June 12, 2003

Anti-American journalists and the museum looting that wasn't. Opinionjournal (Roger Kimball) - In the New York Times, Maureen Dowd skirled about coalition forces "guarding the Iraqi Oil Ministry building while hundreds of Iraqis ransacked and ran off with precious heirlooms and artifacts from a 7,000-year-old civilization."  "it's nonsense. It isn't true. It's made up. It's bollocks." It wasn't the crazed Iraqi populace that denuded the museums but careful Iraqi curators, who spirited the swag away into vaults and secret storerooms before the war even began. " 11:04:30 AM

Khamenei Calls For Restraint Against Protestors Voice of America - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is urging hard-line vigilantes not to intervene after two nights of protests against the country's unelected Muslim clerical regime. 9:15:23 AM

Getting More From Google TechnologyReview.com - Google is a triumph of high technology, supreme usability, and hacker chic. But you can make it work better by investing a little time to learn a few Google tricks. 8:36:29 AM

I was on CJOB with my friends Larry Updike and Brian Barkley this morning, and the conversation drifted to finding music, online, that might be out of print.  I mentioned that in Canada we pay a tariff on every CD-R, CD-RW, Minidisc, and even blank audio cassette.  So it is legal for us to copy recorded music for our own personal use. 6:59:57 AM

MS buys anti-virus company Geek.com - Microsoft is tooling up to enter the anti-virus software market by acquiring the anti-virus and security technology company GeCAD Software, based in Bucharest, Romania. The company is privately held and was founded in 1992.  Microsoft touts the purchase as a part of its Trustworthy Computing Initiative, which is driving enhancements in the security of Microsoft products. 6:22:07 AM

Spam picks up steam Montreal Gazette, Canada - ... The spam has gotten much worse - I get 45 a day in my three accounts," said Bertin, owner of Auberge Belles Vue, a downtown Montreal bed and breakfast. 6:16:22 AM

Adults are major file-swappers Canada.com - Downloading music is not just for kids. And the music labels know it. Industry sources cite file swapping by adults as a reason for a "potentially devastating" 25 per cent drop in the sales of so-called deep-catalogue albums last year, the Los Angeles Times reported. Sales of oldies have fallen another 11 per cent this year, twice that for the slump in new releases. 6:11:29 AM