Duncan Murphy's Radio Weblog

Father Ron. Pedophile or warm and giving priest? Both, says a young man with fond -- but tarnished -- memories of a good man. [Salon.com]

'Happy' mice skew results. Improvements in animal welfare in scientific laboratories are having an unexpected effect on test results. [BBC News: sci/tech] I knew it. Pass that smile along! :-)

Live Longer With the DNA Diet. Forget an apple a day. Modern science is looking at diet on a molecular level. Welcome to the era of nutrigenomics. By Daithí Ó hAnluain. [Wired News] This may work for people who don't like to eat, but really!

Amazon settles 1-Click patent dispute. Line drawing [The Register] Settled, but how? If a patent dispute is settled, but no one knows how, does it make a difference?

Hacking with a Pringles tube. Empty cans of Pringles crisps could soon be helping malicious hackers spot wireless networks that are vulnerable to attack. [BBC News: sci/tech] Wait until the hacker's get ahold of those new triangle boxes.

Do OS Vendors Sell Lemons?. A government panel responsible for computer security is told that computer vendors knowingly sell vulnerable systems. Robert Zarate reports from Washington. [Wired News] Here is another example of the sin of ommision. If you [Micorsoft, for example} don't tell someone about a vulnerability, it surprise!, still is vulnerable.

Lied to! The web hosting company of my client's choice has, simply put, lied to us. They are running a virtual linux server on top of NT. How does this help the user? I can't suppose that support for this type of system is simpler than just supporting a linux box. As for the inherent overhead of running NT and this virtual server software...My client needs a fairly heavy database to run on a daily basis. This set-up better not crash and burn.

Open Source Is on the Air. Who needs a sleeping pill when you can listen to Radio Free Linux? The entire Linux kernel, all 4 million lines of code, is being broadcast for the next year and a half. By Kim Griggs. [Wired News] Hey, just like in AntiTrust

Microsoft CEO: State sanctions would destroy Windows [IDG InfoWorld] Yes, now they're threatening to take away Windows! Please, please don't! We'll be good, honest!--As if.

Fairfax IT: Apple chief blasts labels. Steve Jobs is pleased to have been awarded a Grammy by the recording industry last Wednesday night, for technical achievements in music for Apple Computer. But that doesn't stop him from criticising record labels' efforts in digital distribution. [Tomalak's Realm] I hate to say it, but Steve's point of view may, may be clouded by Apple's own involvement in the mp3 revolution.

Bush vows Mid-East peace moves. President Bush says he will redouble efforts to end Middle East violence, as bloodshed in the region continues unabated. [BBC News: world] If only the Administration could take a fresh stance, not one connected to Saudi Arabia or Israel.

~What the Middle East papers say. March 5: Amid one of the worst cycles of violence since the start of the intifada in Israel, Chris Alden reviews the English-language press in the Middle East. [Guardian Unlimited] The local press shows some balance, yet the press doesn't drive either side.

No Letup in Mideast Violence; 5 Israelis and 2 Palestinians Killed. The violence showed no sign of ending today after a series of attacks, including one on an Arab school claimed by a previously unknown Jewish group. [The New York Times: International News] I think by now it is clear that this mess won't clean itself up. The question is, who will?

US steel tariffs anger allies. Trade war looms as President Bush throws the US steel industry a lifeline by announcing tariffs of up to 30% on imports. [BBC News: world] America stands behind the free market...unless it doesn't.

Pioneer 10 makes contact. One of the most distant probes ever launched into space has contacted Earth to say all is well. [BBC News: sci/tech] This thing is over 9 billion miles from here and it just keeps on going.

Ides of March. According to a local Sunday Supplement article aimed at kids, the Romans marked the date by decrementing from certain named days such as the ides. So today would be XVI Ides of March. Hmm.

Macintouch has a link to a very cool [but non-Mac] aluminum cube casemod. It has an Athlon 1200 w/ Elsa Gladiac 920 on an Abit KT7A board. The two 60 GB IBM disks are setup in RAID 0. Very cool!