09 May 2003

$2 trillion fine for Microsoft security snafu? The Register is saying that Micrsoft could face a possible $2 trillion fine - that would put the company in a whole heap of debt. The scenario is very unlikely, I don't think the US government would make the biggest software firm in the world go bust. But a smaller fine is quite possible. The exploit in the Passport system was reported, and then promptly posted on Slashdot, whereupon I hacked into my own email account...it was very easy to do. 2:11:25 AM    Click here to add to the [] comments Don't write off the net Ben Hammersley writes a good piece on blogging over on the Guardian. Writing is dead, they say. The internet killed it: kids r writing SA n txt, grown-ups rely on spell checkers and stylish grammar is punished by green squiggly lines. In fact, listen to the critics and you would be forgiven for thinking the internet is not so much a cultural wasteland, but a vacuum - sucking the very essence of civility and art out of its users. Perhaps once. But now, with the internet firmly placed in the majority of homes in the English-speaking world, the web is seeing a burst of old-fashioned literary endeavour. Writing, it seems, is very much alive and well on the web. 1:48:13 AM    Click here to add to the [] comments Is a European quartet playing NATO's swan song? Meanwhile on the opinion page of the Tribune, Frederick Bonnart, editorial director of the military journal 'NATO's Nations' discussed how future EU plans will affect the alliance. Bonnart's argument is interesting, but I believe he kind of misses the point. He points out that the new initiative by 4 nations of the EU to establish a new defence arrangement is militarily insignificant but politically important. He is of the opinion that a seed may have been sown that weakens the alliance, or ultimately destroy it. He is right that more statesmanship is requires - his final remark. But I think something more fundamental is happening. Romano Prodi or Javier Solana, or any of the EU heavy hitters, will not be content with EU defence in its current form, ultimately they are seeking to rival the US. In my studies of the Amsterdam Treaty and the Nice Treaty, and in any number of speeches given by major EU leaders, the aim has always been not to duplicate NATO roles - but to make the EU into a new NATO. NATO, or at least those that are also members of the EU,  will form the cornerstone of the future European defence arrangement. NATO is an alliance, but the EU-NATO will be a new alliance, and that is the plan - just not with the US as part of it. 1:15:04 AM    Click here to add to the [] comments U.S. approves adding 7 countries to NATO Brian Knowlton reports on the US senate voting on the expansion of NATO. Many senators lauded it as a step towards greater stability. Others praised the Eastern European nations for their support of the US in the lead up to the second Gulf War. George Bush's quote of April 25th is notable as it touches on a point oft cited on this blog. "Europe must not become fractured to the point where the United States won't have relations with a united Europe" But by supporting the incumbent members of the EU, the many Eastern European nations, and then deriding the Western members, surely it is in American interests to split Europe. Afterall, it is a stated aim in many strategy documents of the US not to allow any competitor to the US to arise. Splitting Europe over Iraq seems like a helpful side effect for this cause. 12:50:36 AM    Click here to add to the [] comments Gunmen kill 2 U.S. soldiers in Baghdad Word that at least two US soldiers have been killed in Iraq does not auger well for the occupation. I think that if this pattern continues the situation could become very messy indeed. Fire is traded daily with unnamed attackers, who are they and what are their intentions? The remnants of the Republican guard perhaps? 12:30:52 AM    Click here to add to the [] comments

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Collecting for Guinness

My daily reads

Dave Winer

Karlin Lillington

Bernie Goldbach

Chris Gulker

Venomous Kate

Dan Shafer

Nick Denton

John Robb

Back Seat Drivers

Roger Ridey

Dan Gillmor

Onlineblog

Meg Hourihan

Deborah Branscum

Tim Porter

Dan Bricklin

Horst Prillinger

Tom Murphy

My other reads

Ryan the Madman

Trish Amundrud

Justin Mason

Green Violet

David O'Neill

David Havelin

Jeremy Allaire

Tom Cosgrave

Jamie Lawrence

Matthew Haughey

Natalie d'Arbeloff

Maura McHugh

Ben Hammersley

Stewed Tea

Cocoa Pulp

Farrellblogger

Keith Gaughan

Glenn Reynolds

Andrew Sullivan

The Volokh Conspiracy

Bryan Preston

Counter Revolutionary