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February 28, 2006
A Bit of Ice is Aways Nice
It's always good to make sure your computer doesn't overheat, but ice is not always practical to put on the CPU since ice will eventually melt. Ice on a finger, especially if a diamond, will most assuredly heat things up.
With this little interlude, I'm happy to announce that my girlfriend of two years has agreed to marry me and we are officially engaged. No date has been set as of yet, and may not be for some time.
Posted by at 08:55 PM | Comments (1)
February 27, 2006
Microsoft Vista official anouncement
Well for the curious Microsoft has officially anounced that they will have a total of 6 variants of there next operating system.
There will be:
Vista Business
Vista Enterprise
Vista Home Basic
Vista Home Premium
Vista Ultimate
Vista Starter
If you would like to get more information then read on HERE!
Posted by Hector at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)
KeyLogging and password protection
The New York times writes today that keyloggers have become the hackers biggest friend in the quest to empty your bank account:
the SANS Institute, a group that trains and certifies computer security professionals, estimated that at a single moment last fall, as many as 9.9 million machines in the United States were infected with keyloggers of one kind or another, putting as much as $24 billion in bank account assets — and probably much more — literally at the fingertips of fraudsters. John Bambenek, the SANS researcher who made the estimate, suggested that the infection rate was probably much higher.
This is one of the reason why I don't do any banking online:
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, responding to the growing threat of cybercrime to the financial industry, stiffened its guidelines for Internet banking in October, effectively ordering banks to do more than ask for a simple user name and password. But it stopped short of requiring, for instance, the use of electronic devices that generate numeric passcodes every 60 seconds, which many experts say would help foil much online fraud, including the use of keyloggers.
Read the whole thing.
Posted by Peter at 08:58 PM | Comments (1)
February 23, 2006
Explorer exploit info
The Inquirer has posted a security issue with Explorer and a work around.
To find out if your at risk follow these steps as quoted from site:
1) Copy any text by ctrl+c
2) Click the Link:
http://www.sourcecodesworld.com/special/clipboard.asp
3) You will see the text you copied on the Screen which was accessed by this web page.
Read The Inquirer news post for more information.
Also note that FireFox and Opera browsers are not at risk from this exploit.
Posted by Hector at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)
Full downloadable movies from Apple?
According to The Register in the next few days Apple will offer downloadable movies through the iTunes software. Only time will tell what format and what restrictions their DRM will imposed. This anouncement just came after there 1 billionth music download anouncment.
More can be read HERE
Posted by Hector at 10:51 AM | Comments (0)
February 22, 2006
AOL to raise Dial-Up prices?
Yup looks like AOL is actually raising its dial-up prices in a move to encourage its customer to upgrade there service to broadband. One can only wonder if this is a move that will end up hurting them more then helping them.
United Bimmer writes:
America Online has announced that it's going to raise the price on dialup users in an attempt to encourage them to upgrade to broadband. The new rates will near $26 a month, already drastically higher than the market norm for dialup access. This will bring the dialup prices to almost the exact same per month as broadband depending on your plan. However through this, they do still offer an unadvertised lower price for those who can't get or don't want broadband can request lower-priced plans, including an unadvertised offering of about $18 with a one-year commitment.
Posted by Hector at 06:04 PM | Comments (0)
February 21, 2006
Opera Browser for Nintendo DS
Opera has just released a browser for the Nintendo DS platform in Japan and we should be looking forward to a release here in the U.S. soon! If you havent tried Opera browser its a great browser offer a ton of features.
I do own a Nintendo DS and love using Opera. You can bet I will be among the first to test drive it when it does release.
Nintendo DS "Powers Up" with Opera
Quote from Opera site:
Wednesday, 15. February 2006, 07:22:11With the Opera Browser, the Best Internet Experience will soon be available for all Nintendo DS users. Between games of Animal Crossing and Mario Kart, you will be able to hop online with Opera through an upcoming Nintendo DS expansion and look up game tips, browse forums or just surf the Web. Don't already have a DS? Now you have the perfect excuse to pick one up!
With the integrated WiFi connectivity and dual touch-screens, the Opera Browser on the DS will make a perfect mobile browsing platform. Check the official press release for more information or sound off in the forum.
We hope everyone is as excited about this as we are.
The official press release can be found HERE
Opera by the way also has browsers available for mobile phones and more!
Posted by Hector at 01:53 PM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2006
I need a mini vacation III
In about 3 hours I start my Mini Vacation III. Blogging will be non-existent by me for the next few days unless I really spot something cool.
Hopefully the guys will pick up the slack and get a few posts in before I come back on Sunday.
Meanwhile a tiny update concerning the cartoon frenzy of last week.
Glenn Reynolds has posted two of the cartoons on his site. The Rocky Mountain News published the cartoons and got a positive response from readers. The Western Standard in Canada published and is not getting the same positive reception as Mark Steyn writes:
In Canada, by contrast, the Western Standard (for which I also write) stood firm in its decision to publish the cartoons, and as a result is suffering legal harassment from Muslim lobby groups and has been banned from both Air Canada and two of the country's leading bookstore chains, Indigo-Chapters and McNally Robinson. Paul McNally of the latter defended his action this way: "We feel there is nothing to gain on the side of freedom of expression and much to lose on the side of hurting feelings." Not exactly Voltaire, is it? "I disagree strongly with what you say but I will fight to the death for your right to say it as long as it doesn't hurt anybody's feelings." Maybe it could be Canada's new national motto.
The most intersting thing is that the cartoon search has now been knocked off the top of the Technorati list by singapore's answer to the Paris Hilton video
This goes to show that young good looking girls still trump barbarians. We already know they trump overweight techs in fedoras.
Posted by Peter at 07:22 PM | Comments (0)
You can't do this I know my rights!
One of the things that can make tech support hard is when you are working on a PC and do not have the permissions to do one thing or another. Usually this comes in two flavors:
1...A business (or military) machine where the person calling doesn't have the rights period or has some parts of a system locked out.2...A network or system where one machine or user has different rights than another.
Usually these issues come up in installs of various programs. It is a good idea if a problem comes up to verify what rights you have or do not have on a system before you begin. On a business system this can be done via the internal IT department since such systems are usually mirrored in the same fashion to start. On a home system (hopefully) the responsible parent has the account with all the rights and needs to be consulted on downloads/installs. On a military machine, usually you are out of luck since this involves security on a different scale so it has to go directly to the depot.
Don't get me wrong, a stricter system is better than a looser one. I'd rather have a customer have to resolve permissions than fix an infected system, but you should know the rights and permissions set on a system and make the users aware of them too.
Being aware of the rights you have on a system might save you an unhappy call. It is not a happy time for the caller or the tech when he has to say: "I won't be able to make that change without the proper permissions."
Posted by Peter at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2006
A new Worm for the Apple
Well the days of virus' only hitting PC's is over:
A worm is waiting to slither into the Apple and another is already crawling around, the first computer worms designed to attack Apple's newest operating system, Macintosh OS X.The worms -- computer viruses that self-propagate -- are significant because Apple's Macintosh computers have been viewed as more secure than PCs running Microsoft Windows.
My the times are changing:
While Apple computers are "much, much safer than Windows," some Macintosh users are in denial that the system is vulnerable, said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos, a computer security company with U.S. headquarters in Boston. "Some of them have to take their heads out of the sand a bit."
Posted by Peter at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)
February 15, 2006
The China Hearing and the free speech Diva and good News!
Our Favorite free speech diva Rebecca MacKinnon is all over the hearings today with Google, Cisco, Microsoft, yahoo et/al before congress. She owns this story so just go to her site and keep scrolling or grab the links above. Quote of the day:
“These companies tell us that they will change China. But china has already changed them.” Rep Tom Lantos former Nazi Concentration Camp Inmate who knows a thing or two about this stuff.
A bill will be introduced in congress tomorrow on this subject.
It appears the hero in all of this is AOL who is giving uncensored access to China:
I can confirm: the search engine on this portal is uncensored. Searches for “Falun Gong” and “Tiananmen Square Massacre” turn up the full range of results from dissident and human rights websites. I can also report that according to my friends in China, so far the AOL Chinese portal is not blocked from within the People’s Republic.
Let's give three cheers to AOL for bucking the censorship trend! Well Done!
Posted by Peter at 08:56 PM | Comments (0)
To answer Jaye's question Limewire or no?
We had a question asked on this post that is very relevent so I thought it deserved it's own post.
Jaye's posted the following:
My daughter has downloaded Limewire to get music for her new MP3. What do I (as a neophite) do to protect the computer but let a kid have her music?
I posted a series of suggestions as a comment at the above post, but Microsoft has an excellent article called: The benefits and risks of peer-to-peer file sharing that should be read as well.
Bottom lines are:
Keep financial data passworded or off said machine:Share only a single folder on a single account, or even better make a new account and a new folder or this and restrict it.
Remember this whole thing will slow down your PC
These aren't the same bottom lines as Microsoft but they are my bottom lines. Remember if your kid breaks the law it's your problem if she's under age.
Posted by Peter at 08:39 PM | Comments (2)
February 13, 2006
Snowed out
Blogging will be lite for a little bit as I am all shoveled out digging out of 17" of snow yesterday and today.
When they an make a PC that will melt snow then we will see.
Posted by Peter at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)
February 12, 2006
Google file sharing
Time's cover asks: "Can we trust Google with our secrets?"
Short answer I won't.
Posted by Peter at 10:00 AM | Comments (0)
Cartoon wars update
Well it's been a week since our first post and several things are worth talking about:
Mohammed Cartoon is still the top tag on Technorati still ahead of Olympic, so this isn't going away.
Jim Lindgren has two posts at The Volokh Conspiracy notices something odd about another one of the three extra cartoons (one of which as already been shown as phony)
On CNN's On The Story yesterday Glenn Reynolds appeared and bluntly laid it out for them:
"How has the internet contributed to this story," asks Tatton:Well I think it's helped people find these images they couldn't find through the mainstream press, which as always helps people bypass the gatekeepers. My beliefs are offended when gangs of ignorant thugs burn embassies. Where's the respect for my beliefs? Do I need to burn embassies to get respect for my views? Because that's the message CNN sends. The message they send is "We will reward violence." And you're going to get more of what you reward. That's how it works.
The video is available at expose the left Meanwhile Mark Steyn is not happy with the media's decision and the Washington Post is defending it's decision not to publish.
There have been a few editorial cartoons that are very apt but are now being objected to.
Now there are protests over Valentine's Day too.
Sweden seems to be acting against the cartoons.
Time reports that companies are worried.
The Dallas Morning News Blog has a debate over the issue just keep scrolling.
Andrew Sullivan has good running comments on the issue.
The Taliban is offering a bounty in gold for the murder of the cartoonists.
Amir Taheri agrees with me that it is all staged.
Still no sign on the tube or in the papers concerning the fact that these cartoons ran in Egypt months ago.
But the best spot to keep up with all of this is Michelle Malkin's site, (no matter what google thinks) just keep scrolling.
Posted by Peter at 08:55 AM | Comments (3)
February 10, 2006
File sharing
Years ago when I first started doing tech support multiple computers in the house was restricted to computer geeks. Now it has become the norm as people buy a new system and give the 2nd system to the kids (or vice versa). I have 4 active systems in the house (not counting the Windows 95 system that isn't networked to the others).
As people add additional systems the need to share files comes into play a bit. There are three types of sharing that are common.:
Sharing across accounts:This is sharing individual files for multiple users on a single system. You will see this on xp systems represented by a shared documents folder. This is a common type of share, just remember that you don't want to share work related files with say your kids accounts.
Sharing across the network:
This is sharing a file over other systems in a local area network. This requires a connection between the systems either direct or through a router and permissions set on both systems to allow access. This is quite useful for moving things made on one computer to another but again care must be taken to make sure important documents aren't compromised. A good idea is to share in only one direction for example, give yourself permissions to access your kid's systems but not the reverse, or password folders that are shared. It may be necessary to tweak your firewall to do this.
Sharing over the net:This involves either a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or software such as Limewire (EVIL EVIL EVIL! as Mermaid man would say). In business situations this is done and high security levels are the norm here (if they are not then you are doing this very wrong).
On the home user end a lot of this sharing is music sharing by kids. Be VERY careful when doing this as it contains a ton of risks particularly if you have other programs that save to the same file that is shared. Also it involves a hole in your firewall that other nasty stuff might use to get in.
Be aware of the differences so you know the risks of each choice you make.
Posted by Peter at 11:41 AM | Comments (1)
February 09, 2006
Another day another Chinese Cyberdissident jailed with help from a US tech company
I'm running out of search engines to switch to.
Reporters Without Borders today condemned the US firm Yahoo! for handing over data on one of its users in China which enabled the authorities there to send him to prison for eight years, the second such case that has come to light in recent months.
Via Rebecca MacKinnon who does also link to some better news on the general subject:
"The Internet is open technology, based on packet switching and open systems, and it is totally different from traditional media, like radio or TV or newspapers," said Guo Liang, an Internet expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "At first, people might have thought it would be as easy to control as traditional media, but now they realize that's not the case. You can block one URL or 1,000 URLs, but there are many more available, and there is also software for getting around this"
In an internet age China is fighting a losing battle and Yahoo, Cisco, Microsoft and Google are on the wrong side of that fight. I'm reaching the point quickly when the actions of those companies don't shock or surprise me anymore.
Posted by Peter at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)
February 08, 2006
Meanwhile back in the hacking world....
It looks like somebody has some lax security on some French PCs
Russian thieves have stolen more than €1m (£680,000) from personal bank accounts in France using "sleeper bugs" to infect computers. French authorities claim the thieves can take control of and empty a bank account in seconds. In one hit, a bank customer lost €40,000.
The money quote from this story is amazing:
Nicolas Woirhaye, a security expert, said the French authorities were alerted to scams every three weeks. He said the best way to beat pirates was to use up-to-date anti-virus software."All the French victims were trapped because they didn't have any [computer] protection," he said.
If you are running a system with no virus and spyware protection you are just asking for it. Remember no matter how secure your bank is they can't stop somebody with your pass codes.
Another thing to consider is a good virus will try to make itself undetectable. It might change permissions or prevent virus updates to your system. Even if you have automatic updates on your anti-virus/spyware software consider doing a manual update once a month to be sure it is updating. The money you save will be your own.
Of course you can use our Worry Free PC plan and we'll set it up for you.
Posted by Peter at 08:25 PM | Comments (0)
The Army of Davids strikes again
Well it looks like the media will have to play catch-up again as it appears that an Egyptian newspaper published the infamous cartoons 5 months ago:
The Egyptian paper critcized the bad taste of the cartoons but it did not incite hatred protests, so what is happening now? BTW, it is not my idea to bring the details of this Egyptian paper, it is Gateway Pundit’s. I think it is important to reveal that the timing of this outrage is irrelevant. It would have been better that this holy war against Denmark be launched during the holy month of Ramadan as many Muslims believe that Jihad during Ramadan would have been more worthy.This irrelevant outrage timing is but a sign that this violent response to the cartoons is politically-motivated by Muslim extremists in Europe and the so-called secular governments of the Middle East. I want also to mention that despite the fact that all editors who tried to reprint the cartoons in the Middle East nowadays were arrested, the Egyptian editors went unharmed. I will try to get the pages of the paper scanned.
The above is from Freedom of Egyptians blog, the Rantings of a Sandmonkey blog has actual scans of the newspaper pages in Arabic with the cartoons in them.
Via LGF and Solomonia. If this doesn't prove that this is a totally contrived I don't know what does. It will be interesting to see how many days it takes for this news to go from internet to newspapers to TV.
Posted by Peter at 04:58 PM | Comments (0)
The BBC plays catch-up with the Army of Davids
Looks like the BBC has finally caught up to us:
Twelve cartoons were originally published by Jyllands-Posten. None showed the Prophet with the face of a pig. Yet such a portrayal has circulated in the Middle East (The BBC was caught out and for a time showed film of this in Gaza without realizing it was not one of the 12).This picture, a fuzzy grey photocopy, can now be traced back (suspicion having been confirmed by an admission) to a delegation of Danish Muslim leaders who went to the Middle East in November to publicise the cartoons. The visit was organised by Abu Laban, a leading Muslim figure in Denmark.
After all we can understand the delay, The BBC is over 70 years old and operating all over the world. HiWired is just over 1 so we are younger and faster, and we only operate out of Boston Mass. Then again we don't deserve the kudos Dennis Nixon does and he does it all himself.
Ekstra Bladet has also published a letter taken by the delegation on its mission. This gives the delegation's account of how the cartoons originated and what the reaction to them was. But it also mentions other pictures, which it said were "much more offending." These presumably included the "pig" picture, whose origin is now known.)Western diplomats appear to have missed this entirely and seem to have made no attempt to counter some of the arguments in the pamphlet or to distinguish between the various portrayals.
Only a day behind Dennis, If this isn't and example of Glenn's Army of Davids I don't know what is. (Via The Bellmont club).
Posted by Peter at 08:52 AM | Comments (0)
February 07, 2006
Civ IV 2nd Review
I myself have been playing this game on and off before I reinstalled my OS in early January. I've found this game rather enjoyable, just as Peter himself has in his review. To the bold reader, and even the curious one, I give my two cents and a haypenny on the latest entry of the Sid Meier anthology.
I've enjoyed Civilization from the original game and each one has gone through somewhat of a revolution. I must admit that my favorite of the series is not directly a Civilization game, but a sequel of sorts from the mid 1990's, named Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, where seven factions of a ruined Earth, separated not by nationality, but by ideology, find a way to survive and thrive on an alien world surrounding Alpha Centauri.
Why mention this game in an article regarding Civilization IV? The reason is that the very same model for civics and government types used in Alpha Centauri has re-emerged in Civ IV.
This look back at an earlier game, I think, is part of the real genius for Civilization IV. Peter mentions that it almost gives you too many choices. I agree that there are many choices, but it also makes you choose how you want your leader to be like. Will he or she be a totalitarian dictator, a king with parliament, or will they be a democratically elected leader?
Also, religion is a huge part of the game, as you can choose between several different religions, but if you want to found the religion, you need to be the first to get that particular technology. Not a perfect model, but all and all, a very minor setback, which does not detract from the enjoyment of the game.
I enjoyed hearing Leonard Nimoy doing the announcements for each particular technology, and the introit as the game is loaded. I found it rather enjoyable to hear him recite the entire (formerly text) beginning of the original Civilization game, which in and of itself, was rather dramatic.
The opening music "Baba Yetu" is quite enjoyable in it's african feel and gives a good atmosphere for the cradle of a fledgling civilzation. The fact that the lyrics are religious themselves (The Lord's Prayer in Swahili), gives an undertone for the new addition of religion into the game.
Yes, a powerful machine is required, as I wouldn't tackle this with a machine with less than 512MB of RAM, or anything less than a Pentium IV or higher machine. Most standard computers I see nowadays come with at least 512MB of RAM.
Be warned, if you get into this game at all, you will eventually be hooked, as it is extremely addictive. Civ players barely notice the passage of time, and long hours are usually played on this game. Not surprising as Gamespy, Gamespot, and IGN, three of the biggest gaming sites on the web named it their 2005 PC Game of the Year.
Posted by at 09:12 AM | Comments (0)
The difference Technology makes
One of the (few) disadvantages of living in an advanced technological society is you tend to take some things for granted. The Cartoon controversy is an excellent example of the difference a society with general access to the net and technology vs. a society that doesn't.
First a history lesson:
In the 1800's when it actually took days to find out what was said and things were not recorded it was common during presidential campaigns to send out people to different states to conflicting statements to different areas to win support. Since reports were usually delayed by several days and newspapers were openly partisan these contradictions were rarely exposed.
Today of course this isn't possible due to video tape. Even on the net the Caching feature of sites like Google means that you can't even edit a page on the net without the old version available. That is why a person who edits a web page (except for spelling) better fess up about errors because if not they will be nailed.
We've already mentioned that there is evidence that the outrage was manufactured, it appears that some of the cartoons that produced the reaction were as well.
Some have asked out loud how so many people had access to Danish flags 
to burn all of a sudden (I don't know where in town I'd find one myself). The is also the time delay, the cartoons were released in September and things started happening just last week. Why? Read on
Gateway Pundit takes up the story from here:
Imam Ahmad Abu Laban, the leader of the Islamic Society of Denmark toured the Middle-East to "create awareness" about 12 cartoons that were published in Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, on September 30, 2005.However, the truth is that Imam Ahmad Abu Laban, brought at least 3 additional images, which HAD NEVER been published in any media source. They included a cartoon of Muhammad as a pedophile demon, Muhammed with a pig snout, and a praying Muslim being raped by a dog. The drawings in Jyllands-Posten were harmless compared to these (posted below)
When asked about these additional cartoons, Imam Ahmad Abu Laban said they were from threatening letters but promising to give us copies of those letters to FOX News, among other news services, he never did.
Well apparently the reason why he didn't was because he was lying through his teeth as blogger Dennis Nixon explains:
Do these two photos look similiar?
They should because they are the same! No, not a satire of Mohammed nor any other sacred Islamic figure but a photo of Jacques Barrot, a pig squealing contestant at the French Pig-Squealing Championships in Trie-sur-Baise’s annual festival. NeanderNews discovered this photo, taken by Bob Edme of AP, posted on an August 15, 2005 AP story seen here on MSNBC’s website.
This means that the deaths and the carnage that has followed was produced by a knowing and deliberate misrepresentation of facts. As this is the company blog and not my blog I won't give my unprintable opinion of Imam Ahmad Abu Laban, however consider this:
I had never heard of Dennis Nixon and it is likely that you haven't either, but this person saw the image above and recognized it. He was able on the net to dig up what it actually was. He published it on his web site, it was picked up by Gateway Pundit which was picked up by Instapundit and Michelle Malkin and will eventually be picked up by the media as a whole. Tens of thousands of people now are informed who were not. If and when this gets out in the areas of the riots it will (hopefully) make a difference.
The point is 20 years ago this would not have ever come out, it is highly unlikely that we would ever know this. It is only possible due to the technology (computers and the internet) and its availability to the average person who took the time to find things out. This is the empowering of the everyman to make a difference.
On a related theme Glenn Reynolds has a new book An Army of Davids : How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths that deals with this very subject. I plan on buying it when it is released next month and may post a review here.
So remember the next time you are behind your keyboard the power you have that the kings of old did not and remember as Uncle Ben said: "With great power comes great responsibility."
Posted by Peter at 07:42 AM | Comments (0)
February 06, 2006
Review Civ IV
I've talked a bit about the game Civ IV but never got around to posting a review here. I've been playing with it for a couple of weeks now so the time has come....
If you are a player of the old game you will notice some changes. The addition of Religion add a real interesting aspect to the game, the ability to see why people like or hate you is good too but Religions are to my mind the backbone of the game. It adds a realistic aspect to the game and is handled with respect. I must admit I get goose bumps when Leonard Nimoy reads "I am the Lord your God...."
The use of the "Great Person" system is another interesting choice. Cities generate great person points depending on what is built. For example if you want a great prophet to build the major building of your religion (a source of revenue and info) you’d better be building items that generate religious points. The great people are divided into Artists, Prophets, Engineers, Scientists and Traders. Each can give a boost in their particular field to a culture; the use of these people can make or break a game.
As far as the graphics the general illustrations are not bad but not earth shattering. The background animation is pretty nice. I keep noticing new things every game I play.
The new civic system is pretty nice too. You get a lot of options, I also like the idea of leaders trying to CONVERT you to their system or their religions, it adds a lot to the game and is very realistic. The historical leaders of nations tend to gravitate to their historic civics.
The new units work very well and force you to go in many different directions along with the promotion system. There are almost TOO many choices. The game can nail you if you are not careful because of it. The ability to speed up the game really helps if you are not somebody with unlimited time.
As I’ve written high memory and strong graphic cards are a requirement not an option. Don't plan to have a whole lot running in the background if you want this to play on a system with 512 ram.
I haven't played a shared game yet; I'll likely try that tomorrow on my day off.
In the end it is a worthwhile and enjoyable game that is worth both your time and money but is VERY addictive.
Posted by Peter at 07:37 PM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2006
Barbarians and decisions
Why lead with the cartoon above? In the nearly a year that this blog has been around this is the hardest post I've had to make.
We are a technical blog, we do useful and (hopefully) interesting posts on technical, internet and blogging matters. We have advised you about cooling systems, disabling preview panes and finding out where your teenager has been surfing. The big news of the net right now is a series of cartoons and the BARBARIC reaction of some groups of people to them. For the blog of a business it is not a topic one is anxious to tackle but as it concerns internet speech to ignore it would be as cowardly as Google and Microsoft and others on China so here goes....
If we were a newspaper it would be easy I would simply publish the cartoons with a disclaimer, but that is not our business. It is also not my place to tell others what they should publish when it involves risking one's life. Other peoples lives are not mine to risk.
My gut says to print them in solidariy with the Danes, the problem is this: Would I normally run such cartoons if there was no threat? The answer to that question is no for reasons already stated.
Yet something has to be said when people act in a barbaric way and free expression on the net must be defended. The most ironic thing is the caption of one particular cartoon which to me doesn't seem the least bit offensive. The caption reads:
"Easy my friends, when it comes to the point it is only a drawing made by a non believing Dane."
There is also reason to believe that some of what has happened has been staged.
We have already linked to the cartoons in the past if you wish to see them, but our answer is to display a different cartoon the one at the start of our entry.
UPDATE: The Captain elaborates on the staging of the outrage.
UPDATE II: Bad link above fixed.
Posted by Peter at 07:48 AM | Comments (2)
February 02, 2006
Death threats over cartoons?
A blogger has gotten a death threat over running a series of cartoons in the news that were first published in Danish Newspaper.
It would seem to me that if you object to Google in China you are obligued to support this blogger as well. You may disagree or not with running them, (I wouldn't care to see cartoons making fun of my Catholic Faith) but the internet is the ultimate expression of free speech and that includes the option to offend.
We choose not to reproduce the cartoons here, but we maintain we have the RIGHT to reproduce them here and will not give it away. Remember Chancellor Kent.
Gentlemen, I refuse to sign any pledge. I never have been drunk, and , by the blessing of God, I never will get drunk, but I have a constitutional privilege to get drunk, and that privilege I will not sign away.Chancellor Kent from his Memoirs when a temperance committee asked him to sign the pledge.
Via Michelle Malkin
ADL is opposed to religious, racial and ethnic stereotyping in the media. We found some of the cartoons in Jyllands-Posten troubling, particularly the direct linkage of Mohammad and violence.At the same time, we are gravely concerned by the extreme violent reaction these cartoons have generated in Muslim communities in Europe, and particularly in the Middle East. It is certainly the right of individuals and governments to express their disagreement with these depictions. However, the use of violence, threats, boycotts and other extreme reactions are highly inappropriate and bode ill for future debates involving Islam, democracy and free speech.
This is generating a lot of posts.
Posted by Peter at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)
February 01, 2006
Every little bit helps
Considering the amount of spammers out there this is a drop in the bucket but we'll take it.
Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 U.S. mobile phone service, said on Wednesday it had won a permanent injunction to prevent a Florida company from sending unsolicited text messages to its customers phones.
This is something that will make their customers smile.
Posted by Peter at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)