Friday, March 08, 2002

Chinese Explorers 'Discovered America'? [Slashdot] The theory being advanced is that the Chinese voyages of exploration in the early 15th century reached America, among many other places. I've read as much as I could find about those voyages, which isn't much. The ships used were much larger than the largest wooden ships ever build by Europeans, and there's no doubt they could have reached America, or circumnavigated the globe. The question is, did they really? The Chinese government deliberately destroyed as many records as they could about the voyages and suppressed the technology used to build the ships (thus ensuring China's place as a third-world country), so it's hard to say for sure what they really did. The best source of information I know of is When China Ruled the Seas. Not too expensive, and very readable. comment () trackback ()  10:52:18 AM     PGP deep-freezed - NAI shrugs. Andrew Orlowski at The Register - PGP deep-freezed - NAI shrugs - Network Associates hasn't found a buyer for Pretty Good Privacy and is no longer selling licenses. No problem. You want the freeware from PGPi anyway, though I don't know if anyone is keeping it working in newer OS versions. [grabbe] John Ashcroft has been drumming the beat recently, reminding the tech industry that a "lucrative surveillance state" (in our Tom's words) can be built from the ashes of the September 11 attacks. This obviously doesn't extend to personal privacy software. Are we the only people who find the neglect of PGP somewhat fishy? [End the War on Freedom] I don't think there's any conspiracy here. NAI was neglecting PGP long before September 11th--remember that Phil Zimmerman left over a year ago. It's more a case of NAI management's total incompetence, which affects all areas of their business. I bought the Mac version of PGP from them in 1998 or 1999, and it was incredibly difficult. I spent about a week searching their web page for some sign of how to buy it. Their tech support was notoriously worthless as well. comment () trackback ()  10:34:46 AM     Arrivederci, Svizerra. Michael Gilson De Lemos at LewRockwell.com - Arrivederci, Svizerra - Mr. De Lemos lived in Switzerland between the ages of 12 and 14. He talks of all the things he liked about it, in the past tense, as they will soon be now that Switzerland has joined the commU.N.ists. [lew] [End the War on Freedom] Interesting article about life in another free country (which has given up that freedom). It reminds me of the stories I've heard about life in the US before I was born. comment () trackback ()  10:28:44 AM     Bloodiest day of Mid-East clashes. The death toll in fighting between Palestinians and Israelis reaches the highest level in a single day since the current uprising began. [BBC News: world] The US and UN are still making concerned noises about a truce. They're wasting their time--boths sides have to want a truce, and the Palestinians don't. If the Israelis try to declare a truce, they will only allow the PLO to regroup and plan new terrorist acts. comment () trackback ()  10:02:19 AM

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