One Canuck's Radio Weblog

  Friday, 21 May 2004

.< 4:58:59 PM >
Poll finds voters jaded and volatile

[GAM-National] 'The mood of voters, according to a new Globe and Mail/CTV poll, is decidedly jaded toward the governing party. While almost three-quarters of voters say they believe the Liberals will win the election, most question whether the party deserves the prize. This is true of a remarkable percentage of Liberals as well, who generally appear less inclined to cast a ballot than do Conservative supporters.'

< 2:45:31 PM >

Scott Shuda found this Gem...

Did Bill Gates shake the blogosphere? By Frank Barnako, May 21, 2004 -- Bill Gates told Warren Buffett about blogging on Thursday who was in attendance at the eighth annual CEO summit put on by Microsoft (MSFT) in Redmond, Wash. Also on hand were Barry Diller of InteractiveCorp (IACI), Carly Fiorina of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com (AMZN) and Dell Inc.'s (DELL) own Michael Dell. They all heard Gates describe blogs and RSS feeds as tools that "make it very easy to communicate" with customers, suppliers and employees. The result, according to New York public-relations executive Steve Rubel, is likely to be a number of meetings of executives and their PR people and IT managers to explore this "blogging thing Bill Gates talked about." Rubel, of CooperKatz & Co., also wrote Friday morning, "The blogosphere changed. It feels very much like 1995 all over again." [Investors Business Daily]

Looks like we're goin' mainstream.

< 2:41:58 PM >

With wireless Internet access growing across the United States much the same way that cell phone coverage did a decade ago, more and more companies are joining the push toward Wi-Fi for all. One such company is AnchorFree Wireless, which recently launched wireless Internet access available indoors and outdoors in downtown Palo Alto, Calif. for US$4.99 per month. AnchorFree offers coverage along a half-mile stretch of the city, in the heart of Silicon Valley and less than a mile from Stanford University. [MacCentral]

< 2:40:53 PM >

AudioLunchbox.com, a music download service that features independent artists and labels, announced Wednesday that it has added 100 new labels and plans to have 250,000 additional tracks online by mid-July. The service features higher music downloads encoded at higher bitrates than is available at the iTunes Music Store, available in the user's choice of either MP3 or Ogg Vorbis formats. [MacCentral]

< 2:35:39 PM >

A team of open-source developers has released software, dubbed PearPC, that emulates the PowerPC processor architecture and enables users to run Mac OS and some Unix operating systems on PCs powered by Intel’s x86-architecture processors. [Computerworld Macintosh News]

< 2:30:42 PM >

The macosxhints Rating:[Score: 10 out of 10]Developer: PIXTURE STUDIO / Product Page Price: Free! This week's Pick of the Week is actually a slew of interesting contextual menu (CM) plug-ins from Hide Itoh, who has been invol... [macosxhints]

< 2:25:43 PM >

Apple Computer Inc. confirmed on Thursday a Reuters report stating that a new iPod division had been set up at the company, splitting the Macintosh and iPod hardware segments. While Apple said this would allow the company to focus resources on the iPod, analysts believe that it solidifies the importance of the iPod within Apple and could be the start of something bigger for the company, such as the release of other digital devices. [MacCentral]

< 2:25:12 PM >

The first dual-layer DVD+R recording media are set to go on sale in Japan at the end of this month and overseas in June, disc maker Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co. Ltd. said Friday. The discs were developed jointly by Mitsubishi Kagaku, which uses the Verbatim brand-name, and Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV and offer 8.5GB of recording space compared to the 4.7GB of space available on a standard DVD+R disc. [MacCentral]

< 11:45:19 AM >

BBC: "In a speech to an audience of chief executives, Mr Gates said the regularly updated journals, or blogs, could be a good way for firms to tell customers, staff and partners what they are doing." [Scripting News]

Of course other people have been saying this for years. Gates' endorsement will give the concept a big push.

< 11:37:43 AM >

In recent years, Toronto, Ottawa and Calgary have enacted sweeping bylaws restricting tobacco use, and Nunavut is following suit. [New York Times: International]

< 11:31:14 AM >

The raid on Ahmad Chalabi's offices was a remarkable reversal for a man who worked furiously to plot Saddam Hussein's fall. [New York Times: International] 'Over the years, the Iraqi National Congress has received about $33 million from the State Department, according to a new General Accounting Office report. In addition it got $6 million from the Defense Intelligence Agency. In return, Mr. Chalabi provided intelligence on weapons that one senior American intelligence official described earlier this week as "useless at best, and misleading at worst." Other officials say Mr. Chalabi's group was more accurate in identifying the whereabouts of former Saddam Hussein loyalists.'

< 11:27:33 AM >

Officials said they were seeking to arrest employees of Ahmad Chalabi who they believed were involved in kidnapping and embezzlement. [New York Times: International] 'The raid was a final rupture in what had been the administration's most important personal relationship in Iraq. It was the intelligence provided by Mr. Chalabi's network, and backed by Mr. Chalabi's ties to high-level Pentagon officials, that helped galvanize support in the Bush administration for an invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein.

But the relationship has markedly deteriorated in recent weeks as Mr. Chalabi criticized Americans for not turning over enough power to the new Iraqi government when sovereignty is formally restored on June 30. He also clashed with American officials over the decision to resurrect members of Mr. Hussein's Baath Party in positions of power.'

< 11:24:15 AM >

US election: One of Colin Powell's aides has shown TV viewers what the Bush administration is really like, says Philip James. [Guardian Unlimited] 'Russert got the chance to ask his last question of Powell, on how he felt now about all the bogus intelligence he was given to present as fact to the UN in the month before the war. But a much larger point had already been made: with the possible exception of Colin Powell, this administration believes itself to be beyond criticism.

The Soviet-style manner in which Republican operative Miller, who used to work for the majority leader, Tom "the Hammer" DeLay, tried to muzzle an interviewer once the questioning no longer pleased her betrayed an arrogance that goes to the core of this White House. [snip] the seeds of this administration's hubris are springing up all over.'

< 11:19:44 AM >

American soldiers shown abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. [Guardian Unlimited] 'Hooded and cloaked men are handcuffed to hallway rails. A prisoner in flexible handcuffs is made to use a banana to simulate anal sex. Two naked male detainees are handcuffed to each other. A naked detainee hangs upside down from a top bunk. Another naked detainee grimaces, his face pressed against the ground, a soldier bending his arm behind his back. Blood covers the detainee's left knee, and another soldier grabs his right leg. [snip] The situation inside the prison became so chaotic that U.S. soldiers turned their cameras on themselves, filming scenes of consensual sex.'

< 12:01:20 AM >

Survivors describe wedding massacre as generals refuse to apologise. [Guardian Unlimited] 'By the time the sun rose on Wednesday over the Rakat family house, the raid had claimed 42 lives, according to Hamdi Noor al-Alusi, manager of the al-Qaim general hospital, the nearest to the village.

Among the dead were 27 members of the extended Rakat family, their wedding guests and even the band of musicians hired to play at the ceremony, among them Hussein al-Ali from Ramadi, one of the most popular singers in western Iraq.'