise CTO Switches to Mac OS X. louismg writes "BlueArc CTO Geoff Barrall, using a PC day in and day out, found things becoming progressively more difficult as they increased in complexity. ...
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (10:38:08 AM)
'Significant' pay offer in firefighter dispute. Local authority leaders are to offer firefighters a "significantly" improved pay offer, it is announced.
The Register (9:38:56 AM)
Orange in the pink. And the red. And the black. Sales up in 2002
Ofcom to set sail in December. Ahoy there
Tiscali UK signs MESH pre-install deal. Closes office
LSD puts Sendmail bug under the microscope. Proof of concept
Linksys PC card to support 802.11 a, b and g. All roads lead to roam
Slashdot (9:38:54 AM)
Which Price is Right?. slashdotNum2Big2Register writes "An interesting article at fastcompany about how things are being priced nowadays. The only drawback that concerns me is how ...
Biosensing With A DNA-Diamond-Silicon Sandwich. Makarand writes "A unique diamond film with DNA attached to it coupled with sensitive microelectronics might be the sensor needed to sniff out harmful ...
USB Wireless Driver Hacking. chipset writes "Found a way to hack the Belkin USB Wireless (802.11b) driver to allow other adapters to work. By using the Atmel Wan Driver page on SourceForge ...
Xbox Coming to Arcades. Stanl writes "The San Jose Mercury News reports that Microsoft will be taking Xbox technology into arcades, including a statement that, 'arcade titles ...
kottke.org remainders (9:38:53 AM)
Operation Troop Trax is sending music to US soldiers in the Middle East. Operation Troop Trax is sending music to US soldiers in the Middle East
Good amount of material at Michael Chabon's web site. Good amount of material at Michael Chabon's web site
Starting fires using an ice lens. Starting fires using an ice lens to make fire, the ice must be clear
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (9:38:49 AM)
Blair 'confident' of UN backing. Tony Blair remains hopeful the UN will pass a second resolution despite Russia, France and Germany opposing such a move.
Queen's designer dies. Sir Hardy Amies, fashion designer to the Queen for more than half a century, has died, aged 93.
Felgate: No more excuses. The LTA's new performance director David Felgate says it is time for British tennis to start producing new talent.
Hants want Shoaib. Hampshire offer Shoaib Akhtar a one-year deal as cover for Shane Warne.
CNET News.com (9:38:49 AM)
Dell goes wide. The PC maker launches the Inspiron 8500 with a 15.4-inch wide-aspect display to compete with big-screen models from competitors like HP, Sony and Toshiba.
BBC News | World | UK Edition (9:38:47 AM)
Lawsuit filed over US club fire. Relatives of two people killed in a nightclub fire in Rhode Island sue the club owners and the band playing there.
Nigerian leader blamed for killing. The opposition ANPP says it holds President Obasanjo responsible for the killing of one of its senior officials.
New York Times: NYT HomePage (9:38:47 AM)
A Prescription Plan Hailed as a Model Is a Budget Casualty. To cover budget shortfalls, Oregon will cut off medications to schizophrenics, manic-depressives, drug addicts and others who are poor and have no health care. By Timothy Egan.
Top General Sees Plan to Shock Iraq Into Surrendering. The plan calls for unleashing 3,000 precision-guided bombs and missiles in the first 48 hours of the campaign. By Eric Schmitt and Elisabeth Bumiller.
CNET News.com - Entertainment & Media (9:38:40 AM)
Net consortium ties flaws to BIND. The Internet Software Consortium admits that the "maintenance release" of the latest version of the domain name server software is flawed and "strongly recommends" the update.
New York Times: International (9:38:39 AM)
Seoul Reassured by U.S. Vow Not to Take Surprise Actions. The statement came amid conflicting signs of American intentions and rising fears that the nuclear crisis may devastate the prospering Korean economy. By Don Kirk.
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (9:38:39 AM)
Blair 'confident' of UN backing. Tony Blair remains hopeful the UN will pass a second resolution despite Russia, France and Germany opposing such a move.
Queen's designer dies. Sir Hardy Amies, fashion designer to the Queen for more than half a century, has died, aged 93.
Budget date sparks row. Downing Street is forced to defend the date set by Gordon Brown for his Budget after a torrent of opposition from rival parties.
Hughes completes mayoral line-up. Simon Hughes is announced as the Liberal Democrat's candidate in the 2004 London mayoral elections.
Boing Boing Blog (9:38:32 AM)
Reading tonight at SF's Booksmith. A reminder! I am going to be reading from Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom tonight at 7PM at the Booksmith in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury. I'll read from D&O, and maybe from something else -- either the novel that's coming next year or one of the novels that I'm working on at the moment. Booksmith gives out free author trading-cards, and is a very swell bookstore in general. Link Discuss
Nanoscale padlock. Sandia Labs have patented a MEMS-based nanoscale padlock as a new anti-hacker measure. The security benefits sound pretty dubious, but boy, the tech is awfully cool!
Link Discuss (via Interesting People)The Recodable Locking Device consists of two sides -- the user side and the secure side. To unlock the device, a user must enter a code that identically matches the code stored mechanically in the six code wheels. If the user makes even one wrong entry -- and close doesn't count -- the device mechanically "locks up" and does not allow any further tries until the owner resets it from the secure side.
The six gears and the comb drives would be put on a small chip that could be incorporated into any computer, computer network, or security system. Because the chip is built using integrated circuit fabricating techniques, hundreds can be constructed on a single six-inch silicon wafer. The end result is that the device will be very inexpensive to produce. Plummer says Sandia is the only place where development of such a mechanism could have occurred.
GoogleHacks is out!. GoogleHacks -- the new O'Reilly book written by Tara "ResearchBuzz" Calashain and Rael "Blosxom" Dornfest -- is out!
Google Hacks contains 100 tips, tricks and scripts that you can use to become instantly more effective in your research. Each hack can be read in just a few minutes, but can save hours of searching for the right answers.Link Discuss (Thanks, Dave!)West Coast cities are most unwired in USA, Intel survey says. A survey commissioned by Intel ranks America's most unwired cities. Six of the top 10 are on the West Coast (BoingBoing readers, I beg of you: no eastside/westside playa-hata flame wars in the QuickTopic discussion zones).
The Portland, Ore.-Vancouver, Wash. area was the most unwired area, according to the survey. There are more than 3,700 hot spots in the United States spread out in cafes, airports, public parks and hotels... The survey was conducted to demonstrate that Wi-Fi technology and hot spots are not confined to labs or businesses.Link to Intel survey results, Link to CNET story via MSNBC, Discuss"Some cities have a lot of them now," [survey conductor Bert] Sperling said. "Strong communities are bringing the technology to the people, and it demonstrates that Wi-Fi is easy enough to implement that grass roots efforts can go ahead to bring the power and freedom to the community."
The survey is based on the number of each city's public and commercially available hot spots, such as those found in hotels, airports and Starbucks, as well as cell phone coverage and Internet penetration.
CNET News.com - Personal Technology (9:38:28 AM)
Dell goes wide. The PC maker launches the Inspiron 8500 with a 15.4-inch wide-aspect display to compete with big-screen models from competitors like HP, Sony and Toshiba.
New York Times: Business (9:38:25 AM)
Hong Kong Makes Biggest Budget Policy Changes in a Generation. The new budget calls for raising personal and corporate income taxes for the first time in nearly two decades. By Keith Bradsher.
Lessig News (9:38:24 AM)
InfoWorld: Spectrum allocation draws intense debate. InfoWorld has an article on this past weekend’s Spectrum Policy conference, Spectrum allocation draws intense debate. Professor Lessig is quoted.…
Tomalak's Realm (9:38:21 AM)
USA Today: Hello, tech designers? This stuff is too small. But how will we operate such marvels? We struggle with what we own today. Our fingers are already too thick and clumsy to stab the buttons on our gadgets, and, as our eyes age, we squint even harder to see the shrinking screens on our stuff.
New York Times: NY Region (9:38:12 AM)
Metro Briefing: New Jersey. JERSEY CITY: Officer Shoots Woman And Himself;.
Accident Shuts Down N.Y. Subway Station. NEW YORK (AP) -- A construction accident near Times Square shut down service to the city's largest subway station Tuesday evening, affecting tens of thousands of commuters, officials said. By The Associated Press.
CNET News.com - Enterprise (8:39:01 AM)
Toshiba to showcase fuel cell prototype. The company next week plans to exhibit a battery alternative that it said has the potential to replace environmentally taxing, rechargeable batteries with clean-energy technology.
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (8:38:50 AM)
Blair 'hopeful' over UN vote. Tony Blair says the world must stand firm and back a new UN resolution - but Russia, France and Germany oppose such a move.
Pupils walk out over war. Thousands of children across Britain have walked out of school in protest against the threat of war.
Bin Laden 'not in Pakistan'. Pakistan denies reports that the al-Qaeda leader could be in hiding on its territory.
Venables writes off Man Utd. Leeds boss Terry Venables believes Man Utd have no chance of winning the Premiership.
Nigerian leader blamed for killing. The opposition ANPP says it holds President Obasanjo responsible for the killing of one of its senior officials.
France and allies rally against war. France, Germany and Russia threaten to block any second resolution authorising war with Iraq after emergency talks in Paris.
New York Times: National (8:38:45 AM)
National Briefing: Midwest. FLORIDA: Reconsidering Budget Expenses;.
Band Member Gives Grand Jury Testimony. WEST WARWICK, R.I. (AP) -- Members of a grand jury investigating the fire that consumed a nightclub have heard from at least one member of the band that was performing when the deadly blaze broke out. By The Associated Press.
Boing Boing Blog (8:38:43 AM)
Protest online, go to jail? New European anti-hacker laws could criminalize web protests. In today's New York Times:
The justice ministers of the European Union have agreed on laws intended to deter computer hacking and the spreading of computer viruses. But legal experts say the new measures could pose problems because the language could also outlaw people who organize protests online, as happened recently, en masse, with protests against a war in Iraq.Link to NYT story, DiscussThe agreement, reached last week, obliges all 15 member states to adopt a new criminal offense: illegal access to, and illegal interference with an information system. It calls on national courts to impose jail terms of at least two years in serious cases.
Critics from the legal profession say the agreement makes no legal distinction between an online protester and terrorists, hackers and spreaders of computer viruses that the new laws are intended to trap.
Robotic finger with a sense of touch. Two scientists at Spain's Polytechnic University of Cartagena have created a robotic finger with a sense of touch, using electrosensitive "smart materials" .
It is made of a polymer that can feel the weight of what it's pushing and adjust the energy it uses accordingly. This is similar to the way we use our sense of touch. If we pick up a delicate object such as a flower, our fingertips sense its fragility and so grasp it lightly. We instinctively exert more force when holding or moving a heavier, more robust item because there is feedback between our sensations and muscles. One way to make an artificial touch-sensitive limb, therefore, would be to equip it with delicate pressure sensors to provide this sort of feedback.Link to Nature story, DiscussToshiba develops first-ever fuel cell for laptop computers. Yesterday, Toshiba debuted the world's first-ever prototype of a fuel cell for notebook computers. The device powers a laptop for five hours, and uses concentrated methanol as fuel. Toshiba says they'll further reduce size before consumer release. Link to Agence-France Presse item via SpaceDaily, Discuss
Rocky Horror Muppet Show.
Bored of dressing up like the same old Rocky Horror characters week in and week out? Why not try it in Muppet drag? Link Discuss (Thanks, Chris!)
Fire from ice.
How to make a firestarting ice-lens -- why didn't anyone tell me about this when I was between the age when snow-forts sucked and the age when I didn't want to venture into the cold, period? Starting fires, man, wow. Link Discuss (via JWZ's Livejournal)
New York Times: NYT HomePage (8:38:35 AM)
Court Upholds Sex Offender Registration. The Supreme Court ruled today that states may put pictures of convicted sex offenders on the Internet without unconstitutionally punishing them twice. By The Associated Press.
At Least 10 Die as Bomb Shreds Bus in Israel. The attack coincides with an Israeli military offensive against Hamas strongholds in the Gaza Strip in which dozens of Palestinians have been killed. By James Bennet with Terence Neilan.
Diplomatic Lines Harden Before Crucial U.N. Meeting on Friday. French, German and Russian foreign ministers said today that they would not permit passage of a U.N. measure to authorize an Iraq war. By John Tagliabue.
Slashdot (8:38:34 AM)
Monitoring the Health of Your Penguin?. codepunk asks; "I work for a large manufacturing firm in the midwest, working on a migration from Windows to Linux in the data center. We just completed ...
Firewalls and Internet Security, 2nd Ed.. Eater writes "Over the last decade, we've seen an explosion in the area of books dealing with the subject of Internet security. Few have defined the genre as ...
New York Times: International (8:38:26 AM)
At Least 10 Die as Bomb Shreds Bus in Israel. The attack coincides with an Israeli military offensive against Hamas strongholds in the Gaza Strip in which dozens of Palestinians have been killed. By James Bennet with Terence Neilan.
Diplomatic Lines Harden Before Crucial U.N. Meeting on Friday. French, German and Russian foreign ministers said today that they would not permit passage of a U.N. measure to authorize an Iraq war. By John Tagliabue.
New York Times: Politics (8:38:24 AM)
For a Change, a City Talks Food, Not Just Politics. Talk of war may dominate conversation in Washington's corridors of power, but there's a lot of eating going on all the same, particularly in Penn Quarter. By Marian Burros.
Supreme Court Upholds Sex Offender Registration. The Supreme Court ruled today that states may put pictures of convicted sex offenders on the Internet without unconstitutionally punishing them twice. By The Associated Press.
The Motley Fool (8:38:20 AM)
QUALCOMM, Inc.. "It's time to stop snickering and to start looking at the bottom line."
Retirement on Shaky Ground?. Robert Brokamp has the facts and the solution.
BBC News | World | UK Edition (8:38:18 AM)
France and allies rally against war. France, Germany and Russia threaten to block any second resolution authorising war with Iraq after emergency talks in Paris.
Zambia army screens for HIV. The army refuses to recruit people who are HIV positive, in one of the world's most affected countries.
CNET News.com (8:38:17 AM)
Toshiba to showcase fuel cell prototype. The company next week plans to exhibit a battery alternative that it said has the potential to replace environmentally taxing, rechargeable batteries with clean-energy technology.
Weblogs At Harvard (8:38:16 AM)
Design student with a weblog. Viswanath Gondi is a student at the Graduate School of Design, with a weblog, in the directory.
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (8:38:11 AM)
Blair 'hopeful' over UN vote. Tony Blair says the world must stand firm and back a new UN resolution - but Russia, France and Germany oppose such a move.
Move to curb sex trade travel. Measures are to be introduced to stop paedophiles travelling abroad to indulge in 'sex tourism', ministers reveal on Wednesday.
Fletcher considers all options. Coach Duncan Fletcher refuses to rule out the possibility of England's next one-day captain coming from outside the current team.
Prince starts 'maddest' game. Prince Charles starts the annual Shrovetide football game which involves hundreds of players over a three mile pitch
David Fletcher: Utah Government (7:39:11 AM)
It's the last day of the 2003 legislative session in Utah. I just got back from the Executive Appropriations committee which began a day which will be very hectic. I expect things to continue right up to midnight tonight. SB 151 has yet to pass the House, but it moved to the third reading calendar yesterday.
In other news, the Salt Lake County Council voted yesterday 5-4 to join the Utah Communications Agency Network (UCAN) 800 MHz system. This will leave Salt Lake City as the only law enforcement entity in Salt Lake Valley that does not participate with UCAN. The contract is for ten years.
Werblog (7:38:56 AM)
Anyone out there in the UK?. If anyone reading this attends the meshed wireless seminar in England later this month, please let me know how it went.
BBC News | World | UK Edition (7:38:54 AM)
Deadly bus blast rocks Haifa. A powerful bomb rips through a bus in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa, killing at least 15 people.
France and allies rally against war. France, Germany and Russia say they will block any second resolution authorising war with Iraq after emergency talks.
Bin Laden 'not in Pakistan'. Pakistan denies reports that the al-Qaeda leader could be in hiding on its territory.
No HIV recruits in Zambia army. The army refuses to recruit people who are HIV positive, in one of the world's most affected countries.
CNET News.com (7:38:48 AM)
Sun's Liberty bid gets fed support. The General Services Administration and the Department of Defense announce that they will join the Liberty Alliance Project, which aims to standardize Web authentication.
The Register (7:38:44 AM)
Linksys PC card first to support 802.11 a, b and g. All roads lead to roam
T-Mobile signs up RIM in Europe. Bound to do better than O2
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (7:38:42 AM)
Coughs 'raised Millionaire doubts'. TV staff became suspicious of a £1m quiz winner after microphones picked up a series of coughs, a jury hears.
Sir Hardy Amies dies, 93. Sir Hardy Amies, fashion designer to the Queen for more than half a century, has died.
Courts 'must cut reoffending'. Stopping offenders committing further crimes should be the priority for courts, a home office minister says.
CNET News.com - Enterprise (7:38:40 AM)
Sun's Liberty bid gets fed support. The General Services Administration and the Department of Defense announce that they will join the Liberty Alliance Project, which aims to standardize Web authentication.
kottke.org remainders (7:38:39 AM)
New Macromedia site crashes my browser. New Macromedia site crashes my browser Flash and Chimera don't play well together
I am so proud to be an American. I am so proud to be an American
New York Times: International (7:38:34 AM)
At Least 8 Die as Bomb Shreds Bus in Israel. The attack coincides with an Israeli military offensive against Hamas strongholds in the Gaza Strip in which dozens of Palestinians have been killed. By James Bennet with Terence Neilan.
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (7:38:31 AM)
Deadly bus blast rocks Haifa. A powerful bomb rips through a bus in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa, killing at least 15 people.
Coughs 'raised Millionaire doubts'. TV staff became suspicious of a £1m quiz winner after microphones picked up a series of coughs, a jury hears.
Sir Hardy Amies dies, 93. Sir Hardy Amies, fashion designer to the Queen for more than half a century, has died.
Pupils walk out over war. Thousands of children across Britain have walked out of school in protest against the threat of war.
France and allies rally against war. France, Germany and Russia say they will block any second resolution authorising war with Iraq after emergency talks.
rc3.org Daily (7:38:24 AM)
How To Write Unmaintainable Code. Everyone has probably already seen How To Write Unmaintainable Code, but if you haven't (and you're a software developer), it's worth reading.
InfoWorld: Top News (7:38:20 AM)
Davos Newbies (7:38:19 AM)
"Global population distribution"
Chris Bertram at Junius has translated an important interview with Bernard Kouchner from Le Monde. Kouchner was a founder of Medecins sans Frontieres and former French health minister.
"I detest war, of which I have more experience than anyone, over a 40-year period. War is a really bad solution. But there is a worse one. That's to leave in place a dictator who massacres his people. I wish that we might hear the most important protagonist in this crisis, the most directly threatened: the people of Iraq who are subjected to dictatorship."
New York Times: NYT HomePage (7:38:17 AM)
Millions Raised for Qaeda in Brooklyn, U.S. Says. A Yemeni cleric apprehended in Germany on charges of financing terrorism used a Brooklyn mosque to help funnel millions of dollars to Al Qaeda. By Eric Lichtblau with William Glaberson.
New York Times: Business (7:38:09 AM)
Stocks Rise in Early Trading. Investors waded through a wave of earnings reports from top-tier retailers and braced for developments on the international front. By Reuters.
Slashdot (7:38:08 AM)
Better Bandwidth Utilization. jtorin writes "Daniel Hartmeier (of OpenBSD fame) has written a short but interesting article which explains how to better utilize available bandwidth. In ...
Microsoft Watch from Mary Jo Foley (7:38:08 AM)
Former Navision CEO Quits Microsoft. The head of European business-app vendor Navision A/S, which Microsoft acquired a year ago, has resigned his post.
It's a Bird. It's a Plane. No – It's 'SuperTeam'. With a title like "People Director," Steve Harvey already sounds like a Microsoft misfit. When you hear he's in a book dedicated to a revolutionary, new "super-teaming" model, you really have to wonder.
Impaled on the Horns of a Dilemma. Microsoft has got itself in a tricky spot. It has promised the world with Longhorn. But it's left users with nothing but Windows XP until it delivers.
InfoWorld: Top News (6:39:29 AM)
Spectrum allocation draws intense debate
Toshiba prototypes methanol fuel cell for laptops
Navision head to leave Microsoft Business Solutions
The Register (6:39:17 AM)
Windows Longhorn leaks again. But blockbusters still absent from latest build
Sony keen to buy PalmSource. Or Symbian if Palm won't sell
Contractors lose out in Concept Telecom collapse. Risky business
rc3.org Daily (6:38:58 AM)
Microsoft's cheap Web server. The Register is reporting that Microsoft is going to offer a cheap ($399) version of Windows Server 2003 to be used as a Web server. It's limited in various ways, of course, to provide people with an incentive to buy the more expensive versions. Cheap is, of course, a relative term here when compared with Linux, and I think the goal here is strictly to avoid losing customers to Linux and to provide an affordable upgrade path for people who wouldn't otherwise upgrade from whatever they're running now (NT 4.0 or Windows 2000). If you're just serving up Web content, there's not much reason to upgrade your OS, especially if it's going to be expensive.
Slashdot (6:38:57 AM)
Cornucopia of Spam. Eric Savage writes "The IETF, through IRTF, has formed an Anti-Spam Research Group. If there is any hope for a technical solution the problem, it appears the ...
BBC News | World | UK Edition (6:38:46 AM)
France and allies rally against war. France, Germany and Russia reassert their opposition to war with Iraq after an emergency meeting in Paris.
Deadly bus blast rocks Haifa. A bomb rips through a bus in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa, killing at least 12 people.
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (6:38:33 AM)
Blast rocks Israeli city. A bomb rips through a bus in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa, killing at least eight people.
Coughs 'raised Millionaire doubts'. A court hears that TV staff became suspicious of a £1m quiz winner after microphones picked up a series of coughs.
France and allies rally against war. France, Germany and Russia re-assert their opposition to war with Iraq after an emergency meeting in Paris.
Uproar over Kuwait slur. An Iraqi crisis summit of Islamic countries is marred by the Kuwaiti and Iraqi delegates trading fierce insults.
CNET News.com - Entertainment & Media (6:38:32 AM)
High court to hear Web smut case. The Supreme Court will hear arguments over whether libraries should be required to filter out porn on their public computers.
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (6:38:25 AM)
Coughs 'raised Millionaire doubts'. A court hears that TV staff became suspicious of a £1m quiz winner after microphones picked up a series of coughs.
Court sentencing 'must cut reoffending'. Stopping offenders committing further crimes should be the priority for courts, a home office minister says.
Werblog (6:38:17 AM)
Tim Bray on spam: "I think we may be winning." (I'm not so sure.)
Jason Kottke: "Google is not a search company."
Kevin Lynch: "There's still a lot to learn about how technology can assist meetings, particularly distributed meetings."
The Village Voice Most Popular (6:38:13 AM)
Slashdot (5:38:50 AM)
Maine Laptop Program a Success. Myoglobinologist writes "The New York Times has an article about how the State of Maine purchased $37 million worth of iBooks from Apple. The article states ...
Mini Drives for Mini-CDs?. fist_187 asks: "i'm working on a semi-portable MP3 player project, and would like to include a CD-ROM drive in my setup, but a full size drive is a little ...
350 Megapixel Camera. Remy Hathaway writes "Ars Technica just posted an article on the "MegaCam", a 350 megapixel camera. The original story is from the Honolulu Advertiser."
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (5:38:49 AM)
Blair 'hopeful' over UN vote. Tony Blair tells MPs a second UN resolution should be passed next week, after talks with Russia's foreign minister.
Blast rocks Israeli city. A bomb is reported to have gone off on a bus in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa, leaving at least eight people dead.
Millionaire winner accused of cheating. An Army major accused of cheating on the quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? goes on trial.
Final breakthrough 'possible'. A final breakthrough is possible following talks to restore devolution in Northern Ireland, says Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Davies admits he was in woods. Ex-Welsh Secretary Ron Davies changes his account of events which form the basis of gay sex allegations which he still denies.
Man City chairman quits. Man City accept the resignation of chairman David Bernstein.
Uproar over Kuwait slur. A summit of Islamic countries on Iraq opens with the Iraqi representative calling the Kuwaiti delegate "an agent and a monkey".
BBC News | World | UK Edition (5:38:31 AM)
Blast rocks Israeli city. A bomb is reported to have gone off on a bus in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa, leaving at least eight people dead.
Ayodhya site 'to be dug up'. A court in India orders the excavation of a holy site disputed between Hindus and Muslims.
Italian town offers Saddam new home. A small Italian town says it ready to give sanctuary to the Iraqi leader should he choose to go into exile.
Tough new sanctions for drug cheats. A worldwide code against drug use in sport is endorsed by governments and major sporting bodies
Man City chairman quits. Man City accept the resignation of chairman David Bernstein.
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (5:38:30 AM)
Blair 'hopeful' over UN vote. Tony Blair tells MPs a second UN resolution should be passed next week, after talks with Russia's foreign minister.
Millionaire winner accused of cheating. An Army major accused of cheating on the quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? goes on trial.
Final breakthrough 'possible'. A final breakthrough is possible following talks to restore devolution in Northern Ireland, says Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Budget date sparks row. There are protests from opposition parties at Chancellor Gordon Brown's choice of 9 April for his Budget.
Davies admits he was in woods. Ex-Welsh Secretary Ron Davies changes his account of events which form the basis of gay sex allegations which he still denies.
Police question Naomi officer. Police continue to question Pc Matthew Brooks over the alleged abduction of 15-year-old Naomi Mills.
Man City chairman quits. Man City accept the resignation of chairman David Bernstein.
The Register (5:38:21 AM)
Toshiba boffins prep laptop fuel cell. (just) small enough to be useful
The Motley Fool (5:38:13 AM)
Company Merges, Stock Falls. Did your company pay too much?
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (4:39:08 AM)
Final agreement 'achievable'. A final agreement to restore devolution in Northern Ireland can be achieved, says Downing Street.
WebReference News (4:38:50 AM)
Yet another Java XML API: xmlpull. XML processing is moving into the non-PC space, with PDAs and mobile phones acting as Web service clients. With xmlpull, a new API has been devised for parsing XML. By Michael Classen. 0305
BBC News | World | UK Edition (4:38:48 AM)
Blast rocks Israeli city. A bomb is reported to have gone off on a bus in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa.
Sports agree on drugs ban. A worldwide code against drug use in sport is agreed by every major sporting body.
Jackal aide on trial. Johannes Weinrich, a man accused of being the right-hand-man of notorious terrorist Carlos the Jackal, goes on trial in Germany.
Gillespie loses fitness battle. Australia fast bowler Jason Gillespie is out of the World Cup and is replaced by Nathan Bracken.
Man City chairman resigns. Man City accept the resignation of chairman David Bernstein.
jenett.radio (4:38:45 AM)
a "time capsule". Aspen: The multimedia magazine in a box. "This is a web version of Aspen, a multimedia magazine of the arts originally published from 1965 to 1971. Each issue of Aspen was delivered to subscribers in a box, which contained a variety of media: booklets, postcards, posters, phonograph recordings, and, one time, even a reel of Super-8 film." [via Heli's Heaven and Hell Radio]
"could face up to a year in prison". Lawyer arrested for wearing peace t-shirt [indirectly via Gimboland < null plus Google News]
effectiveness questioned.... ASA clamps down on spam. "Britain's ad Watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), has established tough new rules governing the use of email and text messages for marketing purposes." [The Register]
Don Park's Blog (4:38:36 AM)
In today's heightened awareness of online risks and vulnerabilities, software engineers are increasingly shifting burden to the users. Legal complications and sheer variety of them spanning the globe encourages this trend. Add to this, increasing demand for user control over all matters. Result is unusable software that is hard to manage and support.
ask-the-user syndrome -
New York Times: International (4:38:34 AM)
Israeli Troops Arrest 20 Palestinians in West Bank. RAMALLAH, (Reuters) - Israeli troops arrested 20 Palestinians throughout the West Bank early on Wednesday and demolished the home of an Islamic militant, the army and witnesses said. By Reuters.
Driver Killed by Car Bomb in Paris. A car exploded in a residential area of Paris today, killing the driver, slightly injuring five bystanders and setting three nearby cars on fire. By The Associated Press.
Iraq Scraps 9 More Banned Missiles. Iraq destroyed nine banned surface-to-surface al-Samoud 2 missiles today, bringing to 28 the number of scrapped rockets under the supervision of U.N. weapons inspectors. By Reuters.
Pope Urges World to Avoid 'Dramatic Conflict'. Pope John Paul called on everyone, including world leaders, to make every effort to spare humanity what he called "a dramatic conflict'' in Iraq. By Reuters.
The Register (4:38:31 AM)
Toshiba preps laptop fuel cell. Small enough to be useful
MP 'takes up cudgel' in NTL broadband cap row. Order, order...
EU waves through French 2G rural roll-out subsidy. Let them eat mobile phones
Nildram in 2Mbps BB trial. UPDATED: 150Gb a month cap
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (4:38:16 AM)
Millionaire winner in court. The trial has begun of an Army major accused of cheating on the quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Pupils walk out over war. Dozens of children have walked out of school and are marching on Westminster to protest against the looming war.
Move to curb sex trade travel. Measures are to be introduced to stop paedophiles travelling abroad to indulge in 'sex tourism', ministers reveal on Wednesday.
Man City chairman resigns. Man City accept the resignation of chairman David Bernstein.
CNET News.com - Enterprise (4:38:14 AM)
RackSaver, AMD heat up the server wars. RackSaver gets set to unveil servers running Operton processors from Advanced Micro Devices, as the two firms pump up the David-and-Goliath battles in the corporate market.
Data centers get cool--literally. Hewlett-Packard introduces a lab-grown analysis service that helps companies keep data centers cool--and could help their centralized computing run better.
CNET News.com (4:38:10 AM)
RackSaver, AMD heat up the server wars. RackSaver gets set to unveil servers running Operton processors from Advanced Micro Devices, as the two firms pump up the David-and-Goliath battles in the corporate market.
Data centers get cool--literally. Hewlett-Packard introduces a lab-grown analysis service that helps companies keep data centers cool--and could help their centralized computing run better.
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (4:38:09 AM)
Move to curb sex trade travel. Measures are to be introduced to stop paedophiles travelling abroad to indulge in 'sex tourism', ministers reveal on Wednesday.
Millionaire winner in court. The trial has begun of an Army major accused of cheating on the quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
China begins leadership change. China's parliament opens for its annual session, at which a new generation of leaders is due to take power.
Armenia votes in election run-off. Armenians vote in the second round of a presidential election marred by allegations of vote-rigging.
Blair 'confident' after Russia talks. Tony Blair is said to be confident a second UN resolution will be carried next week, after talks with Russia's foreign minister.
Brown sets Budget date. This year's Budget will be held later than expected, on 9 April, Chancellor Gordon Brown announces.
UN warns of future water crisis. The world may not reach its target of halving the number of hungry people by 2015 because water is running short, the UN says.
Felgate lands LTA post. Tim Henman's former coach David Felgate is confirmed as the Lawn Tennis Association's new performance director.
Divisions deepen ahead of Iraq report. UN Security Council members make last-ditch efforts to rally support for their opposing positions on Iraq.
BBC News | Technology | UK Edition (3:38:32 AM)
Smart phone battle hots up. SonyEricsson's P800 smart phone offers more than just calls but it comes at a price, writes Geoff Lynn.
LogicaCMG to cut 800 jobs. The newly-merged computer giant makes further job cuts as its first results reveal an 8% drop in profits.
Slashdot (3:38:28 AM)
Using Visible Light for Data Transfer. James Evans writes "Wired has an article about a New Zealand company which has developed a technology to transmit data at speeds up to 400Mbps up to 4km. They ...
Pre-Interview Organization Analysis Design Tests?. miasok asks: "Recently I was deemed unfit for a job I was applying to, even before having an interview. A local software development company expressed an ...
Sjoerd Visscher's weblog (3:38:27 AM)
I'm currently enjoying a week vacation. I'm staying in Basel, Switserland, at Joeri's place. Marco is here too. It's perfect weather and we're going to take a little tour through Basel. Joeri and Marco both have a camera with them. I hope they can get some pictures online soon.
BBC News | World | UK Edition (3:38:26 AM)
World Bank criticises Israel. Israel's closure of Palestinian areas is causing immense economic hardship, a report finds.
Australian flogged for 'thief wife'. The Australian prime minister John Howard condemns Saudi Arabia for jailing a man because his wife was convicted of theft.
Congress delves into zoo mystery. Top zoo officials in Washington are summoned to Congress to explain a series of mystery animal deaths.
Gillespie loses fitness battle. Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie is out of the World Cup with a tendon problem.
Hewitt through, Roddick out. Lleyton Hewitt wins in Scottsdale but top seed Andy Roddick is a first-round casualty at Delray Beach.
Man City chairman resigns. Man City confirm the resignation of chairman David Bernstein.
Davos Newbies (3:38:25 AM)
The population decline of Europe (and of Japan) is clearly going to have dramatic consequences in the coming decades. Oxford's Stein Ringen provides a worrying analysis in the Times Literary Supplement (only part of the story is on the web) and Martin Wolf offers some policy suggestions in the Financial Times (subscribers only).
By 2050, the European population is predicted by the UN Population Fund to be down to 600 million, from 725 million today (those figures include estimates for immigration). If the trend continues, Europe would be down to 475 million by the end of the century.
The scale of this goes beyond decline; Ringen terms it a "population collapse". As both Ringen and Wolf point out, it is likely to spell the end of economic growth. Ringen extends this disturbingly. "In three centuries of progress, Europe has produced an outstandingly rich culture of architecture, art, literature, music, freedom and democracy. What happens if Europe falls into economic decline? Will there be a surplus from which architecture and art can be commissioned? Will governments be able to support museums, operas, theatres and orchestras? What will happen to attitudes, confidence and trust? Will we be able to afford freedom? Will democracy survive if economies collapse?"
Wolf suggests four steps: "public resources must be shifted from helping the old to assisting families with children"; "as part of pension reform, there must be an across-the-board attack on obstacles to higher labour force participation, particularly by people over 60 years of age"; "obstacles to productivity growth must be removed"; and "immigration must be managed".
Ringen echoes these prescriptions, but he isn't optimistic about their effect. Encouraging bigger families would probably mean lowering female participation in the workforce, which would run counter to decades of societal transformation. He notes that Sweden, which instituted family-friendly policies well in advance of the looming crisis, has one of the lowest birth rates in Europe.
On immigration Ringen writes, "To think we can solve our population problem by immigartion is superficial and careless. There is something disturbingly arrogant in seeing the rest of the world as available for Europe to harvest for our needs." He goes on to note that "serious demography does not envisage immigration to make up for low birth rates".
Ringen isn't, however, providing a counsel of despair. "While it may not be the answer to Europe's population problem, Europeans need to embrace the fact that the world's people are on the move. The future belongs to dynamic mixed-population societies. Europe is allowing itself to grow old in structures and mindsets. It would make matters worse if we were to shut ourselves off from the vibrant community of transnationalism. That is a matter of opening up borders, of course, but that we can only do if we learn to want to change and escape from our fear of what is young in today's world."
The left may not be very good at creating talk radio hosts, but it's a damn sight better at poetry.
According to the Today programme, Poets Against the War has signed up 12,000 participants. The rival Poets for the War has 69. Whatever your politics, any literary sense will send you fleeing to the doves for your poetry. Today is an international day of poetry against the war and the UK poets are delivering a petition with 10,000 anti-war poems to Tony Blair.
This is exciting. Amitai Etzioni, the sociologist responsible for developing communitarian thinking, has started a weblog, where he plans to post personal and communitarian reflections. Amitai was spurred after meeting, in fairly rapid succession, Larry Lessig and Eugene Volokh.
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (3:38:08 AM)
Blair 'confident' after Russia talks. Tony Blair is said to be confident a second UN resolution will be carried next week, after talks with Russia's foreign minister.
Brown sets Budget date. This year's Budget will be held later than expected, on 9 April, Chancellor Gordon Brown announces.
Legal move to curb sex trade travel. Measures are to be introduced to stop paedophiles travelling abroad to indulge in 'sex tourism', ministers reveal on Wednesday.
Man killed at petrol station. A man is stabbed to death as he filled up his car with petrol in an apparently motiveless attack.
Man City chairman resigns. Man City confirm the resignation of chairman David Bernstein.
The Register (3:38:07 AM)
Open Source puts down roots in Finland
Telewest trials wireless BB for the home. Wanted: 500 volunteers
Wireless Net startup plots 30K-ish UK hot spots in 2003. Kewney gets the scoop
ASA clamps down on spam. But will it stop the deluge?
Nildram in 2Mbps BB trial. Choice
Wired News (2:39:10 AM)
Privacy Activist Takes on Delta. A boycott of Delta Airlines is being mounted in response to the airline's decision to test a controversial program that requires airline passengers to undergo background checks. By Michelle Delio.
Sponge Merchants Soak Up Business. The popular but discontinued contraceptive sponge is back on the market in Canada, thanks to a New Jersey company that bought the rights to sell it. Net merchants are gearing up for a shopping rush. By Kristen Philipkoski.
Cybercrime Follows Money Trail. Financial services firms face a particularly high threat of cyberattack, a federal agency reports. The findings can be attributed to criminals' well-documented attraction to money. By Joanna Glasner.
Insects Go Buggy Over Odors. Researchers use a motorized sphere as a testing ground to determine which scents insects find irresistible. Their goal is to discover a way to lure bugs away from crops. By Louise Knapp.
Gambling on Private Data Search. A Las Vegas company known for helping casinos spot fraud says it has a solution to some of the privacy concerns raised by the government's anti-terrorism efforts. Pentagon officials are taking note. By Steve Mollan.
You Can't Make a Monkey Out of Us. A new study, performed using powerful genome-sequencing technology, reveals that chimpanzees' DNA is less similar to that of humans than scientists had supposed. By Kristen Philipkoski.
IBM Monitors Up in Smoke. With five reported cases of monitors overheating and smoking, IBM agrees the best thing to do is recall 56,000 of the offending models.
Who's Minding the E-Store?. The Justice Department has recently begun seizing websites and domain names it claims were used to commit crimes. Civil liberties groups say the government's new tactic deprives people of their livelihoods and may allow the feds to spy on visitors to the sites.
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (2:39:07 AM)
Blair in crucial Russian talks. Russian foreign minister leaves Downing Street without comment after crucial talks over Iraq with Tony Blair.
Brown sets Budget date. This year's Budget will be held on 9 April, Chancellor Gordon Brown announces.
Man City chairman resigns. Manchester City confirm the resignation of chairman David Bernstein.
[ t e c h n o c u l t u r e ] (2:39:05 AM)
I'm off to Limerick today to talk to some of the researchers at the University of Limerick. I'm started on an informal project of visiting the various universities and research centres to get a sense of what people are doing around the country. I know the Times coverage has been weak in this area -- most regional correspondents aren't really focused on the tech angle of stories and have lots of other daily responsibilities, and it's also hard for the Dublin reporters to take a day or two away. I'm a bit more flexible so off I go on the train today (boy, I love trains. Almost as good as getting there is the going, as long as you don't get a crowded one). I'm looking forward to also seeing the university's great art collections.
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (2:38:54 AM)
Blair in crucial Russian talks. Russian foreign minister leaves Downing Street without comment after crucial talks over Iraq with Tony Blair.
Brown sets Budget date. This year's Budget will be held on 9 April, Chancellor Gordon Brown announces.
Senior politician killed in Nigeria. A leading opposition politician is shot dead in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, ahead of general elections in April.
The Register (2:38:50 AM)
Dell extends top-end of Inspiron line. 8500 intended to supplant desktops
VIA chipsets to sport WLAN, 3D audio tech. Gears up to compete with Centrino
BBC News | World | UK Edition (2:38:16 AM)
Divisions deepen ahead of Iraq report. UN Security Council members make last-ditch efforts to rally support for their opposing positions on Iraq.
Senior politician killed in Nigeria. A leading opposition politician is shot dead in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, ahead of general elections in April.
Bangladesh reporter freed. A journalist accused of fabricating comments by the home minister is released from prison.
Slashdot (1:38:35 AM)
Building a Local Cellular Phone Carrier?. Netsuj asks: "I'm doing some work for a firm which operates in B.F.E. Many miles before even arriving, I loose signal on my GSM phone. What is the feasibility ...
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (1:38:33 AM)
NI elections delayed for talks. Northern Ireland Assembly elections are postponed until the end of May to allow time for more talks on restoring devolved government.
Blair in crucial Russian talks. The Russian foreign minister leaves Downing Street without comment after crucial talks over the Iraq crisis with Tony Blair.
Council tax bills to soar. The average English council tax bill is to rise by the biggest amount since the tax came in a decade ago.
Radio failure caused snow chaos. The Highways Agency admits a radio failure among its gritting teams contributed to road chaos during January's snow storms.
[ t e c h n o c u l t u r e ] (1:38:23 AM)
Under Fire, a Star Banker at Credit Suisse Resigns. Frank P. Quattrone, Credit Suisse First Boston's embattled technology banker, resigned today amid criminal investigations. [New York Times: Technology]
Yet another carefully-crafted piece of EU legislation in the tech area: Europe Hacker Laws Could Make Protest a Crime. The new laws intended to deter computer hacking could pose problems because the language could also outlaw people who organize protests online. [New York Times: Technology]
George Bernard Shaw. "A fashion is nothing but an induced epidemic." [Quotes of the Day]
Laptops Win Over the Skeptics, Even in Maine. Just six months after Maine began providing laptop computers, educators are impressed by how quickly students and teachers have adapted to laptop technology. [New York Times: Technology]
Bhs owner issues apology to the Irish. [Guardian Unlimited]: "He added: 'Some of my best friends are Irish - Michael Smurfit, Dermot Desmond, JP McManus'. They are all among Ireland's wealthiest business elite."
As long as I get my 12" by Friday or Monday... [grin]: Mac fans wait for 17-inch PowerBook. Mini Me may have his 17-inch PowerBook, but the rest of the world is having to wait as Apple Computer is apparently having problems ramping up production of the extrawide notebook. [CNET News.com]
Supreme Court curbs trademarks' reach. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling gave a suprise legal boost to Americans who own Internet domains that criticize corporations or use their trademarks. [CNET News.com]
With big spending on big packages drastically slowed, going after the huge SME market, even if profits are smaller, seems a good idea. I found this initiative of SAP's interesting when I was at their last conference. Also found their dual chief executives most impressive -- they actually answer questions and know their technology, unlike so many glamour CEOs of the boom era. SAP expands small-business push. The business software maker expands an initiative to target small and medium-size businesses with five new software packages and plans for at least 20 more. [CNET News.com]
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (1:38:17 AM)
NI elections delayed for talks. Northern Ireland Assembly elections are postponed until the end of May to allow time for more talks on restoring devolved government.
Council tax bills to soar. The average English council tax bill is to rise by the biggest amount since the tax came in a decade ago.
Blair in crucial Russian talks. The Russian foreign minister leaves Downing Street without comment after crucial talks over the Iraq crisis with Tony Blair.
Millionaire winner in court. The prosecution is set to launch its case against an Army major accused of cheating on the quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Ferguson warns Wenger. Sir Alex Ferguson says Arsenal could miss out on the Premiership title if they fall victim to arrogance.
School bans pigs stories. A head teacher bans stories about pigs from the classroom to avoid offending Muslim children.
New York Times: Arts (1:38:13 AM)
Goffredo Petrassi, Italian Modernist Composer, Dies at 98. Goffredo Petrassi, a leading figure of Italian modernist music in the 20th century, was noted for his pluralistic exploration of compositional styles. By Anthony Tommasini.
Sean McGrath, CTO, Propylon (1:38:13 AM)
Relax NG making steady progress in hearts and minds. WSDL 1.2.
BBC News | World | UK Edition (1:38:09 AM)
Jackal aide's trial to begin. Johannes Weinrich, a man accused of being the right-hand-man of notorious terrorist Carlos the Jackal, goes on trial in Germany.
BBC News | Technology | UK Edition (1:38:08 AM)
Virtual detectives track criminals. Police forces worldwide are using British software to sift through the information they gather to help them solve more crimes.
Smart phone battle hots up. SonyEricsson's P800 smart phone offers more than just calls but it comes at a price.
Record loss for France Telecom. The heavily indebted phone giant reports a record full-year loss of 20.7bn euros in 2002 after write downs wiped out revenues.
Slashdot (12:39:08 AM)
Canadian Surgeons Perform Telerobotic Surgery. AndroidCat writes "While the equipment used isn't new, this operation was different because one of surgeons was 400km away. Dr. Mehran Anvari in Hamilton ...
BBC News | World | UK Edition (12:38:32 AM)
World Bank criticises Israel. Israel's closure of Palestinian areas is causing immense hardship, a report finds.
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (12:38:17 AM)
NI elections delayed for talks. Northern Ireland Assembly elections will be postponed until the end of May to allow time for more talks on restoring devolved government.
Hospitals 'fiddled' waiting list figures. A spot-check of hospitals has found over half wrongly reported how many people are waiting for treatment - some deliberately.
Council tax bills to soar. The deputy prime minister tells local authorities he may use "reserve capping powers" to limit council tax rises.
Wealthy users dominate internet. Prosperous south-east England has the most homes connected to the internet and Wales the fewest, a study says.
Fletcher casts Vaughan doubt. Coach Duncan Fletcher hints Michael Vaughan may be too inexperienced to captain England's one-day side.
Bush seeks health care shake-up. President George W Bush calls for controversial reforms of the US health care system at a cost of $400bn.
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (12:38:15 AM)
NI elections delayed for talks. Northern Ireland Assembly elections will be postponed until the end of May to allow time for more talks on restoring devolved government.
Hospitals 'fiddled' waiting list figures. A spot-check of hospitals has found over half wrongly reported how many people are waiting for treatment - some deliberately.
Council tax bills to soar. The deputy prime minister tells local authorities he may use "reserve capping powers" to limit council tax rises.
Police question Naomi officer. Police continue to question Pc Matthew Brooks over the alleged abduction of 15-year-old Naomi Mills.
Fletcher casts Vaughan doubt. Coach Duncan Fletcher hints Michael Vaughan may be too inexperienced to captain England's one-day side.
Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog (12:38:10 AM)
holland, nice place to visit. Expatica.com has an excellent piece about recent problems in the teeny nation of the Netherlands that is well worth reading. When reading it, bear in mind that Holland has 16.5 million inhabitants on a land mass smaller than Rhode Island with a Queen (complete with fueding family) and a government that hasn't quite re-installed itself after 2 straight years of scandal, murder and mishap.
Apple gears up to sell music online.
New York Times: Fashion and Styles (11:39:15 PM)
Four Women Swagger in Milan. Donatella Versace, Consuelo Castiglioni, Miuccia Prada and Angela Missoni changed the tempo and temperament of fashion. By Cathy Horyn.
New York Times: Technology (11:39:13 PM)
Technology Briefing: E-Commerce. GOOGLE INTRODUCES NEW AD SERVICE; ELECTRONIC ARTS DROPS PUBLIC OFFERING PLAN;.
Technology Briefing: Telecommunications. MOTOROLA SELLS 25 MILLION SHARES OF NEXTEL; 3COM SELLS COMMWORKS UNIT FOR $100 MILLION; ECHOSTAR REPORTS WIDER FOURTH-QUARTER LOSS;.
Spitzer Is Said to Lower Sights in Criminal Inquiry on Banker. Prosecutors led by Eliot Spitzer have narrowed their investigation of Credit Suisse First Boston's star investment banker. By Landon Thomas Jr..
Laptops Win Over the Skeptics, Even in Maine. Just six months after Maine began providing laptop computers, educators are impressed by how quickly students and teachers have adapted to laptop technology. By Sarah Mahoney.
Biotech Mergers: Cash Talks Louder Than Technology. There have been many mergers in the biotechnology industry, but some companies are bought for their cash rather than their technology. By Andrew Pollack.
Europe Hacker Laws Could Make Protest a Crime. The new laws intended to deter computer hacking could pose problems because the language could also outlaw people who organize protests online. By Paul Meller.
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (11:39:08 PM)
Blair delays NI elections. Northern Ireland Assembly elections will be postponed until the end of May to allow time for more talks on restoring devolved government.
New York Times: NY Region (11:39:07 PM)
Metro Briefing: Connecticut. HARTFORD: Bigger Paycheck Deduction To Begin;.
No, You Tell Ann Richards That She Can't Sing. A benefit for women's health, which distributed $2 million to women for health care, seems to have given the former governor of Texas a yen to get up and sing. By Joyce Wadler.
Catholics Adopt More Liberal Attitudes During College. A survey described in the Catholic World Report finds that Roman Catholic students, whether in Catholic or nonsectarian schools, shift toward more liberal views in college. By Tamar Lewin.
Laptops Win Over the Skeptics, Even in Maine. Just six months after Maine began providing laptop computers, educators are impressed by how quickly students and teachers have adapted to laptop technology. By Sarah Mahoney.
Memories Painful and Fond Bind Mayor to His Town. Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell hunted, grew up, married and lost a son in this New Jersey town. By Chris Hedges.
St. Bonaventure Basketball Team Votes to End Season. The Bonnies voted not to play their final two games after the Atlantic 10 Conference forced them to forfeit six victories for using an ineligible player. By Lena Williams.
More Cuts Than New Taxes in Rowland's Budget Plan. HARTFORD, March 4 In his annual address to lawmakers, Gov. John G. Rowland today laid out a $27.7 billion budget proposal for the next two years and urged the Democratic-led Legislature to adopt far more spending cuts than tax increases to close a roughly $900 million hole in Connecticut's 2004 fiscal year. By Paul von Zielbauer.
Lower Manhattan Corporation Names Interim Chief. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation yesterday named Kevin M. Rampe, its executive vice president and general counsel, as interim president, filling the vacancy created last week by the retirement of Louis R. Tomson. Development corporation officials said a permanent president would be appointed By Edward Wyatt.
Brooklyn Muslims, Disputing Any Ties to Terror. A spokesman for the mosque's current imam, Abdul Rahman, said the mosque was "very, very surprised" by the allegations. By Andy Newman.
Antiwar Ralliers Seek a Permit, This Time Marching, March 22. The organizers of the antiwar rally that drew a huge crowd in Manhattan on Feb. 15 are trying again to get permission from the city to march through the streets. By Leslie Eaton.
A Fine Kettle of Fish, Trout or Not. State officials want to label the unremarkable Peckman River in the unbroken sprawl of northern New Jersey a trout stream. By Matthew Purdy.
For Elderly, Fear of Falling Is a Risk in Itself. Of the nagging, minute-by-minute worries of old age, none seems to eclipse the fear of falling. By N. R. Kleinfield.
Accountant Accused of Hiring Hit Men to Kill His Divorce Lawyer. FREEHOLD, N.J., March 4 One day last June, two powerfully built men, both with shaved heads, arrived at the office of a divorce lawyer near here. One said he owned a nightclub in Los Angeles called Sex, Money and Murder, and needed an emergency meeting for legal help with a child custody issue. By Robert Hanley.
Jurors Selected in Trial of Ex-Mayor of Waterbury. BRIDGEPORT, Conn., March 4 Fourteen jurors were selected here today in Federal District Court for the child sex-abuse case against Philip A. Giordano, the former mayor of Waterbury. The trial is scheduled to begin March 12 and is expected to last at least two weeks. By Alison Leigh Cowan.
Rupture Sends Millions of Gallons of Sewage Into Harbor. A ruptured sewage pipe serving most of central New Jersey is diverting 2.5 million gallons of raw sewage into upper New York Harbor each hour. By Iver Peterson.
Albany's Divided Leaders Are United in Pessimism. ALBANY, March 4 Disagreements between the governor and legislative leaders over revenue forecasts have traditionally hindered budget negotiations in New York, slowing down talks for months while every side waited to see if the tax revenue picture would improve. By James C. Mckinley Jr..
Pataki Seeks Protections for Workers Called to Duty. Gov. George E. Pataki and the Republican minority in the Assembly proposed a variety of financial benefits for state residents called to active military service. By Winnie Hu.
New Yorker Is Missing After Walking Father's Dog. The police are looking for an Upper East Side woman who disappeared while walking her father's dog on Monday afternoon. By Tina Kelley.
Appearing in Brooklyn, Not Dem Bums, but Mets. They have waited not patiently, not quietly for someone to right the wrong done Brooklyn back in '57, when the storied Dodgers left Flatbush for the warmth of Los Angeles. By Diane Cardwell.
Teenager Charged in Death of Boy, 7, Will Be Tried as Adult. NEWARK, March 4 The teenager charged with assault in the death of Faheem Williams, the 7-year-old boy whose body was found in a locked basement here, was ordered today to face trial in an adult court. By Ronald Smothers.
L.I. Priest Apologizes to Victim Before Receiving a 2-Year Term. A priest who has been central to the unfolding of the sex-abuse scandal on Long Island offered his first public apology yesterday for sodomizing a teenager repeatedly over more than a year. By Elissa Gootman.
Police Seek Links in Four Recent Store Robberies. The police have formed a task force to investigate whether two deadly corner store shootings using the same gun are linked to two similar shootings in Brooklyn and Queens over the past month, officials said yesterday. Detectives from the four precincts where the killings took place will be comparing evidence today, they said. By Shaila K. Dewan.
Married Couple and Officer Are Killed When Cars Collide. An off-duty police officer and a husband and wife on their way to work at a bakery were killed early yesterday when their cars collided at a Brooklyn intersection, the police said. By Robert F. Worth.
Scaled-Down Commuter Tax Plan Is Urged. The city comptroller said yesterday that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg should scale back his commuter tax proposal because Albany will probably not approve his plan to tax commuters at the same rate as city residents. By Michael Cooper.
Gotti Lawyer's Summation Mocks the Prosecutors' Case. In a mocking summation, Peter Gotti's lawyer told jurors yesterday that prosecutors had piled hunches on guesses and had never proved that Mr. Gotti, their star defendant in a wide-ranging racketeering case, was the leader of the Gambino crime family. By William Glaberson.
Elevator Mishap Halts Times Square Trains. The Times Square subway station was closed for more than two hours last night after a cable snapped on a construction elevator at 7 Times Square, the authorities said. Tens of thousands of people were temporarily kept from their destinations. By The New York Times.
Trenton Police Nominee Defended Factoring Race Into Traffic Stops. Some local leaders are concerned that the nominee to head the New Jersey State Police once wrote an article defending the use of ethnicity as a criterion for traffic stops. By David Kocieniewski.
Philip Morris to Leave New York. Philip Morris USA intends to end a 101-year relationship with New York City by moving its headquarters to Richmond, Va. By Janny Scott.
Second in Charge but First in Pay at City Hall. The second most powerful person in city government, Deputy Mayor Marc V. Shaw, is now City Hall's highest-paid official. By Jennifer Steinhauer.
There Go the Neighborhoods: Rich and Poor, Side by Side. The gap between top and bottom is greater in New York than in most cities in the country, and people at the extremes often live closer together. By Janny Scott.
Millions Raised for Qaeda in Brooklyn, U.S. Says. A Yemeni cleric apprehended in Germany on charges of financing terrorism used a Brooklyn mosque to help funnel millions of dollars to Al Qaeda. By Eric Lichtblau with William Glaberson.
BBC News | Technology | UK Edition (11:38:57 PM)
Wealthy users dominate internet. Prosperous south-east England has the most homes connected to the internet and Wales the fewest, a study says.
Fallen tech star quits CSFB. Former Wall Street darling Frank Quattrone, under criminal investigation, quits investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston.
Boing Boing Blog (11:38:56 PM)
MPAA, 20th Century Fox launch anti-Internet-piracy movie trailer in US theaters. Twentieth Century Fox and the MPAA have teamed up to produce an anti-piracy trailer intended to educate American filmgoers about the evils of movie piracy via digital file-swapping services like Kazaa.
Initially, the two-minute trailer that puts a human face on the victims of piracy will be shown at most Regal Cinemas, the nation's largest theater chain. It will be unveiled Wednesday at [the entertainment industry convention] ShoWest, which runs today through Thursday. (...)Link to LA Times story (free site registration required), DiscussAmong some students, the notion that a trailer could persuade anyone to stop downloading movies seems naive, like the "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign. "It's become so acceptable to download movies and music off the Internet that people don't think it's wrong," said USC sophomore Jacqui Deelstra, 19. Added sophomore Art Priromprintr: "Nobody's going to think 'Oh, I'm hurting the movie industry right now' -- they don't care."
Tips for to avoid being spat upon when visiting Europe. USA Today has a list of tips for American tourists who don't want to get hassled by Europeans disgusted with the Bush administrations push for war.
Avoid American fast-food restaurants and chains.Link DiscussKeep discussions of politics to private places, not rowdy bars.
Take a rain check on wearing clothes featuring American flags or sports team logos.
Keep your passport out of sight.
Keep cameras, video equipment and maps tucked away.
Soften your speech; Americans typically overshadow their hosts in the volume department.
New York Times: Dining and Wine (11:38:54 PM)
On to Moroccan. Paul Liebrandt, who concocted parsley and licorice soup and other imaginative fare when he was at Atlas, is now at Chez Es Saada. By Florence Fabricant.
Pizza, the Toast of the Town, Takes Another Bow. In many ways, Vincent Scotto's Gonzo is a less visionary doppelganger of Otto, the latest Mario Batali-Joe Bastianich extravaganza. By Eric Asimov.
Oysters Are the Catch of the Day, Every Day. The Oyster Bar, in business since 1913, may be the most infuriating restaurant in New York. By William Grimes.
New York Times: Business (11:38:52 PM)
Technology Briefing: E-Commerce. GOOGLE INTRODUCES NEW AD SERVICE; ELECTRONIC ARTS DROPS PUBLIC OFFERING PLAN;.
Technology Briefing: Hardware. OMM PLANS TO CEASE OPERATIONS;.
Technology Briefing: Telecommunications. MOTOROLA SELLS 25 MILLION SHARES OF NEXTEL; 3COM SELLS COMMWORKS UNIT FOR $100 MILLION; ECHOSTAR REPORTS WIDER FOURTH-QUARTER LOSS;.
Europe Hacker Laws Could Make Protest a Crime. The new laws intended to deter computer hacking could pose problems because the language could also outlaw people who organize protests online. By Paul Meller.
Luis Marden, 90, Adventurer and Journalist, Is Dead. Luis Marden prowled the globe for National Geographic for 64 years, sometimes vanishing for months with little more than a medical kit. By Douglas Martin.
John Mellencamp Records Antiwar Song. John Mellencamp's "From Washington" is one of the first new antiwar songs recorded by a multimillion-selling rocker. By Jon Pareles.
Crisis in Italy's State Network Stirs New Claims Against Premier. Silvio Berlusconi is facing new accusations of conflict of interest, brought on by a crisis at the state broadcasting network RAI. By The New York Times.
Gas Station to Pump Hydrogen. A Shell station in Washington will be the first gas station to dispense hydrogen at the pump. By John Tierney.
Spherion Unit Is Acquired. By Bloomberg News. By Bloomberg News.
F.T.C. Moves to Stop $2.8 Billion Ice Cream Deal. The Federal Trade Commission voted to seek a preliminary injunction to block the $2.8 billion merger of Nestle's United States ice cream business with Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream. By Sherri Day.
Ruling on Victor vs. Victoria Offers Split Victory of Sorts. The Supreme Court offered something for both sides in its first interpretation of a new federal law intended to protect famous brand names. By Linda Greenhouse.
Philip Morris to Leave New York. Philip Morris USA intends to end a 101-year relationship with New York City by moving its headquarters to Richmond, Va. By Janny Scott.
Study Raises Estimate of the Nation's Uninsured. An estimated 75 million Americans were without health insurance at some point during the last two years, amounting to nearly a third of all Americans younger than 65. By Robin Toner.
Unocal Is Sued by F.T.C. Over California Gas Patent. The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint accusing the Unocal Corporation, of fraudulent and anticompetitive practices in obtaining patents for the production of cleaner-burning gasoline. By Neela Banerjee.
Dollar Hits Its Lowest Point in 4 Years. The dollar fell to its lowest point in almost four years against the euro today after Treasury Secretary John W. Snow said that he was "not particularly concerned" about the dollar, which has dropped 20 percent in the last year against the euro. By Bloomberg News.
Law Firms Move to Cut Costs, but Spare the Senior Partners. In law firms across the country, rainmakers and kingpins are hanging on to their expansive offices, even as they attack their real estate costs. By Michael Brick.
Advancing Technology Tightens Building Security. Computerized systems in office buildings are now being widely deployed to ensure security. By Edwin Mcdowell.
Bush Medicare Proposal Urges Switch to Private Insurers. President Bush opened a fractious new round in the Medicare debate by proposing comprehensive drug coverage for the elderly, if they switch to private insurance plans. By Robert Pear and Robin Toner.
Martha Stewart Company Posts First Loss and Blames Inquiry. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia reported a loss of 3 cents a share from continuing operations for the fourth quarter. By Constance L. Hays.
S.E.C. Chief Has Plan to Pick Audit Board Head. William H. Donaldson, the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has outlined the process to select the leader of a new accounting oversight board. By Stephen Labaton.
Exxon Chief Says Oil Industry Is Already Jarred by Fears of War. The oil industry is already feeling powerful repercussions from the current economic and political volatility spawned by fears of war in the Persian Gulf, according to Lee Raymond, the chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil. By Neela Banerjee.
Glaxo Loses Ruling in Patent Trial for Depression Drug. GlaxoSmithKline has lost a critical patent trial over its top-selling drug, Paxil, raising the risk that it will face generic competition for the medicine earlier than expected. By Reed Abelson.
Rules Are Loosely Defined in Food Service Industry. Food service is a shadowy business, where accounting for rebates and promotions is loosely defined and the competition is fierce. By Constance L. Hays with Suzanne Kapner.
Malpractice Insurance: No Clear or Easy Answers. President Bush is urging Congress to limit medical malpractice lawsuits. But a look at California's experience shows mixed results. By Joseph B. Treaster.
U.S. Budget Deficit Rising Fast. The deficit is growing much more quickly than expected, even before Congress takes up President Bush's tax plan and without factoring in the costs of a war in Iraq. By Edmund L. Andrews.
Biotech Mergers: Cash Talks Louder Than Technology. There have been many mergers in the biotechnology industry, but some companies are bought for their cash rather than their technology. By Andrew Pollack.
Credit Suisse Banker Quits Amid Inquiries. Frank P. Quattrone, Credit Suisse First Boston's star investment banker, resigned after refusing to cooperate with an investigation into his banking practices. By Landon Thomas Jr..
New York Times: Arts (11:38:44 PM)
Arts Briefing. Works from the Museo Franz Mayer in Mexico City will go on view at the San Diego Museum of Art. By Lawrence Van Gelder.
Kennedy Center to Focus on Tennessee Williams. New productions of "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" are part of next season's festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. By Todd S. Purdum.
Giving Modern Flair to a Violin Classic. With his impeccable sense of restraint and his allergy to philistinism, Gidon Kremer is a model of the violinist as antivirtuoso. By Jeremy Eichler.
American and European Differences. Robert Kagan's book captures the mood of today's crisis between the United States and many of its old European allies. By Ivo H. Daalder.
Unusual and Imaginative 'Chants'. North Carolina Dance Theater made a strong impression on Sunday afternoon at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College By Jack Anderson.
A Dedicated Pupil for a Professor of Seduction. Anto Howard's rickety new play focuses on a Irish professor of medieval English literature who is an entertaining speechifier. By Bruce Weber.
John Mellencamp Records Antiwar Song. John Mellencamp's "From Washington" is one of the first new antiwar songs recorded by a multimillion-selling rocker. By Jon Pareles.
Working Together, Taking Different Roads. With the father, Ellis Marsalis, at the piano, and four of his sons playing beside him, the show roped together distinct musical personalities and let the music talk for itself. By Ben Ratliff.
Ted Leung on the air (11:38:43 PM)
I must be doing something right.... Tonight Julie (my wife) asked me if she could have her own weblog. I guess one of those late night discourses had an effect. Now I have to figure out how do make it happen. pyblosxom is not exactly what I would recommend for a casual weblog user. Maybe I'll have to try and get w.bloggar working or something. Actually she doesn't want a weblog, she wants a private k-log, which is even cooler, I think.
BBC News | World | UK Edition (11:38:29 PM)
Arrests follow Philippines blast. Police arrest several men in connection with a bomb blast at Davao City airport which killed at least 19 people.
New York Times: National (11:38:23 PM)
Gas Station to Pump Hydrogen. A Shell station in Washington will be the first gas station to dispense hydrogen at the pump. By John Tierney.
The Village Voice Most Popular (11:38:20 PM)
Weapon of the Week: Postcards From Hell
New York Times: Education (11:38:20 PM)
When It Goes Wrong at a Charter School. When charters first appeared, they were touted as the free-market alternative to bad old public schools, but as with many market miracles, the bubble has burst. By Michael Winerip.
Catholics Adopt More Liberal Attitudes During College. A survey described in the Catholic World Report finds that Roman Catholic students, whether in Catholic or nonsectarian schools, shift toward more liberal views in college. By Tamar Lewin.
Laptops Win Over the Skeptics, Even in Maine. Just six months after Maine began providing laptop computers, educators are impressed by how quickly students and teachers have adapted to laptop technology. By Sarah Mahoney.
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (11:38:14 PM)
House sale lie cost £67,000. A couple who hid a history of neighbourhood disputes have to pay £67,000 to the family who bought their house.
The Doc Searls Weblog (11:38:10 PM)
The Raging Cow thing is getting out of control. Which is exactly the idea, no?
Wondering if anybody's tasted it... and if it's possible, just possible, that the stuff is actually good. Yeah, I know it's a dairy product with the shelf life of motor oil, but still. If it's true... I mean, if the stuff is actually good (hard to imagine, I know; but work with me here)... does that make us less cynical about the marketing?
Just wondering. Some of us could use the t-shirts.
A few words paint a thousand pictures.
Brian Dear has been having fun counting search results on various keywords and keyphrases at The White House website. Very interesting results. Dig it.
Glenn Reynolds weighs in on the side of Free Fi:
I think he¹s right. The university where I teach, the University of Tennessee, has a high-speed wireless network that covers the entire campus. Now some of the bars and restaurants and coffeeshops nearby are catching on — one even has a big sign advertising ³Fast Free Wireless Internet² as a way of luring customers. Right now it¹s a big lure — sort of the way air-conditioning was fifty years ago. But soon it will be ubiquitous...
Wireless Internet access is cheap and easy to provide (I have it at home, and so do countless other Americans), and as people get more and more used to it, spaces that don¹t have it seem less and less appealing. I think that Doc is right, and that customers will come to expect it over the next few years. In some places, they already do. Kind of like toilets.
LameList disagrees:
As a consumer, I think this would be great. But it is lame-fully short-sighted and naïve for several reasons. First, wi-fi is cheap and easy at the home level — once you have the broadband installed. But providing wi-fi means first the coffeeshop has to upgrade from their twisted-pair POTS dial-up used by their point-of-sale system to broadband access. Then they install wi-fi as a means of access. Saying "it's cheap, I have it at home" is a grossly lame simplification that forgets the need to install broadband in the first place. Starbucks is installing some nifty fat data pipes for their wi-fi. Perhaps if they installed a skinnier DSL line, their costs would not be so high, but then level of service would be reduced.
Lame or not, it'll still happen. Plenty of hotels, coffee shops, libraries, universities and whole cities are already providing free wi-fi for the same reason they provide street lights and public restrooms. None of those are free either — except to the users who expect them for exactly that price.
So here's your take-away quote: Think of pay-fi as the Net's equivalent of the pay toilet.
CNET News.com - Entertainment & Media (10:39:09 PM)
AOL sees cable IPO by summer. The media giant intends to spin off its cable unit in an initial public offering by the end of the quarter or late summer, CEO Richard Parsons tells an investment conference.
Boing Boing Blog (10:39:06 PM)
Rushkoff's 2nd grade penny thief confesses. My friend Doug Rushkoff posted this email on his blog:
Dear Douglas,Link DiscussI am wondering if you are the Douglas Rushkoff who was in my second grade class with Miss Brownell in 1968-1969 (Chatworth Elementary, Larchmont, NY)??
If so, I owe you an apology. I stole the 1802 penny that you brought to class for Show and Tell. Ever since, I find myself saying "this is the worst thing I've done since I stole Douglas Rushkoff's 1802 penny".
New York Times: Sports (10:38:53 PM)
Minnesota Makes the Devils Pay for Faulty Work Habits. New Jersey scrambled back to tie the score before losing on a goal by the former Devil Willie Mitchell with 4 minutes 50 seconds to play. By Pat Borzi.
Dallas Shows Why It Sits Atop N.B.A. This Season. The Mavericks proved why they began the season as the best team in the league and remain that way, taking a victory over New Jersey. By Liz Robbins.
CNET News.com - Communications (10:38:39 PM)
Intel, Singapore form wireless pact. The chipmaker and the government agency unveil a project to promote seamless, wireless connectivity throughout Asia.
New York Times: NYT HomePage (10:38:37 PM)
Malpractice Insurance: No Clear or Easy Answers. President Bush is urging Congress to limit medical malpractice lawsuits. But a look at California's experience shows mixed results. By Joseph B. Treaster.
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (10:38:30 PM)
Vaughan tipped for England. Michael Vaughan is the early favourite to become England one-day cricket captain.
McEnroe loses out to Felgate. John McEnroe is disappointed British tennis chiefs have snubbed his offer of help.
John Robb's Radio Weblog (10:38:29 PM)
This is first time I really had seen the Trotts. They are great looking couple. Full of life. I like them already. Would like to meet them in the future.
The Shifted Librarian (10:38:26 PM)
Just a quick story before I crash early tonight. Last week, we bought our third ReplayTV. Yes, you read that right - third. It's a financial risk, considering that SonicBlue isn't doing so well financially, but I feel confident that if SonicBlue goes belly up that TiVo will take over its subscriber service (or offer trade-ins) or some genius on Slashdot will come up with a hack for using an open-source programming guide.
So the question you're probably asking yourself is why on earth would we do this, especially since these machines are still so expensive? We did it because two weeks ago, soon-to-be-nine-year-old Kailee asked if she could watch TV. I said yes, and that she should use the one in the living room. Her response was, "No - I want to watch ReplayTV." You see, she records about 10-15 hours of shows on Animal Planet every week, along with The Saddle Club and Little House on the Prairie. Seven-year old Brent really only uses it to for Batman Beyond (he's outgrown Between the Lions), although today he asked me to start taping Yu-Gi-Oh, too.
Anyway, it was when I told Kailee she could watch ReplayTV that I suddenly realized how proficient she has become with it and that she was actually defining her customized "ReplayTV" differently than regular television. Then I watched Brent with it, and now that he is learning to read, he's actually reading the descriptions of what we've taped. Which presents a problem, since we tape plenty of grown-up programs that we don't want them flipping through inadvertently. We don't use VCRs in our house anymore (except for watching the occasional old videotape gathering dust on the shelves), so the obvious answer was a new DVR (Digital Video Recorder) for the adults.
I could have hedged my bets and gone with a TiVo, but the new ReplayTVs are too enticing. We bought an 80-hour version, swapped it with the family's 60-hour one, and set up the older one in the bedroom. The remote for the new Replays takes some getting used to, but there are some definite usability improvements and we already love the "commercial advance" feature that skips through most of the commercials. When a show fades out to commercial, it just picks right back up where the commercials end. Very spiffy, and it's really great when you have kids! Network executives will be happy to know that it's turned off by default out-of-the-box, but I changed that pretty quickly.
The new Replay has an ethernet port, so I can connect it to my home network and send digital pictures to it (which can also show up as the screensaver!). My network is a wireless one, though, so I'd have to get a Linksys bridge (or something similar) or buy a hub and run a wire. Naturally, I'd rather opt for the wireless option, but being a good citizen, I was just gearing up to re-implement WEP security now that everything is running smoothly again.
However I assume the ReplayTV won't understand WEP on its own, and there are no instructions in the manual for setting a WEP key on it. I never imagined myself asking this question, but how then do I add my DVR to my wireless network and secure it? Is the Linksys bridge truly the answer to my prayers? I think so, and I might just have to buy a second one for the PlayStation. :-)
New York Times: International (10:38:23 PM)
Pataki Seeks Protections for Workers Called to Duty. Gov. George E. Pataki and the Republican minority in the Assembly proposed a variety of financial benefits for state residents called to active military service. By Winnie Hu.
Antiwar Ralliers Seek a Permit, This Time Marching, March 22. The organizers of the antiwar rally that drew a huge crowd in Manhattan on Feb. 15 are trying again to get permission from the city to march through the streets. By Leslie Eaton.
The Doc Searls Weblog (10:38:16 PM)
Glenn Reynolds weighs in on the side of Free Fi:
I think he¹s right. The university where I teach, the University of Tennessee, has a high-speed wireless network that covers the entire campus. Now some of the bars and restaurants and coffeeshops nearby are catching on — one even has a big sign advertising ³Fast Free Wireless Internet² as a way of luring customers. Right now it¹s a big lure — sort of the way air-conditioning was fifty years ago. But soon it will be ubiquitous...
Wireless Internet access is cheap and easy to provide (I have it at home, and so do countless other Americans), and as people get more and more used to it, spaces that don¹t have it seem less and less appealing. I think that Doc is right, and that customers will come to expect it over the next few years. In some places, they already do. Kind of like toilets.
The Village Voice Most Popular (10:38:15 PM)
New York Times: Health (10:38:15 PM)
Malpractice Insurance: No Clear or Easy Answers. President Bush is urging Congress to limit medical malpractice lawsuits. But a look at California's experience shows mixed results. By Joseph B. Treaster.
phil ringnalda dot com (10:38:14 PM)
Slow down a bit, can't you?. "Can't sleep, the blogs will eat me" starts to look pretty prophetic.
Boing Boing Blog (10:38:11 PM)
Rushkoff's 2nd grade penny thief confesses. My friend Doug Rushkoff posted this email:
Dear Douglas,Link DiscussI am wondering if you are the Douglas Rushkoff who was in my second grade class with Miss Brownell in 1968-1969 (Chatworth Elementary, Larchmont, NY)??
If so, I owe you an apology. I stole the 1802 penny that you brought to class for Show and Tell. Ever since, I find myself saying "this is the worst thing I've done since I stole Douglas Rushkoff's 1802 penny".
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (10:38:06 PM)
Fire union offers concession. The FBU suggests it is ready to sign up to modernisation proposals in return for a large pay rise for firefighters.
Wealthy users dominate internet. Prosperous south-east England has the most homes connected to the internet and Wales the fewest, a study says.
Vaughan tipped for England. Michael Vaughan is the early favourite to become England one-day cricket captain.
Computerworld Mobile/Wireless News (9:39:03 PM)
Brief: Intel to launch Pentium M in six speeds. The mobile processors being released will vary in speed from 1.6 GHz to 900 MHz.
Developer claims accelerated XScale use is problem-free. He says users of PDA overclocking utility have reported no problems; Intel and Dell repeat warnings.
O'Reilly Network Articles (9:39:02 PM)
The Subtleties of Mac OS X. Jason McIntosh, coauthor of Mac OS X in a Nutshell, provides a rundown of some of his favorite, lesser-known Mac OS X features, from developer tools to network services to Unix text-editing tools.
HTTP Communication from Within the Oracle Database. In this latest installment in their continuing series on new Oracle 9i features, Steven Feuerstein, coauthor of Oracle PL/SQL Programming, 3rd Edition, and Bryn Llewellyn take a look at Utl_Http and show how you can use it in an Oracle 9i database to implement a requestor in a B2B implementation.
Review of the O'Reilly Network Safari Bookshelf. Thomas Duff of the Portland Domino/Notes User Group reviews the O'Reilly Network Safari Bookshelf.
ASP.NET Data Controls Part 2: Repeater. In his last article, Wei-Meng Lee talked about using the DataGrid server control. The DataGrid control is a versatile control and allows a high degree of customization. However, if your intention is to simply display items from a data source as a HTML table, there is a simpler control–-the Repeater control.
Intro to Managed C++, Part 2: Mixing Managed and Unmanaged Code. In the first article of the series, Sam Gentile focused on what Managed C++ was, some of its advantages and roles, and scenarios in which it excelled. One of those scenarios is the focus of this article: the ability to mix managed and unmanaged code in the same module.
Testing SMP Kernel Modules with UML. Code that works well on a single-processor box may fail spectacularly on a multiprocessor box. Until recently, the only way to test this was to use a two-, four-, or more-way machine. Not anymore! Jerry Cooperstein introduces UML (User Mode Linux) and demonstrates how to emulate a multiprocessor machine with it by testing kernel modules.
SMP UML, OpenSSL, Systrace Policies, and Apache Configuration. Online version of the Linux Newsletter for March 3, 2003.
Free EJB Tools, Marrying Flash MX to Java. Online version of the ONJava Newsletter for 27 February 2003.
New York Times: Health (9:38:56 PM)
Glaxo Loses Ruling in Patent Trial for Depression Drug. GlaxoSmithKline has lost a critical patent trial over its top-selling drug, Paxil, raising the risk that it will face generic competition for the medicine earlier than expected. By Reed Abelson.
Study Raises Estimate of the Nation's Uninsured. WASHINGTON, March 4 An estimated 75 million Americans were without health insurance at some point during the last two years, amounting to nearly a third of all Americans younger than 65, a study has found. By Robin Toner.
For Elderly, Fear of Falling Is a Risk in Itself. Of the nagging, minute-by-minute worries of old age, none seems to eclipse the fear of falling. By N. R. Kleinfield.
Bush Medicare Proposal Urges Switch to Private Insurers. President Bush opened a fractious new round in the Medicare debate by proposing comprehensive drug coverage for the elderly, if they switch to private insurance plans. By Robert Pear and Robin Toner.
A Prescription Plan Hailed as a Model Is a Budget Casualty. To cover budget shortfalls, Oregon will cut off medications to schizophrenics, manic-depressives, drug addicts and others who are poor and have no health care. By Timothy Egan.
BBC News | World | UK Edition (9:38:51 PM)
Rumsfeld denies Iraq disarming. The US defence secretary says Iraq is deceiving the UN, as Moscow warns it might veto a new resolution.
UN warns of future water crisis. The world faces an unprecedented lack of fresh water due to poor leadership, a UN report claims.
The Village Voice Most Popular (9:38:45 PM)
Weapon of the Week: Postcards From Hell
Salon.com (9:38:41 PM)
Who wants to be married by America?. Fox's latest reality installment invites us to participate in an orgy of vanilla heterophilia.
Uncle Sam's dirty tricks?. Alleged U.S. spying at the U.N. -- huge news in the rest of the world, ignored here -- provides fodder to festering anti-Americanism.
Story Minute. The new fence.
The Village Voice Most Emailed (9:38:39 PM)
Iraq: Telling the Left From the Right
Computerworld Software News (9:38:39 PM)
BEA provides glimpse of its future direction. BEA Systems today outlined its future areas of focus -- security, application management and process-oriented programming -- as well as plans for a new security server product.
New York Times: Politics (9:38:34 PM)
U.S. Sending 2 Dozen Bombers in Easy Range of North Koreans. President Bush said that if diplomacy failed, he might be forced to turn to military options to prevent the North from making nuclear weapons. By David E. Sanger and Thom Shanker.
S.E.C. Chief Has Plan to Pick Audit Board Head. William H. Donaldson, the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has outlined the process to select the leader of a new accounting oversight board. By Stephen Labaton.
Vote Set on Ending Filibuster on Judge. WASHINGTON, March 4 Senate Republicans today set a vote for Thursday on whether to end a Democratic filibuster that has blocked consideration of President Bush's nomination of Miguel Estrada to a federal appeals court seat. By The New York Times.
Panel Scours Wreckage, Shuttle Data and Management for Clues. The growing accumulation of wreckage of the space shuttle Columbia has yet to yield a coherent picture of what caused it to break up on re-entry a month ago. By Matthew L. Wald with Warren E. Leary.
A Top Health Official Resigns Under Pressure. Janet Rehnquist, inspector general of the Health and Human Services Department, resigned in the face of Congressional opposition and an inquiry into her conduct. By Christopher Marquis.
Arrest of Terrorist Leaders Blunts Democratic Attacks. The recent arrests of high-level Al Qaeda leaders have weakened Democratic efforts to portray the president's focus on Iraq as a diversion from the war on terror. By Carl Hulse.
Ruling on Victor vs. Victoria Offers Split Victory of Sorts. The Supreme Court offered something for both sides in its first interpretation of a new federal law intended to protect famous brand names. By Linda Greenhouse.
U.S. Budget Deficit Rising Fast. The deficit is growing much more quickly than expected, even before Congress takes up President Bush's tax plan and without factoring in the costs of a war in Iraq. By Edmund L. Andrews.
Millions Raised for Qaeda in Brooklyn, U.S. Says. A Yemeni cleric apprehended in Germany on charges of financing terrorism used a Brooklyn mosque to help funnel millions of dollars to Al Qaeda. By Eric Lichtblau with William Glaberson.
Bush Medicare Proposal Urges Switch to Private Insurers. President Bush opened a fractious new round in the Medicare debate by proposing comprehensive drug coverage for the elderly, if they switch to private insurance plans. By Robert Pear and Robin Toner.
Top General Sees Plan to Shock Iraq Into Surrendering. Military officials have said the plan calls for unleashing 3,000 precision-guided bombs and missiles in the first 48 hours of the campaign. By Eric Schmitt and Elisabeth Bumiller.
New York Times: Science (9:38:28 PM)
Experts Conclude Oil Drilling Has Hurt Alaska's North Slope. Even though oil companies have improved their practices in the Arctic, three decades of drilling along the North Slope have produced a growing number of harmful effects. By Andrew C. Revkin.
NASA Studies How to Make Remaining Shuttles Safe to Fly. The needs of the International Space Station crew, 240 miles in orbit, have given a special urgency to the task of fixing safety problems in the three remaining shuttles. By William J. Broad.
Panel Scours Wreckage, Shuttle Data and Management for Clues. The growing accumulation of wreckage of the space shuttle Columbia has yet to yield a coherent picture of what caused it to break up on re-entry a month ago. By Matthew L. Wald with Warren E. Leary.
In the Man-Ravaged West Bank, a Petrified Zoo. A macabre transformation is under way at the zoo in Qalqiliya in the West Bank. As the animals vanish from the tidy cages, they are reappearing, stuffed, in the zoo's museum. By James Bennet.
Computerworld News (9:38:26 PM)
Sendmail exploit code posted on hacker site. Less than a day after warnings were released about a vulnerability in the sendmail mail transfer agent software, researchers discovered that exploit code had already been posted on a hacker Web site.
Despite tight budgets, state IT spending expected to rise. Following a push by the Bush administration, states are moving toward the use of enterprise architecture to map out IT and business process strategies in an effort to reduce system redundancies and costs.
BEA provides glimpse of its future direction. BEA Systems today outlined its future areas of focus -- security, application management and process-oriented programming -- as well as plans for a new security server product.
Sun, partners combine biometrics with smart cards. The resulting computer security system combines smart-card technology from Sun with an Ethernet-capable fingerprint reader.
ISS reports Snort vulnerability. A buffer overflow vulnerability in the Snort open-source intrusion-detection system software could allow a hacker to crash the Snort sensor or take over its host device.
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (9:38:23 PM)
Radio failure caused snow chaos. The Highways Agency admits a radio failure among its gritting teams contributed to road chaos during January's snow storms.
Ferguson warns Wenger. Sir Alex Ferguson says Arsenal could miss out on the Premiership title if they fall victim to arrogance.
UN warns of future water crisis. The world faces an unprecedented lack of fresh water due to poor leadership, a UN report claims.
Computerworld IT in Government News (9:38:21 PM)
Sun, partners combine biometrics with smart cards. The resulting computer security system combines smart-card technology from Sun with an Ethernet-capable fingerprint reader.
Despite tight budgets, state IT spending expected to rise. Following a push by the Bush administration, states are moving toward the use of enterprise architecture to map out IT and business process strategies in an effort to reduce system redundancies and costs.
Computerworld Security News (9:38:19 PM)
Macromedia reports critical hole in Flash player. The flaw affects Version 6 of the Macromedia Flash Player, which is installed on about 75% of PCs worldwide.
ISS reports Snort vulnerability. A buffer overflow vulnerability in the Snort open-source intrusion-detection system software could allow a hacker to crash the Snort sensor or take over its host device.
Sun, partners combine biometrics with smart cards. The resulting computer security system combines smart-card technology from Sun with an Ethernet-capable fingerprint reader.
Sendmail exploit code posted on hacker site. Less than a day after warnings were released about a vulnerability in the sendmail mail transfer agent software, researchers discovered that exploit code had already been posted on a hacker Web site.
Werblog (9:38:19 PM)
Now that's talking!. A British provider plans 30,000 WiFi hotspots by the end of the year. The company's main business -- gaming (aka gambling) machines. Guess they won't be coming to the US any time soon.
Now that's talking!. A British provider plans 30,000 WiFi hotspots by the end of the year. The company's main business -- gaming (aka gambling) machines. Guess they won't be coming to the US anyt time soon.
Paper by grid computing guru Ian Foster and a co-author on convergence of grids and P2P. (via Slashdot)
ISP Planet: Time Warner Cable partners with unlicensed fixed wireless provider SkyRiver.
When did that happen?. News.com: "Former Chief Technology Officer Bill Raduchel is no longer with the company [AOL Time Warner]."
VOIP marches on. Nework World: "IBM has made the decision to go with IP telephony, embarking on one of the world's largest and most complex voice-over-IP (VoIP) projects."
Part 1 of Tony Perkins interview with the CEO of Sony over at Always On Network.
It's a Supernova kind of day!. Four of the five stories on the front page of today's New York Times technology section are examples of the shifts taking place as software, communications, and media decentralize.
Popfile Update #4. I cut down the number of "buckets" into which messages are classified, and Popfile's accuracy in filtering spam has gone up to about 95%. However, I still get false positives, roughly one per day. Classifying real mail as spam is much worse than letting a few spams through. This is an area where Bayesian filters like Popfile do better than rule-based systems, but better may not be good enough. After spending hours training Popfile on over 3,000 messages, I'm at the point where I think it's worth using, though just barely.
New York Times: NYT HomePage (9:38:15 PM)
For Elderly, Fear of Falling Is a Risk in Itself. Of the nagging, minute-by-minute worries of old age, none seems to eclipse the fear of falling. By N. R. Kleinfield.
In the Man-Ravaged West Bank, a Petrified Zoo. A macabre transformation is under way at the zoo in Qalqiliya in the West Bank. As the animals vanish from the tidy cages, they are reappearing, stuffed, in the zoo's museum. By James Bennet.
New York Times: International (9:38:14 PM)
Brooklyn Muslims, Disputing Any Ties to Terror. Surrounded by Islamic incense shops and booksellers on Atlantic Avenue in the Boerum Hill neighborhood, imposing Al Farooq Mosque in Brooklyn has a history of raising money for Osama bin Laden, dating to the days when Mr. bin Laden and the United States had a common enemy in the Soviet occupiers of Afghanistan. By Andy Newman.
Arrest of Terrorist Leaders Blunts Democratic Attacks. The recent arrests of high-level Al Qaeda leaders have weakened Democratic efforts to portray the president's focus on Iraq as a diversion from the war on terror. By Carl Hulse.
Briefly Noted. PROBATION IN FAKE I.D. CASE A Superior Court judge in Paterson, N.J., excoriated a naturalized United States citizen for his "reckless and callous disregard" for the safety of others in selling fake identification cards to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers, but she let him walk free today based on a plea agreement of last month.
Irish and British Leaders Fail to Rescue Ulster Peace Accord. Roman Catholic and Protestant politicians failed to rescue the five-year-old accord that brought peace and self-government to Northern Ireland. By Brian Lavery.
Computerworld Shark Tank (9:38:08 PM)
Shark Tank: Sure, we can do that. This assignment is technically pretty straightforward: Write an application to track how long it takes to process each document at the company. But the politics of putting it in place are a little more complicated.
Slashdot (9:38:08 PM)
Survey says: ELC platform spec will expand use of. An anonymous reader writes "According to a "quick survey" taken during the past two weeks of visitors to LinuxDevices.com's website, developers overwhelmingly ...
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (9:38:04 PM)
Rumsfeld denies Iraq disarming. The US defence secretary says Iraq is deceiving the UN, as Moscow warns it might veto a new resolution.
CNET News.com - Personal Technology (8:38:52 PM)
Former Palm executive rejoins Apple. Longtime software developer Steve Sakoman, a former Palm and Be executive, rejoins Apple Computer as a vice president.
Boing Boing Blog (8:38:52 PM)
Wear a peace T-shirt, go to jail. Reuters: "A lawyer was arrested late Monday and charged with trespassing at a public mall in the state of New York after refusing to take off a T-shirt advocating peace that he had just purchased at the mall." Link Discuss (Thanks, Thomas!)
New York Times: NYT HomePage (8:38:51 PM)
Indictments of Police Leaders Leave San Francisco Rattled. The case of three off-duty police officers accused of beating up two men in November has escalated into a nasty war among some of the city's most powerful politicians. By Dean E. Murphy.
U.S. Budget Deficit Rising Fast. The federal deficit is growing much more quickly than expected, even before Congress takes up the Bush tax plan and before factoring in the costs of a likely war in Iraq. By Edmund L. Andrews.
New York Times: National (8:38:51 PM)
National Briefing: Midwest. FLORIDA: Reconsidering Budget Expenses;.
National Briefing: Mid-Atlantic. SENATE BACKS `UNDER GOD';.
National Briefing: Southwest. ILLINOIS: Judge Serves In Face Of Threat;.
National Briefing: Northwest. WASHINGTON: Spurning A Muslim Prayer;.
Dr. John Fryer, 65, Psychiatrist Who Said He Was Gay in 1972, Dies. Dr. John E. Fryer was a psychiatrist who came out to his colleagues at a 1972 American Psychiatric Association convention, when homosexuality was classified as a mental illness. By Dudley Clendinen.
When It Goes Wrong at a Charter School. When charters first appeared, they were touted as the free-market alternative to bad old public schools, but as with many market miracles, the bubble has burst. By Michael Winerip.
NASA Studies How to Make Remaining Shuttles Safe to Fly Again. The needs of the International Space Station crew, 240 miles in orbit, have given a special urgency to the task of fixing safety problems in the three remaining shuttles. By William J. Broad.
Barriers for California Reactor on Road to Nuclear Graveyard. Railroads, ports, environmental groups even the Panama Canal have thrown roadblocks in the way of officials trying to move a decommissioned nuclear reactor to South Carolina. By Nick Madigan.
U.S. Budget Deficit Rising Fast. The federal deficit is growing much more quickly than expected, even before Congress takes up the Bush tax plan and before factoring in the costs of a likely war in Iraq. By Edmund L. Andrews.
A Top Health Official Resigns Under Pressure. Janet Rehnquist, inspector general of the Health and Human Services Department, resigned in the face of Congressional opposition and an inquiry into her conduct. By Christopher Marquis.
Arrest of Terrorist Leaders Blunts Democratic Attacks. The recent arrests of high-level Al Qaeda leaders have weakened Democratic efforts to portray the president's focus on Iraq as a diversion from the war on terror. By Carl Hulse.
Study Raises Estimate of the Nation's Uninsured. WASHINGTON, March 4 An estimated 75 million Americans were without health insurance at some point during the last two years, amounting to nearly a third of all Americans younger than 65, a study has found. By Robin Toner.
Bush Medicare Proposal Urges Switch to Private Insurers. President Bush opened a fractious new round in the Medicare debate by proposing comprehensive drug coverage for the elderly, if they switch to private insurance plans. By Robert Pear and Robin Toner.
Vote Set on Ending Filibuster on Judge. WASHINGTON, March 4 Senate Republicans today set a vote for Thursday on whether to end a Democratic filibuster that has blocked consideration of President Bush's nomination of Miguel Estrada to a federal appeals court seat. By The New York Times.
Ruling on Victor vs. Victoria Offers Split Victory of Sorts. The Supreme Court offered something for both sides in its first interpretation of a new federal law intended to protect famous brand names. By Linda Greenhouse.
Experts Conclude Oil Drilling Has Hurt Alaska's North Slope. Even though oil companies have greatly improved practices in the Arctic, three decades of drilling along Alaska's North Slope have produced a steady accumulation of harmful environmental and social effects that will probably grow as exploration expands, a panel of experts has concluded. By Andrew C. Revkin.
Panel Scours Wreckage, Shuttle Data and Management for Clues. The growing accumulation of wreckage of the space shuttle Columbia has yet to yield a coherent picture of what caused it to break up on re-entry a month ago. By Matthew L. Wald with Warren E. Leary.
Suspension of Executions Is Urged for Pennsylvania. A committee appointed by Pennsylvania's Supreme Court recommended halting executions until the effects of possible racial bias in capital cases were better understood. By Adam Liptak.
A Prescription Plan Hailed as a Model Is a Budget Casualty. To cover budget shortfalls, Oregon will cut off medications to schizophrenics, manic-depressives, drug addicts and others who are poor and have no health care. By Timothy Egan.
Indictments of Police Leaders Leave San Francisco Rattled. The case of three off-duty police officers accused of beating up two men in November has escalated into a nasty war among some of the city's most powerful politicians. By Dean E. Murphy.
Millions Raised for Qaeda in Brooklyn, U.S. Says. A Yemeni cleric apprehended in Germany on charges of financing terrorism used a Brooklyn mosque to help funnel millions of dollars to Al Qaeda. By Eric Lichtblau with William Glaberson.
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (8:38:48 PM)
Blair prepares for Russian talks. Tony Blair prepares for crucial talks over the Iraq crisis with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov at Downing Street.
Aspirin 'prevents cancer'. Aspirin can protect against cancers of the mouth, throat and oesophagus, Italian researchers suggest.
Dave's Handsome Radio Blog! (8:38:42 PM)
markpasc.org (8:38:35 PM)
Io, a small programming language. (quick link)
Simon Fell (8:38:23 PM)
Switch. Crash Different. Okay, this has to be the most amusing switch parody I've ever seen. I laughed my ass off. [Jeremy Zawodny's blog] That's hilarious, I needed that, I'm still battling (2nd week!) trying to get an OSX equivilent of MessageBox to work reliably.
WX3PA. Wow!, i can't beleive how much functionality Sam managed to get out of 110 odd lines of python. I did notice a strange bug where the titles appear in reverse order to the articles.
Jeremy Zawodny's blog (8:38:21 PM)
Forged Spam Prevention. About a month ago, I brought up the issue of forged spam and responsibility, noting some ideas about how it might be prevented. Derek mentioned that it had come up before and his idea had been shot down at the...
Crash Different. Okay, this has to be the most amusing switch parody I've ever seen. I laughed my ass off. Thanks to Derek for the link. I'm sure it's elsewhere and I just missed it....
New York Times: Sports (8:38:21 PM)
525,000 Buys for Jones Bout. Roy Jones Jr.'s victory over John Ruiz to win the World Boxing Association heavyweight title $26.5 million in sales, HBO said. By The New York Times.
U.S.O.C.'s No. 2 Official Quits. Fred Wohlschlaeger, the United States Olympic Committee's chief operating officer, resigned two days after his boss, Lloyd Ward, stepped down. By Richard Sandomir.
Cowboys Help Jets Find Room for Morton. Free-agent fullback Richie Anderson's departure to Dallas could insure that Chad Morton, the Jets' expert kick returner, remains with the team in an expanded role. By Gerald Eskenazi.
The Giants Keep Their Focus on Special Teams. The Giants agreed to terms with punter Jeff Feagles and long snapper Ryan Kuehl, each considered to be among the best at his position. By Buster Olney.
3 Olympians Are Power Behind Harvard Women's Team. As much as top-ranked Harvard resembles a women's dream team, this season's squad may not be the best team Kate Stone has coached. By Mark Scheerer.
Rangers Are Following Leetch's Upward Swing. The Rangers have made things interesting in the Eastern Conference. A big reason is the return of defenseman Brian Leetch, who missed 31 games with an ankle injury. By Jason Diamos.
The Battle for Sixth Place Turns Out to Be No Contest. With the loss to Tampa Bay, New York fell into seventh place in the Eastern Conference and lost one of their precious games in hand to the ninth-place Rangers. By Dave Caldwell.
James Plans to Play in D.C. Tournament. High School star LeBron James announced that he would be a part of the 30th annual Jordan Capital Classic, a game that began in 1974 with the likes of Moses Malone. By Steve Popper.
Teammates Shrug Off Potential Loss of Childs. As the Chris Childs experiment with the Nets appears to be over, his teammates said that his likely departure would not have a big impact. By Liz Robbins.
Knicks Must Go Without McDyess. During the Knicks' victory over Cleveland, Antonio McDyess essentially conceded that he would probably not play again until next season. By Chris Broussard.
Umpires Renew Objections to Computer System. Major league umpires renewed their fight against the use of the QuesTec system to evaluate their calls of balls and strikes. By Murray Chass.
Fehr Says Players Await Ephedra Move. Donald Fehr, the players association's executive director, and Commissioner Bud Selig recently discussed ephedra and its place in baseball. By Rafael Hermoso.
Baker Finds a Comfort Zone. The Chicago Cubs are trying to make new manager Dusty Baker feel wanted after the San Francisco Giants let him leave last year. By Murray Chass.
Piazza Is in No Big Hurry to Switch Positions. Mets Manager Art Howe proclaimed that Mike Piazza had much left as a catcher and said he did not foresee any need for him to begin working out at first base. By Rafael Hermoso.
Contreras Is Hit, but Is Still Impressive. Joe Contreras allowed four hits and walked one against the Red Sox, but the Yankees' Cuban defector felt more relaxed than he did in his first outing. By Tyler Kepner.
Wells Would Veto Trade if He Were Asked to Leave. David Wells said he will not waive his full no-trade clause if the Yankees decide to trade him because of comments in his new autobiography. By Tyler Kepner.
Safety Issues Prompt Woods to Skip Event. If not for the threat of war, Tiger Woods would be in the United Arab Emirates this week, competing in the Dubai Desert Classic. By Clifton Brown.
Recent Forfeits Won't Be the Last. Planners for international sports events must consider the potential for politics, protests and downright violence years down the pike. By George Vecsey.
Alinghi Plans Sweeping Changes in Rules for America's Cup. The changes by the Swiss team seek to make the event more television-friendly and to ensure that race officials running the regatta are impartial. By Warren St. John.
At UConn, Winning Is Not Optional. The UConn women defeated West Virginia to finish the regular season 29-0 and expand their record winning streak to 68 games. By Jere Longman.
St. Bonaventure Basketball Team Votes to End Season. The Bonnies voted not to play their final two games after the Atlantic 10 Conference forced them to forfeit six victories for using an ineligible player. By Lena Williams.
McPherson Faces Charge of Gambling on His Team. The former Florida State quarterback Adrian McPherson bet on Seminoles games in which he played, investigators say. By Joe Drape.
CNET News.com (8:38:17 PM)
Former Palm executive rejoins Apple. Longtime software developer Steve Sakoman, a former Palm and Be executive, rejoins Apple Computer as a vice president.
O'Reilly Network Articles (8:38:16 PM)
EJB Free and Open Source Tools Summary. What's the best platform for J2EE development? Emmanuel Proulx finds himself answering that question time after time. In this article, he explores several free-as-in-speech and free-as-in-beer EJB 2.0 tools and gives his suggestions for choosing an application server.
Flash Remoting for J2EE Developers. Rich Internet Applications are slowly becoming more popular, with web services gluing desktop clients to more traditional back ends. Macromedia's Flash Remoting MX for J2EE is one way to connect a Flash client to a J2EE back end. Alon Salant reveals the tricky details of using Flash Remoting for J2EE and outlines a simple architecture for creating the interfaces that make this possible.
Controlling Your Mac with AppleScript and Java. AppleScript, while a fantastic language for running scripts locally, has minimal support for doing anything else, like sockets or serving Web pages. This is where AppleScript and Java form a powerful team. Scott D.W. Rankin shows you how to put this dynamic duo to work to control your Mac from remote locations.
Swarm Intelligence. Online version of the Network Newsletter for February 25, 2003.
ASP.NET Data Controls Part 1: DataGrids. One of the most powerful server controls in ASP.NET is no doubt the DataGrid control. The DataGrid control is a multi-column, data-bound ASP.NET server control. Using the DataGrid control, you can display records from a database using a variety of formats. In this article, Wei-Meng Lee shows you how to create and use the DataGrid.
Using Delegates Asynchronously. In Satya Komatineni's article "Understanding the Nuances of Delegates in C#," the concept of delegates and their general pattern of usage in C# was introduced. This article by Richard Blewett takes the subject further and looks at another feature of delegates-–the built-in ability to perform tasks asynchronously by handing off work to the system thread pool.
OpenSSL Timing Attack. Noel Davis looks at problems in OpenSSL, Oracle, mod_php, MySQL, pam_xauth, VNC, apcupsd, nethack, Rogue, and BitchX.
PAM, Reverse-Engineering Games, Linux for Finance, and the PHP ch-functions. Online version of the Linux Newsletter for February 24, 2003.
Slashdot (8:38:16 PM)
Europe Heads for the Moon in July. Orlando writes "The BBC are reporting that Arianespace are all set for sending Smart1 to the Moon in July. The mission's primary objectives are testing ...
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (8:38:10 PM)
Islamic world meets over Iraq. Muslim states seek a joint position at a meeting attended by a top Saddam Hussein aide.
McEnroe loses out to Felgate. John McEnroe is disappointed British tennis chiefs snubbed his offer of help.
BBC News | World | UK Edition (7:39:07 PM)
Rumsfeld denies Iraq disarming. The US defence secretary tells the BBC that Iraq is deceiving the UN as Moscow warns it might veto a new resolution.
China begins leadership change. China's parliament opens for its annual session, at which a new generation of leaders is due to take the reins of power.
Slashdot (7:38:50 PM)
Quake II Mods for Engineering Students. gleeklet writes "Has anyone else seen that there is a need for inexpensive 3D visualization software for presentations and classroom lectures? There is a ...
New York Times: International (7:38:50 PM)
Briefly Noted. PROBATION IN FAKE I.D. CASE A Superior Court judge in Paterson, N.J., excoriated a naturalized United States citizen for his "reckless and callous disregard" for the safety of others in selling fake identification cards to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers, but she let him walk free today based on a plea agreement of last month.
5 Killed in Error at a Kurdish Checkpoint. Five Muslim men were shot and killed on Tuesday at a highway checkpoint by Kurdish security officers. By C. J. Chivers.
Persian Gulf Nations Send Troops to Protect Kuwait. The disparate Arab force is trivial in a military sense. Still, the deployment means something to the Kuwaitis, who have felt isolated politically. By Marc Santora With Michael R. Gordon.
Powell Says U.S. Can Wage War on Iraq Without Turks. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said that if necessary the U.S. would make plans to wage war against Iraq without Turkish help. By Steven R. Weisman.
In Defeat of U.S. Plan, Turks See a Victory for Democracy. In the eyes of many Turks, the dramatic vote rejecting the American military plan ushered in a new era in Turkish democracy. By Dexter Filkins.
Chinese Legislature Meets to Appoint Leaders. China's annual legislative session opened on Wednesday, with personalities eclipsing policies for now. By Elisabeth Rosenthal.
New Study Supports Idea Stalin Was Poisoned. Fifty years after Stalin died, an exhaustive study of Soviet records lends new weight to an old theory that he was actually poisoned. By Michael Wines.
In the Man-Ravaged West Bank, a Petrified Zoo. A macabre transformation is under way at the zoo in Qalqiliya in the West Bank. As the animals vanish from the tidy cages, they are reappearing, stuffed, in the zoo's museum. By James Bennet.
U.S.-Led Afghan Sweep Yields Unclear Results. As the troops prepared to finish their mission in the Baghran Valley, it remained unclear how successful the three-week operation had been. By Carlotta Gall.
Millions Raised for Qaeda in Brooklyn, U.S. Says. A Yemeni cleric apprehended in Germany on charges of financing terrorism used a Brooklyn mosque to help funnel millions of dollars to Al Qaeda. By Eric Lichtblau with William Glaberson.
U.S. Sending 2 Dozen Bombers in Easy Range of North Koreans. President Bush said that if diplomacy failed, he might be forced to turn to military options to prevent the North from making nuclear weapons. By David E. Sanger and Thom Shanker.
U.S. General Sees Plan to Shock Iraq Into Surrendering. Military officials have said the plan calls for unleashing 3,000 precision-guided bombs and missiles in the first 48 hours of the campaign. By Eric Schmitt and Elisabeth Bumiller.
New York Times: Dining and Wine (7:38:41 PM)
Why Make Yeast a Forbidden Pleasure?. You're going to need to trust me on this: baking yeasty things is one of the great kitchen pleasures. By Nigella Lawson.
From Argentina and Chile, Eternal Hope. After sampling 28 red wines from Argentina and Chile, the Dining section's tasting panel was surprised and pleased by the quality of the wines. By Frank J. Prial.
Recipe: Frascatelli With Parsley, Garlic and Pecorino. FRASCATELLI WITH PARSLEY, GARLIC AND PECORINOAdapted from Salvatore and Tina Tassa Time: 50 minutes.
Recipe: Chocolate and Pistachio Whiligig Buns. CHOCOLATE AND PISTACHIO WHIRLIGIG BUNS.
Recipe: Soft White Dinner Rolls. SOFT WHITE DINNER ROLLS.
Recipe: Blueberry Kuchen. BLUEBERRY KUCHEN.
Recipe: Shrimp in Garlic Sauce. SHRIMP IN GREEN SAUCE.
A TV Campaign for Grey Goose Vodka. Grey Goose's path to vodka popularity has taken an unusual turn: extensive advertising on cable TV. By Patricia Winters Lauro.
Storing a Citric Treat. Relatives in Florida have sent us a large box of Meyer lemons from their own orchard. Is it possible to freeze the juice? By Denise Landis.
A Diner Staple Sheds Its Reputation. The corned beef hash at Dizzy's is a perfect breakfast for any lumberjacks who happen to be passing through Brooklyn. By Laurie Woolever.
Meats and Aged Cheeses, Worthy Matches for South American Reds. The red wines that the wine panel tasted from South America varied greatly, so it's difficult to generalize when pairing foods with them. By Amanda Hesser.
Chickpeas at Dawn, Etc.. If you crave stuffed eggplant for breakfast or need yogurt and chickpea dips for last-minute cocktail guests, try Efendi. By Florence Fabricant.
Too Much Garlic? Impossible. The Iberian interpretation of green sauce draws its impact from chilies, scallions, and, mostly, garlic. By Mark Bittman.
Making Pasta Without Strain (but You Need a Strainer). A kind of pasta called frascatelli is a perfect example of la cucina povera, as frugal Italian country cooking is called. By Florence Fabricant.
Eating Hollywood Style, With Thin Air on the Side. The New York comedian Susie Essman, best known as the foul-mouthed Susie Greene in "Curb Your Enthusiasm," talks food, fat and phobias. By Alex Witchel.
The Torch Is Passed, Handle First. For cooks everywhere, quality forks are beloved tools of the kitchen. By Amanda Hesser.
For a Change, a City Talks Food, Not Just Politics. Talk of war may dominate conversation in Washington's corridors of power, but there's a lot of eating going on all the same, particularly in Penn Quarter. By Marian Burros.
New York Times: NYT HomePage (7:38:38 PM)
A Prescription Plan Hailed as a Model Is a Budget Casualty. To cover budget shortfalls, Oregon will cut off medications to thousands of schizophrenics, manic-depressives, drug addicts and others who are poor and have no health care. By Timothy Egan.
Millions Raised for Qaeda in Brooklyn, U.S. Says. A Yemeni cleric apprehended in Germany on charges of financing terrorism used a Brooklyn mosque to help funnel millions of dollars to Al Qaeda. By Eric Lichtblau with William Glaberson.
U.S. Sending 2 Dozen Bombers in Easy Range of North Koreans. President Bush said that if diplomacy failed, he might be forced to turn to military options to prevent the North from making nuclear weapons. By David E. Sanger and Thom Shanker.
U.S. General Sees Plan to Shock Iraq Into Surrendering. Military officials have said the plan calls for unleashing 3,000 precision-guided bombs and missiles in the first 48 hours of the campaign. By Eric Schmitt and Elisabeth Bumiller.
Macromedia - Designer Developer Center (7:38:33 PM)
The Story Behind the New macromedia.com Beta by Penny Wilson; re: ColdFusion, Dreamweaver, JRun, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Flash Player.
Rich Internet Applications Come of Age by Tom Hale; re: ColdFusion, Dreamweaver, JRun, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Flash Player.
DevNet Site Redesign: Features and Fixes by Craig Goodman; re: Authorware, ColdFusion, Director, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, FreeHand, HomeSite, JRun, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Flash Player.
User Interface Overview of the macromedia.com Beta by Jerry Knight; re: ColdFusion, Dreamweaver, JRun, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Flash Player.
Reinventing the Macromedia Exchange by Scott Fegette; re: ColdFusion, Dreamweaver, JRun, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Flash Player.
Updated PHP Topic Center by Macromedia; re: Dreamweaver, Flash.
Updated .NET Topic Center by Macromedia; re: Dreamweaver, Flash.
Developers and DevNet Subscriptions: What Do I Get? by Mike Chambers; re: ColdFusion, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, FreeHand, JRun, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Flash Player.
What is DevNet? by Mimi Rosenheim; re: ColdFusion, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, FreeHand, JRun, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Flash Player.
kottke.org remainders (7:38:18 PM)
iTetris, the Tetris that plays itself. iTetris, the Tetris that plays itself
Cool bags at airbag craftworks. Cool bags at airbag craftworks
EasyRGB color harmonies. EasyRGB color harmonies
New York Times: Business (7:38:17 PM)
New Executives at Hill, Holliday. New Executives At Hill, Holliday Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos in Boston has hired four executives for its offices in New York and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. By The New York Times.
A TV Campaign for Grey Goose Vodka. Grey Goose's path to vodka popularity has taken an unusual turn: extensive advertising on cable TV. By Patricia Winters Lauro.
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (7:38:14 PM)
Rumsfeld denies Iraq disarming. The US defence secretary tells the BBC that Iraq is deceiving the UN as Moscow warns it might veto a new resolution.
Blair prepares for Russian talks. Tony Blair prepares for crucial talks over the Iraq crisis with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov at Downing Street.
Prescott's council tax warning. The deputy prime minister tells local authorities he may use "reserve capping powers" to limit council tax rises.
Russian soldiers in beauty contest. Russia's cash-strapped army tries to boost its appeal by staging a beauty contest of its women soldiers.
McEnroe loses out to Felgate. John McEnroe says he is disappointed British tennis chiefs snubbed his offer of help.
New York Times: Opinion (7:38:09 PM)
Hugo Chávez and the Limits of Democracy. Under President Hugo Chávez, Venezuela is a powerful reminder that elections are necessary but not sufficient for democracy. By MoisÉs NaÍm.
What Would Genghis Do?. As the brazen Bush imperialists try to install a new democracy in Iraq, they are finding the old democracy of our reluctant allies inconvenient. By Maureen Dowd.
Chicken à la Iraq. What you now see unfolding before your eyes is the last few minutes of a game of geopolitical chicken between George Bush and Saddam Hussein. By Thomas L. Friedman.
A Mayor and His Money. A Mayor and His Money To the Editor:.
Let 9/11 Families Decide. Let 9/11 Families Decide To the Editor:.
All-Out Effort on AIDS. All-Out Effort on AIDS To the Editor:.
Trains or Space Shuttles. Trains or Space Shuttles To the Editor:.
An Adoptee's Yearning. An Adoptee's Yearning To the Editor:.
A Diplomat's Stand. A Diplomat's Stand To the Editor:.
When Politics Clashes With Science. When Politics Clashes With Science To the Editor:.
Caution Signs on the Road to War. Caution Signs On the Road to War To the Editor:.
Evangelicals and Their Critics. Evangelicals and Their Critics To the Editor:.
Staying Organic. Congress should look for ways to stimulate organic grain production rather than encouraging livestock producers to cop out.
The Five-Ring Circus. For years the United States Olympic Committee has been fraught with ego-driven rivalries between its board of volunteers and its paid executive staff.
Fighting Terror in the Philippines. Washington must contribute to the upliftment of the southern region of the Phillipines, rather than rushing in troops to combat terrorism.
A Bad Prescription. In Congress, centrists in both parties will need to fashion a drug benefit that provides meaningful coverage and is fair to all.
The Register (7:38:05 PM)
Sun's stealth mode P2P gets modular. Software needs wetware
Nelson's Weblog (7:38:04 PM)
A Watch that Ticks. I love mechanical watches; beautiful, precise workmanship, slightly anachronistic...
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (6:39:25 PM)
Europe targets the Moon. Europe's first mission to the Moon looks set for a July blast-off - but much will depend on the flight readiness of the spacecraft's launch rocket.
BBC News | World | UK Edition (6:39:22 PM)
China congress looks to future. China's parliament opens for its annual session, at which a new generation of leaders is due to take the reins of power.
inessential.com (6:39:21 PM)
NetNewsWire 1.0.1b2. NetNewsWire 1.0.1b2 contains mostly fixes for the new XML-RPC code the weblog editor uses.
It’s still a beta! There are plenty more bugs to fix.
By the way, I hope to release my new XML-RPC client under a BSD license some time this week.BBC News | UK | UK Edition (6:39:19 PM)
Runaways 'facing abuse and violence'. Thousands of child runaways are being exposed to sexual abuse and violence, according to the biggest ever UK survey of why people go missing.
Radio failure caused road chaos. The Highways Agency admits a radio failure among its gritting teams contributed to road chaos during January's snow storms.
Prescott's council tax warning. The deputy prime minister tells local authorities he may use "reserve capping powers" to limit council tax rises.
Chelsea hosts football racism conference. The UK is hosting Europe's first anti-racism in football conference.
Wealthy users dominate internet. Prosperous south-east England has the most homes connected to the internet and Wales the fewest, according to a study.
New York Times: NYT HomePage (6:39:18 PM)
China Legislature to Name New President. BEIJING (AP) -- China convened a landmark session of its largely toothless legislature Wednesday, preparing to anoint a new generation of leaders who will shepherd Asia's fastest-growing economy through fundamental economic and social change. By The Associated Press.
Bombing Kills an American and 20 Others in Philippines. The bomb exploded just outside an international airport in the southern Philippines, a region at the center of a Muslim insurgency. By Seth Mydans.
New York Times: Technology (6:39:16 PM)
Google Expands With Advertising Links. Google Inc. is trying to build upon the Web's most popular search engine to create the Internet's most powerful advertising vehicle. By The Associated Press.
New York Times: Books (6:39:05 PM)
American and European Differences. Robert Kagan's book captures the mood of today's crisis between the United States and many of its old European allies. By Ivo H. Daalder.
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (6:39:03 PM)
US boosts forces near N Korea. The US steps up its military presence in the west Pacific after North Korean jets intercepted a US spy plane.
China congress looks to future. China's parliament opens for its annual session, at which a new generation of leaders is due to take the reins of power.
Arrests follow Philippines blast. Police arrest several men in connection with a bomb blast at Davao City airport which killed at least 19 people and injured more than 100.
New York Times: International (6:39:02 PM)
Dollar Hits Its Lowest Point in 4 Years. The dollar fell to its lowest point in almost four years against the euro today after Treasury Secretary John W. Snow said that he was "not particularly concerned" about the dollar, which has dropped 20 percent in the last year against the euro. By Bloomberg News.
South Korea to Open Inquiry Into 6 Large Conglomerates. The Korean government is conducting an investigation of six of the nation's largest conglomerates on suspicion of illegal securities transactions. By Don Kirk.
Canada Raises a Major Interest Rate a Quarter Point. The Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest rate for the fourth time in a year. By Bernard Simon.
Sales Slow as Germans Pile Up Empty Soda Cans. Germany's new deposit law on cans and bottles has sharply reduced beverage sales, causing hardship in a $15 billion industry. By Otto Pohl.
Safety Issues Prompt Woods to Skip Event. If not for the threat of war, Tiger Woods would be in the United Arab Emirates this week, competing in the Dubai Desert Classic. By Clifton Brown.
Rights Group Calls for End to Inheriting African Wives. Human Rights Watch condemned the African practice of wife inheritance, in which a widow is transferred to a male relative of her deceased husband. By Marc Lacey.
Crisis in Italy's State Network Stirs New Claims Against Premier. Silvio Berlusconi is facing new accusations of conflict of interest, brought on by a crisis at the state broadcasting network RAI. By The New York Times.
Europe Hacker Laws Could Make Protest a Crime. The new laws intended to deter computer hacking could pose problems because the language could also outlaw people who organize protests online. By Paul Meller.
Qaeda Operative Is 'Hero' to Some in Pakistan. The spokesman for Pakistan's largest Islamic party said Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, should be considered a "hero of Islam." By Erik Eckholm.
Hussein's Likely Plan: Make a Stand in Baghdad. If attacked, Saddam Hussein plans to make his stand in Baghdad. It is as much a political strategy as a military one. By Michael R. Gordon.
Bombing Kills an American and 20 Others in Philippines. The bomb exploded just outside an international airport in the southern Philippines, a region at the center of a Muslim insurgency. By Seth Mydans.
kottke.org remainders (6:39:00 PM)
new Radiohead on June 10. new Radiohead on June 10 ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod woo hoo!
New York Times: Arts (6:38:48 PM)
CBS Plans Expanded Coverage of the Tonys. CBS, which has split the Tony Award broadcast with PBS for five years, will carry all three hours of the ceremony in June. By Bill Carter.
Some Reality-Show Mutations Have Survival Value. Like dung beetles, Fox reality shows have an ingenious ability to put embarrassing material to use. By Alessandra Stanley.
Fairy Tale Figures for 'Faust'. For his 1990 Metropolitan Opera production of Gounod's opera, which was revived on Monday night, Hal Prince evidently chose to stress the fairy tale aspect. By Anne Midgette.
Bedfellows Tangled on a Field of Battle. John Patrick Shanley has created one of the liveliest, boldest and funniest studies ever of a subject that even hard-core satirists approach on tiptoe. By Ben Brantley.
In Garcia's Shadow, the Dead's New Guitarist Has His Own Sound. Jimmy Herring was asked by the surviving members of the Dead to fill Jerry Garcia's role, as if such a thing were possible. By Ben Ratliff.
CNET News.com (6:38:29 PM)
SAP expands small-business push. The business software maker expands an initiative to target small and medium-size businesses with five new software packages and plans for at least 20 more.
CNET News.com - Entertainment & Media (6:38:25 PM)
U.S., software maker craft Arabic tool. A Massachusetts-based software maker has been working with intelligence agencies to create an "Arabic language analyzer," which could help in the search for al-Qaida operatives.
The Village Voice Most Emailed (6:38:18 PM)
CNET News.com - Enterprise (6:38:16 PM)
SAP expands small-business push. The business software maker expands an initiative to target small and medium-size businesses with five new software packages and plans for at least 20 more.
New York Times: Business (6:38:09 PM)
World Business Briefing: Americas. CANADA: Jet Maker Misses Financial Targets; ARGENTINA: Cellphone Stake Sold;.
The Village Voice Most Emailed (5:39:07 PM)
Richard Goldstein: Stealth Misogyny
CNET News.com - Entertainment & Media (5:39:07 PM)
AOL Time Warner gets new technology czar. A former CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment has been appointed to lead an effort to coordinate technology efforts across AOL Time Warner, a source familiar with the company says.
Supreme Court curbs trademarks' reach. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling gave a suprise legal boost to Americans who own Internet domains that criticize corporations or use their trademarks.
Congress sets up cybersecurity panel. In a sign of the government's heightened interest in securing the Internet, the U.S. Congress votes to create a committee devoted to cybersecurity.
CNET News.com (5:38:59 PM)
AOL Time Warner gets new technology czar. A former CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment has been appointed to lead an effort to coordinate technology efforts across AOL Time Warner, a source familiar with the company says.
Supreme Court curbs trademarks' reach. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling gave a suprise legal boost to Americans who own Internet domains that criticize corporations or use their trademarks.
Mac fans wait for 17-inch PowerBook. Mini Me may have his 17-inch PowerBook, but the rest of the world is having to wait as Apple Computer is apparently having problems ramping up production of the extrawide notebook.
Casio debuts 3-megapixel digital camera
Congress sets up cybersecurity panel. In a sign of the government's heightened interest in securing the Internet, the U.S. Congress votes to create a committee devoted to cybersecurity.
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (5:38:51 PM)
Blair delays NI elections. Northern Ireland Assembly elections will be postponed until the end of May to allow time for more talks on the peace process.
Runaways 'facing abuse and violence'. Thousands of child runaways are being exposed to sexual abuse and violence, according to the biggest ever UK survey of why people go missing.
China set for key meeting. China's parliament is set to approve a new leadership, including Party chief Hu Jintao as president.
CNET News.com - Enterprise (5:38:45 PM)
New Office beta to launch next week. Microsoft plans to officially release Office 2003 Beta 2 on Monday, about three weeks after an accidental posting of the software.
Hack the Planet (5:38:34 PM)
The Inquirer: BeOS rises from the dead in Zeta incarnation.
Ka-Ping Yee has some Palladium, er, NGSCB observations from the DRM conference which I have been too busy to comment on so far.
InfoSync: The Sony Ericsson T610 unveiled. Looks nice, although MMS is a scam.
The Register: MS aims at Linux with $399 Server 2003, Web Edition.
LA Times: Apple online music service wins kudos. Just a rumor, but an interesting one.
Mercury News: Sony chip could transform video-game industry. "With the PS 3, Sony will apparently put 72 processors on a single chip: eight PowerPC microprocessors, each of which controls eight auxiliary processors." LOL.
Slashdot (5:38:30 PM)
Another Garbage Patent. *no comment* writes "Literally "garbage patent" that is, Apple was rewarded a patent for the "Garbage" icon in Mac OS X. The patent documents can be found at ...
New York Times: International (5:38:28 PM)
Israeli Troops Kill 3 in Separate Incidents in West Bank and Gaza. In separate shooting incidents and clashes, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians, as the White House issued a rare caution to Israel. By James Bennet.
The Doc Searls Weblog (5:38:18 PM)
I love construction games. And I love marbles. So does my kid. So now Bernie has convinced me that we need Cuboro. It consists of blocks with channels and holes that allow you to build complex constructions through which marbles can travel, propelled by the battery we call gravity.
I love the fact that it's carved and polished wood instead of molded plastic, just like I love the fact that marbles are glass.
CNET News.com - Personal Technology (5:38:15 PM)
Mac fans wait for 17-inch PowerBook. Mini Me may have his 17-inch PowerBook, but the rest of the world is having to wait as Apple Computer is apparently having problems ramping up production of the extrawide notebook.
Casio debuts 3-megapixel digital camera
New York Times: Business (5:38:13 PM)
South African Phone Giant Offers Shares. Telkom South Africa, the national telephone monopoly, went public with the sale by the government of a quarter of its shares. By Nicole Itano.
Canada Raises a Major Interest Rate a Quarter Point. The Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest rate for the fourth time in a year. By Bernard Simon.
South Korea to Open Inquiry Into 6 Large Conglomerates. The Korean government is conducting an investigation of six of the nation's largest conglomerates on suspicion of illegal securities transactions. By Don Kirk.
Sales Slow as Germans Pile Up Empty Soda Cans. Germany's new deposit law on cans and bottles has sharply reduced beverage sales, causing hardship in a $15 billion industry. By Otto Pohl.
Boing Boing Blog (5:38:07 PM)
Dave Winer: How to get audblog to work with Userland. In Dave Winer's blog today: instructions on how to get audblog to work with Radio Userland. Link, Discuss, (Thanks, Grant)!
Jack Kirby's design for a theme park. Next to Robert Crumb, the late Jack Kirby is my all time favorite cartoonist. (My last spoken word will probably be "Kamandi.") Here are some of his mind bending designs for a never-built theme park. Wow! Link Discuss (Thanks, Zed!)
New York Times: NYT HomePage (4:38:59 PM)
China's Dance of Political Power Is Set to Open in Beijing. When China's annual legislative session opens on Wednesday, personalities will loom large and policies will be an afterthought. By Elisabeth Rosenthal.
Stocks Fall on War Fears. Renewed fears about war and terrorism tormented Wall Street today, sending the Dow Jones industrials to their lowest level in nearly five months. By The Associated Press.
Don Park's Blog (4:38:56 PM)
Duh. Basic idea of what I described has not only been done, there is even a name: wardriving. I remember reading about a guy who did that in NY sometime back, but didn't connect the dots. Duh Again. I also found several sites where WiFi maps can be found. Here is a national one and here is site where more detailed maps can be found although its SF area map shows WiFi points offshore. Are these warboats or errors?
While GPS-based solution is done, I have not yet located one that uses addresses entered by WiFi station operators. I did find an address to GPS coordinate mapping servce. Wow! This means all I need is a bit of software and lots of publicity to get WiFi Worldmap project off the ground. Cool!
New York Times: Business (4:38:52 PM)
Some Reality-Show Mutations Have Survival Value. Like dung beetles, Fox reality shows have an ingenious ability to put embarrassing material to use. By Alessandra Stanley.
CBS Plans Expanded Coverage Of the Tonys. CBS, which has split the Tony Award broadcast with PBS for five years, will carry all three hours of the ceremony in June. By Bill Carter.
O'Reilly Network Articles (4:38:43 PM)
The Subtleties of Mac OS X. Jason McIntosh, coauthor of Mac OS X in a Nutshell, provides a rundown of some of his favorite, lesser-known Mac OS X features, from developer tools to network services to Unix text-editing tools.
HTTP Communication from Within the Oracle Database. In this latest installment in their continuing series on new Oracle 9i features, Steven Feuerstein, coauthor of Oracle PL/SQL Programming, 3rd Edition, and Bryn Llewellyn take a look at Utl_Http and show how you can use it in an Oracle 9i database to implement a requestor in a B2B implementation.
Review of the O'Reilly Network Safari Bookshelf. Thomas Duff of the Portland Domino/Notes User Group reviews the O'Reilly Network Safari Bookshelf.
ASP.NET Data Controls Part 2: Repeater. In his last article, Wei-Meng Lee talked about using the DataGrid server control. The DataGrid control is a versatile control and allows a high degree of customization. However, if your intention is to simply display items from a data source as a HTML table, there is a simpler control–-the Repeater control.
Intro to Managed C++, Part 2: Mixing Managed and Unmanaged Code. In the first article of the series, Sam Gentile focused on what Managed C++ was, some of its advantages and roles, and scenarios in which it excelled. One of those scenarios is the focus of this article: the ability to mix managed and unmanaged code in the same module.
Testing SMP Kernel Modules with UML. Code that works well on a single-processor box may fail spectacularly on a multiprocessor box. Until recently, the only way to test this was to use a two-, four-, or more-way machine. Not anymore! Jerry Cooperstein introduces UML (User Mode Linux) and demonstrates how to emulate a multiprocessor machine with it by testing kernel modules.
SMP UML, OpenSSL, Systrace Policies, and Apache Configuration. Online version of the Linux Newsletter for March 3, 2003.
Free EJB Tools, Marrying Flash MX to Java. Online version of the ONJava Newsletter for 27 February 2003.
CNET News.com - Communications (4:38:36 PM)
Sony Ericsson unveils new phones. The handset partnership between Sony and Ericsson unveil several new cell phones, including a camera phone with a built-in flash.
BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition (4:38:31 PM)
Hospitals 'fiddled' waiting list figures. A spotcheck of hospitals has found over half wrongly reported how many people are waiting for treatment - some deliberately.
BBC News | World | UK Edition (4:38:27 PM)
Hussain quits one-day job. Nasser Hussain steps down as one-day captain after England's exit from the World Cup.
CNET News.com - E-Business (4:38:26 PM)
Siebel phases out acquired software. The software maker plans to discontinue support for financial services software it acquired in 2000, opening a door for competitors to vie for major customers still using the aging product.
Slashdot (4:38:24 PM)
Convergence of P2P and Grid Predicted. tom_conte writes "From the proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Peer-to-Peer Systems (IPTPS'03), "On Death, Taxes, and the Convergence of ...
O'Reilly Network Articles (4:38:18 PM)
Swarm Intelligence. Online version of the Network Newsletter for February 25, 2003.
ASP.NET Data Controls Part 1: DataGrids. One of the most powerful server controls in ASP.NET is no doubt the DataGrid control. The DataGrid control is a multi-column, data-bound ASP.NET server control. Using the DataGrid control, you can display records from a database using a variety of formats. In this article, Wei-Meng Lee shows you how to create and use the DataGrid.
Using Delegates Asynchronously. In Satya Komatineni's article "Understanding the Nuances of Delegates in C#," the concept of delegates and their general pattern of usage in C# was introduced. This article by Richard Blewett takes the subject further and looks at another feature of delegates-–the built-in ability to perform tasks asynchronously by handing off work to the system thread pool.
OpenSSL Timing Attack. Noel Davis looks at problems in OpenSSL, Oracle, mod_php, MySQL, pam_xauth, VNC, apcupsd, nethack, Rogue, and BitchX.
PAM, Reverse-Engineering Games, Linux for Finance, and the PHP ch-functions. Online version of the Linux Newsletter for February 24, 2003.
Scripting News (4:38:18 PM)
Here's a pic of Mena Trott, myself and Ben Trott at the Sunday party. This was just after we had a great talk. These are nice and smart people who we can definitely work with. Jason DeFillippo is in the background. ";->"
A national WiFi map from Don Park.
Marc Barrot: Outlined RSS Comes to the Browser.
A list of "known blogs authored by known (or suspected) Microsoft employees."
WiFinder enables "locations, companies and individuals to offer, use and profit from wireless LAN service."
Aaron Swartz reports that AllTheWeb has redesigned to look more like Google. Good idea.
Justin Hall: "I'll put my brain in Dave Winer's hands for a little while." Scary thought.
Glenn Reynolds: "The 'Raging Cow' campaign, I predict, will exude all the hipness of those 1970s-era Soviet rock bands. All the elements of hipness will be there, but somehow the whole will be less than the sum of the parts."
CNET News.com (4:38:17 PM)
Sony Ericsson unveils new phones. The handset partnership between Sony and Ericsson unveil several new cell phones, including a camera phone with a built-in flash.
Hackers' code exploits Sendmail flaw. A group of four Polish hackers publish code that can take advantage of the mail-server flaw on some Linux platforms and stress that other ways most likely exist.
Siebel phases out acquired software. The software maker plans to discontinue support for financial services software it acquired in 2000, opening a door for competitors to vie for major customers still using the aging product.
The Village Voice Most Popular (4:38:14 PM)
Richard Goldstein: Stealth Misogyny
InfoWorld: Top News (4:38:13 PM)
In Sendmail threat, beginnings of a cyber plan
Microsoft hits the road to show MS CRM
Analysis: Anti-virus players sink teeth into spam
BBC News | UK | UK Edition (4:38:11 PM)
Hospitals 'fiddled' waiting list figures. A spotcheck of hospitals has found over half wrongly reported how many people are waiting for treatment - some deliberately.
Blair delays NI elections. Northern Ireland Assembly elections will be postponed until the end of May to allow time for more talks on the peace process.
CNET News.com - Enterprise (4:38:06 PM)
Hackers' code exploits Sendmail flaw. A group of four Polish hackers publish code that can take advantage of the mail-server flaw on some Linux platforms and stress that other ways most likely exist.
