One Canuck's Radio Weblog

  Friday, 28 May 2004

.< 6:21:03 PM >
U.N. Envoy Picks Iraqi With Close U.S. Ties to Be Premier

Dr. Iyad Allawi, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, has been chosen to be prime minister of Iraq's interim government. [New York Times: International]

Duh

< 11:38:24 AM >

Bias Inc. has started shipping SoundSoap Pro, an audio-restoration plug-in compatible with Mac OS X and Windows XP intended for use by professional audio producers, engineers and others. The software features a four-in-one tabbed interface featuring Hum & Rumble, Click & Crackle, Broadband and Noise Gate capabilities. A real-time spectrogram, 12 level meters, attack, release and tilt controls are included. SoundSoap Pro works with every major plug-in host, according to Bias, including Bias Peak 4, Pro Tools, Avid Express DV, Peak 4, Logic Audio and Digital Performer, and others. It costs US$599; SoundSoap users can upgrade for $499. [MacCentral]

< 11:02:16 AM >

A minister issues a dramatic warning about the level of protests expected during a visit by George W Bush. [BBC News | World | UK Edition] '"If a criminal of the calibre of Bush is given the red carpet treatment, then rage is the right reaction," said anti-globalisation activist Luca Casarini.

"Confronted by a heavily-defended Rome that is looking to protect that terrorist Bush, the only thing to do is break the rules," he told La Stampa newspaper.'

< 2:06:34 AM >

Cuba and Mexico say they are to return their respective envoys to try to smooth strained relations. [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

< 2:05:36 AM >

Analysis: The world has focused on US soldiers' abuse of Iraqi prisoners. But the leaked inquiry reveals incompetence worthy of Joseph Heller's novel, writes David Leigh. [Guardian Unlimited] 'Why are US soldiers of such poor quality? One reason for the alarming level of incompetence appears to be that many officers and foot-soldiers are not professionals. They are two-week-a-year reservists. The 320th military police battalion, at the heart of the abuse scandal, was a reserve unit based near Scranton, Pennsylvania. Karpinski, in charge of the brigade, was a corporate management consultant in civilian life. Phillabaum, in charge of the battalion, was a reservist. The company commander, Captain Donald Reese, who "failed to properly supervise his soldiers", was a salesman.

And, as Naomi Klein has pointed out on these pages, many troops were from the poorest parts of rural West Virginia. They had often joined the reserve to pay their way through college, or to get medical care.

The present US administration, led by defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, is trying to exploit these 200,000 army reservists, to get a smaller, lighter, cheaper, full-time army, as well as seeking to privatise many jobs out to commercial firms.'

< 1:50:37 AM >

The EyeHome digital media player from Elgato Systems is a small silver box that links the Mac to the television set so that music, photo and video files stored on the computer's hard drive can be seen and heard through the TV and home theater system. [New York Times: Technology]

< 1:45:44 AM >

Dalet has announced that CBC/Radio-Canada will deploy DaletPlus Radio Suite across its national radio networks. This installation will be among the largest systems in existence. [ProSound News]

< 1:26:19 AM >

Non-Americans using the Input Menu are often irritated by the US flag in the menu bar. Unfortunately, if you use the default keyboard that came with your Mac, chances are you must use the US keyboard layout (e.g. I live in Ca... [macosxhints]

Of course this was posted by a Canuck! I just select only one keyboard input device and nothing appears in my (already overcrowded) menu bar.

< 1:20:56 AM >

Roxio Inc. announced Wednesday that its Napster online music service has launched in Canada. It's the second major international expansion of the service, which recently debuted in the UK. Napster 2.0 launches in Canada with more than 300,000 tracks from the five major record labels -- BMG, EMI, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Canada and Warner Music Canada, as well as a number of independent labels. [MacCentral]