Older posts from the previous Manila-version of this site (pre 27/8/08)
Jozef Schildermans (in november 2000): Nochtans zou het geen slechte zaak zijn dat we met z’n allen een keer zouden nadenken over het elektronisch stemmen. Zoals de zaken nu staan heeft de kiezer te weinig informatie over hoe dit systeem werkt en hoe betrouwbaar het is.
An US army major was releaved from command when she refused to obey an order to seize a tv station in Mosul because it began retransmitting Al Jazeera. “She argued that the presence of armed soldiers would intimidate the station’s Arab employees into airing only programming produced by, or acceptable to, the American military.” The major was flown out and the station was seized anyway. Well, at least some Americans, even in the army, remember what western values are all about.
Read what a Boulder, Colorado professor of religious studies has to say about the courageous act of Major Charmaine Means.
Rent-a-negro.com: The presence of black people can advance business and social reputation. (…) rent-a-negro offers you the chance to capitalize on your connection with a black person. At any gathering our service can bring a freshness and tension that will keep things lively.
NYT: A research group has created a part mechanical, part biological robot that operates on the basis of the neural activity of rat brain cells grown in a dish.
ZDNet: De politie en andere opsporingsinstanties van de Engelse overheid vragen per jaar de logs op van ruim 100 miljoen telefoongesprekken, abonnementsgegevens en een onbekend aantal e-mail- en internetlogs.
De Standaard: Het ,,Big Brother”-systeem van de federale politie oogt helemaal niet indrukwekkend: drie zwart-metalen rekken gevuld met elektronisch materiaal, waarvan de groene lichtjes driftig flikkeren. Toch kan de politie met deze computer elk telefoon- en gsm-gesprek, elk sms- en fax-bericht, elke e-mail en chatsessie mee beluisteren of lezen.
Reuters Asia: Security guards smashed their way into an official limousine with sledgehammers on Monday to rescue Thailand’s finance minister after his car’s computer failed.
The anti-microsoft gang is forwarding this message to everyone claiming the car was a BMW 7, the first to use a special embedded version of Microsoft Windows CE.
However, this Thai story clearly shows it was a BMW 525i: “The Transport Ministry may ban a centrallocking
De Standaard: Gezocht: Klingonvertaler (m/v) Een psychiatrische kliniek in de Amerikaanse staat Oregon is op zoek naar een vertaler die het Klingon beheerst. De taal is ontwikkeld voor de sciencefictionserie Star Trek en wordt door velen als een van de meest volmaakte talen beschouwd.
Kuro5hin: Every once in a while, in order to remind myself of the quality of information typically reported, I trace down the source of a particularly ridiculous story. The “Klingon Language Interpreter” myth, which is spawning now, provides an amusing case study of the process of pack journalism.
Egg Troll: Sure, your dead teammates may bemoan the fact that you’re not violently avenging your death. But when they see that you were able to reach a solution without resorting to conflict, it will be a valueable lesson from them. So feel free to stay hidden until time runs out.