October 8, 2003

The French-speaking news service of Israel - Guysen is saying that Arafat is dead.... The english translation is available here, and the (poorly) translated sentence says: 20:08 A noise runs in the newspaper offices: ARAFAT WOULD HAVE DIED!!!! News to be taken with conditional.... UPDATE: ISRAEL reinforces troops amid rumors Arafat is ill Chicago Sun Times, IL ... The closure was extended as questions arose over the health of Yasser Arafat after he appeared in public looking haggard and disoriented. ... 3:09:54 PM

I understand why the Arab media doesn't want us to know this.... "The Kurds are prospering. The Shi'ites no longer live in fear. Even most Sunni Arabs feel relieved that Saddam's gone. The mullahs are behaving. Local markets are busy and full of goods. The electricity's back on - more reliably than before the war. Schools are open. Oil's flowing. The Iraqi media is booming, boisterous and free. The Governing Council has convinced previously hostile factions to cooperate. Iraqis provide more and more of their own local security. And the torture chambers are closed. " Now if someone could explain why the western media doesn't want us to know this 2:26:02 PM

Sierra Wireless Plans Smart Phone Wireless Week - Since its inception in 1993, Canada's Sierra Wireless has been known for its wireless data devices. No more, with today's announcement the company will start making a new line of smart phones under the "Voq" brand that target enterprise users. This will be the first phone to use the Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 operating system. 2:06:48 PM

Shift key breaks latest CD anti-rip tech - grad student The Register - A Princeton PhD student has published a paper detailing the music industry's latest CD copy protection scheme - and how the technique can be bypassed by simply holding down the host computer's Shift key when a 'protected' CD is inserted. 2:02:26 PM

Is That a Sensor in Your Shorts? Wired News - Heart patients may soon be able to buy underwear designed to detect heart rhythm abnormalities and even call for an ambulance in case of emergency, according to researchers at Netherlands-based Philips Electronics. 2:00:35 PM

Iraq's top gym is "Arnold Classic" (Reuters). Reuters - Iraq's top gym has changed its name to "The Arnold Classic" to honour ex-bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger's win in the California governor's race. 1:58:09 PM

The Psychological Fence Mark Steyn sees things very clearly: "the main reason for conjuring up a Palestinian state would be to call their bluff. For six decades, nothing the Palestinians have done has made sense if the objective is to secure a state of their own. But, if the objective is to kill Jews, it all makes perfect sense. That's why, in West Bank towns, you see no evidence of nationalist fervor, only of Jew-killing fervor. " He is spot on. 9:55:41 AM