June 19, 2003

Unisys’ patent on Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) compression expires tomorrow. With this patenet Unisys claimed rights over the GIF image format which used LZW as its compression method. I’m waiting for the XOR patent to expire. 10:06:05 PM

Writing in Forbes, Daniel Lyons warns open source and Linux advocates not to take SCO’s lawsuit against IBM too lightly, the company is backed by a group of people with a history of winning legal battles. 9:55:17 PM

Slate reviewer says "Hulk bad." 9:54:51 PM

The Jerusalem Post reports that Israeli Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with US officials to make the case for the construction of a security fence between Israel and the West Bank. One thing to note is that the article states: He pointed out that more than 250 suicide bombers had come from the West Bank and not a single one from the Gaza Strip, which is fenced. However, thanks to an Italian journalist who gave two suicide bombers a lift across a Gaza checkpoint to this is no longer true. 12:35:45 AM

The security fence between Israel and the West Bank did in fact extend past the spot where 7-year-old Noam Leibowitz was killed. A report indicates that the terrorists, who shot at the car she was in, breached the fence by cutting the grate blocking a drainage pipe that passed under the eight-meter-high wall. A nearby lookout post was unmanned at the time. 12:33:57 AM

Birthright Israel co-founder Charles Bronfman was presented with the Keren Hayesod-United Israel Appeal's Nadiv Award at a gala ceremony at Latrun, Israel Wednesday night. Founded by Bronfman and Michael Steinhardt, the Birthright Israel program has brought tens of thousands of young Diaspora Jews on free trips to Israel. Go Bus 8! 12:33:05 AM

The James ossuary is a fake, as is the Joash inscription a stone tablet with fifteen lines of ancient Hebrew detailing improvements at the Temple. 12:32:48 AM

The Guardian has an obituary of General Mohamed Abdel Ghani al-Gamasy, command of chief of Egyptian military operations during the 1973 Yom Kippur War sneak attack. Some military mastermind – cross a largely unguarded canal under a Soviet run anti-aircraft missile umbrella, sit still for a while and when you forces move forward get repulsed. Then have another army get surrounded on your own side of the canal and have the Soviets threaten to intervene to bail you at. 12:32:18 AM