politics X commerce = ew!

Air America | Rachel Maddow: "... California Governor ... has a political ad running now which features ... Product placement!"

I wish that consumer products wouldn't associate themselves with partisan political efforts such as this - would they want to take a risk that I'd be less likely to want to buy any of their brands? I'd have to think twice if I thought that buying a bottle of Arrowhead Water or a bag of Cheetos meant supporting a member of the Republican Party. A party that wants to take away a woman's right to make responsible healthcare choices, wants to "balance" PBS by adding enough conservative commentators to make FOX NEWS CHANNEL look like a Green Party convention, etc.

contradiction in terms

Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered | PBS: "Years ago ... Web site ... names were reserved for a private client. They were never hosted. Nothing was ever on them. And as we know on the Internet, things never disappear."

Okay - how can there be "things" that will "never disappear" if "nothing was ever on them" and they were "never hosted"? And, of course, these names are hosted, and continue to be hosted, to this day - whether by Gannon or not, but hosted, and with adult material that is X rated on the first page of at least one of them.

(Note that the above link contains a plain text mention of a URL that is definitely Not Safe For Work, Kids, or Families. The URL is not hyperlinked but is present nonetheless.)

windows security < mac security <> perfect

Security Awareness for Ma, Pa and the Corporate Clueless: Comments Received Offline - Published with Permission: "The lecturer asked how many of the 100 or so people in the audience were Mac users. Two of us meekly raised our hands. At that point, he told us to go and enjoy the buffet, pointing out to the other 98 that 'Mac security issues are so minimal, I don't want to waste their time.'
"

radio agony uncle ! ?

BBC | China's dangerous sexual ignorance: One couple thought that sleeping in the same bed together would result in pregnancy.

he's gone too far ...

U.S. Newswire : Releases : MoveOn PAC: "... Pat Robertson, a leader of the religious right, actually claimed that federal judges are a more serious threat to America than 'a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings'."

america deserves an explanation

The Downing Street Memo :: What is it?

"piece" treaty ^_^

The Northwest Herald - Online mentions that the makers of hot dogs and the bakers of buns have finally agreed to produce both items in packages of eight each.

save the republic !

At MoveOn PAC: Save the Republic, find a new ad encouraging the public to stop ultraconservative senator Bill Frist from using the "nuclear" option to prevent meaningful discussion and debate on judicial nominees in the Senate.

$8.8bn still missing

Al Franken asks What in God's Name is Going On?

npr everywhere ... but not on the mac

Re: NPR Everywhere - Partners

Why is Audible.com not listed on this NPR Partners page? They offer many NPR programs as well as those of other public media producers. It seems that with the exception of cell phone services, all services listed are only compatible with computers running the Windows OS.

Audible.com not only works with both Mac & Windows, but also with the iPod, which none of the other listed services do. The iPod is of course the majority leader in the digital audio player market, so I would think NPR would want to promote their availability through it. Furthermore, NPR could optionally choose to use an affiliate link to Audible and let site visitors support NPR and/or a member station when they sign up for a subscription.

pbs goes back to high school

In P.O.V. - The Education of Shelby Knox, PBS goes to high school to discuss teen sex education (or the lack thereof). From the trailer (which, thankfully, comes in QuickTime format) - it appears to show both sides of the issue. This will be one to watch.

i want to say yahoo !

But I can't! At this Apple - IT Pro page, it says that: "Yahoo! Finds a Perfect Picture". Unfortunately, they are referring to Yahoo Singapore, as I finally realized after reading most of the entire linked PDF article.

It's all well and good that Yahoo is using QuickTime in Singapore, but why won't Apple lean on Yahoo USA to at least offer QuickTime as an option on their News, Weather, and Music sites? The only Yahoo site that offers QuickTime media is the Movies section, and even then it appears only certain clips are available in QT. Everything else at Yahoo is primarily in Windows Media, with a small dash of Real Media here and there.
I'm not saying WM or RM ought to be removed, but QT should be offered as well. Heck, some of the videos on their news section, last I checked, showed filenames ending in ".MOV" when opened in a standalone player - indicating that those files were actually QuickTime to begin with, and had to be converted to WM format.

Alternatively, I suppose the next best option would be to simply move to Flash video, since just about everyone and his robot has the Flash plugin installed these days.
But I think (especially the new H.264 format of) QuickTime would allow a very high-quality cross-platform experience.

national id = totalitarian government, step 1

Please visit UnRealID.com right now, and contact your senators to stop this awful legislation from being passed as part of a "support the troops" bill, with no actual debate on the National ID portion.

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My comments:

Please don't let the "Real ID" National ID card bill become law. Yes, we must take steps to protect ourselves from those who would do us harm, but if we change American life in such substantial, restrictive ways to do so, then actually, the terrorists have already won.

This has always been a country where we have had the freedom and liberty to travel, and to enter federally funded public spaces. Taxpayers shouldn't be shut out of those buildings paid for by their own money. Furthermore, it pains me to imagine the world of hurt that travel restrictions will cause the many sectors of the nation's economy that are dependent on tourism. Airlines are already teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, some having entered it, and most of the rest considering it as an option. More restrictions might just be enough to push them over the edge, leading to either economic disaster or more taxpayer-funded bailouts.

Furthermore, merely proving *identity* can never prove *intent*, and terrorists can always obtain falsified documents, or recruit those who have a clean record and a supposed "good" identity to do their dirty work.

Please don't approve this dangerous legislation. At the very least, let's have an open, honest debate on the floor of the Senate for all to see and all to be on the record about their positions.
It's dishonest to slip in a freedom-destroying measure such as this along with an important bill to support our troops overseas.