Archive for August, 2009
This post is overdue, but I still think it needs to be written. Starting on 2009-01-02 and ending back about a month ago or so, I did a 365 Days self-portraits photography project. I still have about two months’ worth of pictures that need posting on Flickr, and I still intend to post them. Most of [ READ MORE ]
Wired reports on Sony’s decision to side with Google in a highly contentious lawsuit between Google and rivals Microsoft, Yahoo, and Amazon. The lawsuit centers around privacy concerns and the fact it would give Google monopoly-like status on book rights that would be impossible for other companies to acquire without their own lawsuit. Worse for Google, the [ READ MORE ]
A recent LA Times article and a recent New York Times article detail some rather horrifying abuses by the CIA from a long-secret CIA report released this week. The specific acts in question include: Brandishing of weapons, including a gun and a power drill, during interrogation sessions; Firing a gun in the room next door to a detainee [ READ MORE ]
When the Free Software Foundation scores a hit, it’s usually a home run. This one literally hasn’t landed yet. Their latest campaign, Windows 7 Sins, is a brutal, gloves-are-off-now attack on Microsoft’s well-known monopolistic and anti-consumer tactics. Some of them are pretty damning. I’ll go through each of the 7 sins and reply with my take on [ READ MORE ]
The Blade has a recent entry on the Google Voice application for the iPhone. The FCC inquired about the rejection to all three companies involved: Apple, Google, and AT&T (which has an exclusivity arrangement with Apple for the iPhone in the US market). The interesting part here is the reaction from each company. AT&T denies any [ READ MORE ]
A recent UPI story details the case of Mark Guard, charged with stealing electricity in London. The taxpayers will have to pay over £5,000 (US$8,200) for the two separate hearings before the case was dropped. Mark was filming a documentary about crime and the homeless. During the filming squatters entered a vacant building, setting off a [ READ MORE ]
Mashable reports on an unbelievable blooper from a company that really should know better. Microsoft published at least two different versions of an ad, editing the photo in one. The change made was to replace the head of a black man–and only the head–with the head of a white man. While the change is not as [ READ MORE ]
Ars Technica reports on a rather bizarre and dubious new development: the first US rehab for Internet addiction disorder (IAD). The Heavensfield Retreat Center’s reSTART program in Fall City, Washington, is offering a 45-day treatment program for US$14,500 and has already begun enrollment. It’s a great deal, I suppose, if one believes IAD is a legitimate [ READ MORE ]