A Bhutto Successor? - TIME

A Bhutto Successor? - TIME

He's so cute!!!!!

The Airport Security Follies - Jet Lagged - Air Travel - Opinion - New York Times Blog

The Airport Security Follies - Jet Lagged - Air Travel - Opinion - New York Times Blog

Press Release: Fox Entertainment Group Acquires Beliefnet -- Beliefnet.com

Press Release: Fox Entertainment Group Acquires Beliefnet -- Beliefnet.com

Answer Bag

Just joined last night! This is such a cool site! You can look up questions and answers about just about everything, written by average Joes and Josephines like ourselves! I don't usually plug sites, so this must be worth looking at, huh?

AOL to End Support for Netscape Browser

Once the dominant Web browser, AOL has discontinued development and active support for the Netscape browser.

read more | digg story

LA Daily News - Hundreds honor girl who needed liver transplant

LA Daily News - Hundreds honor girl who needed liver transplant

cbs2chicago.com - Smoke-Free Illinois Could Save Money And Lives

cbs2chicago.com - Smoke-Free Illinois Could Save Money And Lives

You Decide 08! » Ron Paul Takes Unconventional Approach to Win California Delegates

You Decide 08! » Ron Paul Takes Unconventional Approach to Win California Delegates

Surprising Ron Paul Sparks A Movement, GOP Presidential Hopeful Has Fervent Followers And A Message Whose Resonance Surprises Even Him - CBS News

Surprising Ron Paul Sparks A Movement, GOP Presidential Hopeful Has Fervent Followers And A Message Whose Resonance Surprises Even Him - CBS News

New Western Digital Drive Blocks File-Sharing

Digital Rights technology built onto some My Book drives restricts users from sharing certain files.

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PC World - MPAA Wins Copyright Case Against TorrentSpy

PC World - MPAA Wins Copyright Case Against TorrentSpy

The coming exaflood, and why it won't drown the Internet

For most of 2007, pundits have warned that a coming surge in traffic could threaten innovation and lead to "brownouts." We've heard these claims before; are they any truer this time around?

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RIAA versus Grandma, Part II: the showdown that wasn't

A grandmother and survivor of Hurricane Rita accused of sharing tracks by 50 Cent and Usher over KaZaA has settled a lawsuit filed by the RIAA. The RIAA's loss in a similar P2P lawsuit filed against an Oklahoma woman may have encouraged it to settle without a damage award.

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Copyright coalition: Piracy more serious than burglary, fraud, bank robbery

Copyright coalition: Piracy more serious than burglary, fraud, bank robbery

Ron Paul's Tea Party Pulls in the Green - Markets - Market Features

Ron Paul's Tea Party Pulls in the Green - Markets - Market Features

Fuck your updates, Microsoft!

I got rid of the crippled MS Office my machine shipped with since I've no intention of using it. Yet MS still insists I need this damn MS Office update, which I cannot install because the service the update needs is no longer present. Isn't there a way to have MS Update not update MS Office, since I no longer have it?

AbiWord

Downloaded AbiWord because I refuse to pay $150 for MS Word 2007. I can only pray that AbiWord will eventually support the opening of the DOCX format since people are certain to start using that as the de facto format in the near future, never mind that DOC has been in use for over a decade. Damn Microsoft!

N.J. To Push Ban On Smoking In Car With Kids

Lighting a cigarette with kids in a car would become a crime in New Jersey if at least one state senator has his way.

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NWAnews.com :: Northwest Arkansas' News Source

Lighting up with young kids in vehicle banned under bill

Charity Forced to Pay Copyright Fee So Kids Can Sing Carols | TorrentFreak

Charity Forced to Pay Copyright Fee So Kids Can Sing Carols | TorrentFreak

How the Public School System Crushes Souls | steve-olson.com

How the Public School System Crushes Souls | steve-olson.com

Comodo Firewall 3.0 fixes

From egemen:
--------------------
Hi Guys,

More than a million PCs is using CFP 3right now and the weird bugs/problems are posted in the help board.

2 of these problems seem to be recurring. Here are the temporary fixes until we update the executables:

1 - cmdagent.exe 100% CPU consumption:

This has been verified and fixed with the upcoming update. It is related to patched uxtheme.dll.
However, until the updates are issued the temporary fix is disabling the registry protection :

* Defense+->Advanced->Defense+ Settings->Monitor Settings
* Uncheck "Protected Registry Keys"
* Press Apply and restart

2 - System Slowdown issue :
It is related to the load on comodo lookup servers.

Online file lookup must be disabled

* Miscellaneous->Settings->Update
* Uncheck "Automatically perform an online lookup for the unrecognized files" option
* Press Apply button

Both 1 & 2 should solve the most of the problems.

3 - Email client problems

* Firewall->Tasks->Stealth Ports Wizard
* Select "Alert me to incoming connections"

Then Protocol analysis should be disabled.

* Firewall->Advanced->Attack Detection Settings->Miscellanous
* Uncheck "Do protocol analysis" option

Thank you all for the cooperation,

Egemen

Big Brother U.S. Government Subpoenaed Amazon.com to Obtain Book Purchasing Records of Customers

Big Brother U.S. Government Subpoenaed Amazon.com to Obtain Book Purchasing Records of Customers

Senate Bill 1959 to Criminalize Thoughts, Blogs, Books and Free Speech Across America

Senate Bill 1959 to Criminalize Thoughts, Blogs, Books and Free Speech Across America

Some Airlines to Offer In-Flight Internet Service - New York Times

Some Airlines to Offer In-Flight Internet Service - New York Times

House vote on illegal images sweeps in Wi-Fi, Web sites | The Iconoclast - politics, law, and technology - CNET News.com

House vote on illegal images sweeps in Wi-Fi, Web sites | The Iconoclast - politics, law, and technology - CNET News.com

Microsoft Removes Windows Vista 'Kill Switch'

Microsoft on Tuesday said it will cease hobbling Windows Vista installations that fail the company's validation processes in its forthcoming Service Pack 1 update, scheduled for next year.

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Normandy Road ghost? - Topix

While driving west on Normandy Road at around 6:37 AM, at the top of the hill just before the bridge, I saw what looked like a person standing in the middle of the road. A few yards farther and it just disappeared.

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White Christmas?

I wonder if we'll get a White Christmas this year or get shafted like last year. Last year, it was 40 degrees and rainy on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. How shitty. If I don't get a White Christmas this year, I will be pissed.

Editorial: Facebook move doesn't clear up privacy fears

The backlash against Facebook last week is a lesson to all Internet companies: Tread more carefully with consumer privacy, even in this linked-in age.

read more | digg story

PC World - Russian Firm Buys LiveJournal

PC World - Russian Firm Buys LiveJournal

Scientists Get Rare Look at Dinosaur Soft Tissue - washingtonpost.com

Scientists Get Rare Look at Dinosaur Soft Tissue - washingtonpost.com

Audacity rocks!

Audacity converted my MP3 to an OGG. And for free too! How fucking sweet is that? Why pay for shit when you can get it for free?

Weekend

Agh! Dialup fucking blows! At least tomorrow's Friday. Shit... I hope to get some fraggin' in this weekend. I really need to get my skills back up.

Stop going offline, NYRA!

Damn it all! Stop fucking taking the site offline when I'm trying to read the message board! Just fucking stop it!

Straight Out Of Left Field: Google Experimenting With Digg Style Voting On Search Results

Straight Out Of Left Field: Google Experimenting With Digg Style Voting On Search Results

DRM advocates getting nervous about consumer backlash

DRM advocates getting nervous about consumer backlash

Report: EMI looking to slash funding for RIAA, IFPI

Report: EMI looking to slash funding for RIAA, IFPI

Comcast Using Malicious Hacker Technique Against Own Customers, New Report Says | Threat Level from Wired.com

Comcast Using Malicious Hacker Technique Against Own Customers, New Report Says | Threat Level from Wired.com

Microsoft Sued; Christmas Comes Early for Z4 Technologies

Microsoft Sued; Christmas Comes Early for Z4 Technologies: "Microsoft is succumbing to patent trolls today, as they’re being ordered to pay over $140 million for, get this, asking for two passwords. The original award was ordered in April last year by a federal jury in Marshall, Texas, widely known as the friendliest court for patent trolls. There Microsoft and Autodesk were saddled with $158 million (plus attorney fees) for asking users to “input two passwords during the process of activating newly installed software with the aim of deterring piracy.”"

What’s the difference between school and prison? « Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub

What’s the difference between school and prison? « Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub: "What’s the difference between school and prison? Give up? Yeah, often the students give up, too. If you don’t know the answer, your school may resemble a prison. Gary Stager’s post with jarring comparison."



This is a great article! Schools eliminating recess to instruct children in drills. Don't they realize that the more freedom they take away, the worse children will behave? I think they do realize it and do it so they can punish kids.

The kids were right, school is a prison - Network World

The kids were right, school is a prison - Network World

The school board in Sutter, Calif., and the superintendents of the Brittan Elementary School seem to want to prove that generations of students were correct when they felt that school officials cared more about confining students to classrooms than educating them. At this point the school board is well on its way to achieving that goal...



From 2005. I wonder how bad it's gotten since then.

Spotsy High a Prison

Spotsy High a Prison

How can we speak of democracy or freedom when from the very beginning of life we mold the child to undergo tyranny, to obey a dictator? … How can we expect them, when school-life is finished, to accept and use the rights of freedom? — Maria Montessori, Education for a New World...



This article was written four years ago, but it's very relevant today. Schools are prisons.

Genesis 19

Lot's daughters actually sleep with him! Sick! Fucking sick! Just, ugh! Gotta keep it all in the family, huh girls?

Study of Studies Shows No Link Between Video Games and Violence - Switched: Gadgets, Tech, Digital Stuff for the Rest of Us

Study of Studies Shows No Link Between Video Games and Violence - Switched: Gadgets, Tech, Digital Stuff for the Rest of Us

The whole "violence in video games" fire just had a glass of cool, non-violent water thrown on it, in the form of a new study by Dr. Christopher Ferguson in the medical journal Psychiatric Quarterly. Namely, by studying other studies (many of which were done by him)...




Looks like the soccer moms and censors need to find something else to blame for violent kids. How about looking at the school system?

Santas banned from saying ‘ho ho ho’; what is the world coming to? - Covering The Louisiana State University Community (LSU) -- Tigerweekly.com

Santas banned from saying ‘ho ho ho’; what is the world coming to? - Covering The Louisiana State University Community (LSU) -- Tigerweekly.com

Santas in Sydney, Australia were banned from saying “ho ho ho” in fear that it might offend women, as was reported Thursday, Nov. 13. Authorities said Santa’s traditional laughter must be replaced with a more common phrase, “ha ha ha,” according to the AFP in Sydney...




There are no words for how stupid this is. Australia, you suck!

MPAA University 'Toolkit' Raises Privacy Concerns - Security Fix

MPAA University 'Toolkit' Raises Privacy Concerns - Security Fix

The Motion Picture of Association of America is urging some of the nation's largest universities to deploy custom software designed to pinpoint students who may be using the schools' networks to illegally download pirated movies. A closer look at the MPAA's software, however, raises some serious privacy and security concerns for both the entertainment industry and the schools that choose to deploy the technology...




The MPAA must really want to alienate young computer users.

Iceland’s Largest BitTorrent Tracker Shut Down | TorrentFreak

Iceland’s Largest BitTorrent Tracker Shut Down | TorrentFreak

Things are heating up in Iceland as they witness the first BitTorrent related lawsuit. Torrent.is, the largest BitTorrent tracker in the country has received a preliminary injunction which has effectively shut down the popular tracker. The case was initiated by four anti-piracy organizations, who filed for the preliminary injunction earlier this month. The regional District Commissioners office granted their request last Monday...




Steingrimmson had best sleep with one eye open.

Moscow cops suppress democracy march, arrest Kasparov

Riot police broke up a march against President Vladimir Putin in the Russian capital Saturday and arrested chess legend Garry Kasparov and several other opposition leaders, a clampdown on pro-democracy protesters a week before Russia's pivotal parliament election.

read more | digg story

UT files

Spent the day downloading skins, model and one favorite map. I still need to get the last patch. All I can do is pray that UT will work on this machine. By all accounts, UT04 runs quite nicely on Vista. I guess I'll just have to try it.

Supreme Court to rule on right to keep handguns at home - Los Angeles Times

Supreme Court to rule on right to keep handguns at home - Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court set the stage Tuesday for a historic ruling on whether the fiercely debated 2nd Amendment protects the rights of Americans to keep handguns at home...




I don't see how one can argue it. The Second Amendment clearly states that people have the right to keep and bear arms.

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

Classic PC Games fails

Classic PC Games fails for trying to get me to sign up for a sponsor before I could download something I wanted. There are plenty of classic game sites out there that probably have the same game.

Awkward with trackball

Just installed my new Logitech trackball and oh am I awkward with it. It's gotten to the point where I'm pretty decent with the touchpad. I guess I'll have to relearn how to work a trackball.

Vista and MP3 players don't get along

I don't know what the hell is up with Vista, but it seems like MP3 players just won't work on this fucker. My four-year-old iPod Mini 4 GB causes iTunes to freeze when I try to run it with the player hooked up. I've read online that Vista also won't work with newer iPods, Zunes (MS' own player!) and Creative players.

I know Vista is a new OS, but it's been out for almost a year. I can't believe it's incompatible with everything out there. Should I blame Microsoft for not making native drivers, or should I blame the hardware makers for not making Vista drivers for their shit? I sure as hell hope the mouse and keyboard I ordered will work with it.

More Parents Going High-Tech to Track Kids

CHICAGO (AP) -- In this case, it isn't Big Brother who's watching -- it's Big Mother (or Father). Increasingly, parents are using high-tech methods to track everything from where their children are and how far they are driving to what they buy, what they eat and whether they've shown up for class.

read more | digg story

Boston police plan to search youths' homes for guns - The Boston Globe

Boston police plan to search youths' homes for guns - The Boston Globe

Boston police are launching a program that will call upon parents in high-crime neighborhoods to allow detectives into their homes, without a warrant, to search for guns in their children's bedrooms...




One step closer to a police state.

FOXNews.com - California Teen in Hot Water With School Over Hair Dye - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

FOXNews.com - California Teen in Hot Water With School Over Hair Dye - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

But officials at the 13-year-old's middle school in Orangevale, Calif., ruled she went a little too far when she added cotton-candy pink highlights to her long blonde hair, and slapped her with a two-day suspension.

"It's a great form of self-expression, not that we were trying to push the envelope or anything," Ashley's mom, Sandra Chavez, told the Sacramento Bee...




Indoctrination camps, that's all schools are.

Halifax council passes cat bylaw

Halifax council passes cat bylaw

The cat came back Tuesday to find it will soon need a licence.

Following years of debate, Halifax regional council passed an animal control bylaw requiring cat owners to license their pets starting next spring...


Another pork-barrel bill to further subjugate people. This is harassment, pure and simple. Counselor Jim Smith is just a miserable, cat-hating asshole.

Bhutto to Remain Under House Arrest For Another Day - WSJ.com

Bhutto to Remain Under House Arrest For Another Day - WSJ.com

LAHORE, Pakistan -- Benazir Bhutto will remain under house arrest for at least another day, a senior official said Wednesday, after the opposition leader deepened Pakistan's political crisis by demanding the resignation of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf...



Dig your grave Musharaff! No way will the good people of Pakistan let your sorry ass stay in office when the elections are held. Bhutto will return!

CRIMINALIZING YOUTH

CRIMINALIZING YOUTH

This has been something that has bugged me for awhile, but it seems to be getting more common, so I've decided to comment about it. Namely, how many daytime talkshows are showing teenagers getting carted off to these "scared straight"-style boot camps.

If you've seen them, you know what I'm talking about. Basically, these teenagers are surrounded by fatigue-clad drill sergeant wannabes who scream at them and do assorted things to them, including sleep deprivation, pointless drills, endless exercises. All heaped with generous spoonfuls of scorn and derision.

What seems to happen is these parents come on the shows and bitch about how bad their kids have become. Now, in some cases, the kids are bad. But whose fault is that? The parents seem to get off free as birds, when they're clearly part of the problem. They should cart their fat butts to the boot camps, too...

THE CRIMINALIZATION OF YOUTH

THE CRIMINALIZATION OF YOUTH

A lot of talk is being heard about the criminalization of our youth-particularly in the inner cities of this country, and our city has experienced some very public examples in the past few years. For instance, the former District Attorney Ira Reiner labelled every other black male teenager in Los Angeles a gang member because of so-called gang sweeps and documentation that called every young person in a target area a gang member, regardless of the actual life of the child....

Criminalizing Youth

Criminalizing Youth

The media's portrayal of teens within the last ten years has been one of the "troubled", over-sexed, under-supervised, violent video game addicted little robots who do whatever musicians (be it rock or rap) tell them to. And the solution is to install Orwellian surveillance systems, metal detectors and a host of other privacy invading measures. Of course, nothing (both the "problems" and the so-called "solutions") could be further from the truth...

The Cavalier Daily

The Cavalier Daily

"MY PARENTS decided to send me away," said Rukshan Jonny Uddin. "I came home one night and something was amiss." His room had been cleaned; a suitcase was in it. Then at around 4 a.m., he was awoken by two men who said he was going with them to a boarding school -- they would not say where. "What do you mean, you're taking me away somewhere? I'm not going." They threatened to knock him out. He went. He was not allowed to get dressed...

Stop the Pigeon! New York mulls $1,000 fine for feeding pigeons

By Edith Honan NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York City lawmaker wants to declare war on the city's pigeons and says he will not be dissuaded by the difficulties faced by London and Venice in ridding themselves of the ubiquitous birds. City Councilman...

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Americans Told to Rethink Privacy

From the Associated Press
November 12, 2007 12:00 AM

WASHINGTON -- A top intelligence official says it is time that Americans change their definition of privacy.

Privacy can no longer mean anonymity, said Donald M. Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, he said, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguard people's private communications and financial data.

Kerr's comments come as Congress is taking a second look at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Lawmakers changed the 1978 law last summer to allow the government to eavesdrop inside the U.S. without court permission, so long as one end of the conversation is reasonably believed to be outside the country.

The original law required a court order for any surveillance conducted on U.S. soil. The most contentious issue in the new legislation is whether to shield telecommunications companies from civil lawsuits for allegedly giving the government access to people's private e-mails and phone calls without a court order between 2001 and 2007.

Some lawmakers, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, appear reluctant to grant immunity. The panel is expected to decide this week if its version of the bill will protect telecommunications companies.

Lawsuits might be the only way to determine how far the government has burrowed into people's privacy without court permission. A key witness in a California lawsuit against AT&T Inc. says the government is vacuuming up billions of e-mails and phone calls as they pass through an AT&T San Francisco switching station.

Human Earth Animal Liberation

Human Earth Animal Liberation

The truth about teen boot camps and residential treatment centers. They are nothing more than prison camps. Teens don't deserve to be sent to these places just because they wear their hair in a way their parents dislike.

Teenager disappears after getting on a plane to Salt Lake City - ABC4.com

Salt Lake City (ABC 4 News) - A troubled teenager got on a plane in Saint Louis, heading to Salt Lake City, but turned up missing. Those residential treatment places are nothing but prison camps that parents send their teens to because they don't like the teens' lifestyle choices. I hope they never find her!

read more | digg story

Thousands of Police Block Pakistan Rally - New York Times

Thousands of Police Block Pakistan Rally - New York Times

Musharaff, you suck! I hope the people of Pakistan overthrow your sorry ass and reinstate Bhutto as PM!

Balancing freedom, safety for teen drivers

All along Deer Park Avenue, Saturday night is the night out for groups of teenagers cruising with their cars and meeting members of the opposite sex. After local teens have been in fatal car accidents, LI schools are divided on open campuses.

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Villapiano calls for new state college, drug testing for new drivers

Villapiano calls for new state college, drug testing for new drivers

Don't know why this should surprise me. Being a tool is a prereq for a politician.

Vista's Powerless Users: Someone Neutered My Defrag!

Besides "Clear, Confident, and Connected", one of the central themes I’ve seen in Vista is called “Taking the Power from the Power Users”. It’s what happens when Microsoft tries to make things easier for the Windows users who aren’t technically-inclined, then inevitably make it more difficult for those who are trying to figure out how to get the mo

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Vista Flip 3D & Windows Aero For XP

Windows Aero and Vista Flip 3D are among the impressive visual effects of Windows Vista introduced in 2007. However, these cool Vista effects are not cheap to system resources.But, I try Madotate with no cost at all for the cool Vista effects in Windows XP and Windows 2000, or even in older Windows version!

read more | digg story

Police arrest Pakistan lawyers

Hundreds of lawyers were arrested across Pakistan Monday as the police continued to enforce President Pervez Musharraf's emergency declaration.

read more | digg story

ILLINOIS STYLE: Couple rescue dog probably used as bait in fights

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. (Map, News) - Don Huhnke of Romeoville was doing what he does every day, walking his dog Missy, when, from out of a grove of trees walked an animal who would change his life.

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Blogger sucks

But I figured I'd set up a blog anyway. Logging into MySpace is a fucking pain. I'll put some articles about whatever I find interesting here.