Dvorak News Blog

Google Decides to Stop Doing Windows

By Eideard Tuesday June 1, 2010

Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission

No more Windows!

Google is phasing out the internal use of Microsoft’s ubiquitous Windows operating system because of security concerns, according to several Google employees.

The directive to move to other operating systems began in earnest in January, after Google’s Chinese operations were hacked, and could effectively end the use of Windows at Google, which employs more than 10,000 workers internationally.

“We’re not doing any more Windows. It is a security effort,” said one Google employee.

“Many people have been moved away from [Windows] PCs, mostly towards Mac OS, following the China hacking attacks,” said another.

New hires are now given the option of using Apple’s Mac computers or PCs running the Linux operating system…

Employees wanting to stay on Windows required clearance from “quite senior levels”, one employee said. “Getting a new Windows machine now requires CIO approval,” said another employee…

The move created mild discontent among some Google employees, appreciative of the choice in operating systems granted to them – an unusual feature in large companies. But many employees were relieved they could still use Macs and Linux. “It would have made more people upset if they banned Macs rather than Windows,” he added.

Phew!

The Push To Have The International Criminal Court Rule On State Aggression Like Invading Iraq

By Uncle Dave Tuesday June 1, 2010

39 Comments

Hard to have one world government without the rule of law that applies to everyone.

World leaders could face prosecution for acts of state aggression — potentially including the invasion of Iraq — under calls for the International Criminal Court to extend its powers.

Britain and the US are among nations wary of such a move. The change would make “manifest violation of the Charter of the United Nations” an indictable offence at the court, which currently prosecutes those responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
[…]
Adding the crime of state aggression to the ICC’s remit “would be a significant step forward in the development of international law and an important extension of the court’s jurisdiction”, said Christian Wenaweser, president of the Assembly of States Parties to the ICC, meeting in the Ugandan capital.

He added that the Security Council should be the first body to determine whether state aggression had taken place. Some pressure groups think that this would compromise the court’s independence. While the definition of what constitutes an act of aggression has been hotly contested, the key is who decides when the criteria are met.Human Rights Watch said that it had “long opposed control of any crime within the court’s jurisdiction by external bodies because it would undermine the ICC’s judicial independence”.

FCC Petitioned to Monitor Online Hate Speech and Misinformation

By honeyman Monday May 31, 2010

54 Comments

Over thirty organizations want the Federal Communications Commission to open up a probe on “hate speech” and “misinformation” in media. “Hate has developed as a profit-model for syndicated radio and cable television programs masquerading as ‘news’,” they wrote to the FCC earlier this month.
[…]
The groups who want this new proceeding include Free Press, the Media Access Project, Common Cause, the Prometheus Radio Project, and the League of United Latin American Citizens. Their statement, filed in the Commission’s Future of Media proceeding, comes in support of a petition to the agency submitted over a year ago by the National Hispanic Media Coalition.

“Hate speech against vulnerable groups is pervasive in our media—it is not limited to a few isolated instances or any one media platform,” NHMC warned the FCC in 2009. “Indeed, many large mainstream media corporations regularly air hate speech, and it is prolific on the Internet. Hate speech takes various forms, from words advocating violence to those creating a climate of hate towards vulnerable groups. Cumulatively, hate speech creates an environment of hate and prejudice that legitimizes violence against its targets.”
[…]
In addition, the groups wants the FCC to examine “the prevalence of misinformation” in the media, since misinformation “creates a climate of prejudice.”

The words ‘henhouse’ and ‘fox’ spring to mind.

Should Bigfoot Be Placed On The Endangered Species List?

By Uncle Dave Monday May 31, 2010

20 Comments

Field&Stream.com has many readers, and naturally the editors get a lot of mail. Some of it offers praise or suggestions. Some of it offers criticism and anger. And sometimes – every once in a great while – some of it broaches subjects and asks questions so profound we feel compelled to share with readers. Such is the case with this letter (portions of which are published below) from one Odie Ellis.

This is a very important matter indeed which needs addressing, and your help would be greatly appreciated. I am drafting this letter in an effort to garner your support on a topic to which I beseech to you would be a monumental issue indeed. I implore you to not take this matter lightly, it is one that will set an example for years to come and will undeniably set the standard on how all species will make their way to this most sacred of documents pertaining to the continuity of any genus.

I am not trying in no way debate this beings existence; I am simply attempting to protect this animal’s right to the continuity of its species if it in fact does exist. I have checked the list and have found that this animal is not recorded as an endangered species, I do not know if this is an oversight, or simply just apathy. But I would like to inform you that at current there are species of animal who are on the list at which we do not currently have confirmation of still existing. Case in point The Amargosa Vole, a rodent whose current existence is undetermined, who possibly may at this very moment be extinct along with countless others…

Hard to argue with that logic.

“I’ll have the Ultimate size bowl of Windows 7 noodles with a glass of Aero beer”

By Uncle Dave Monday May 31, 2010

22 Comments

I think I’ll eat an apple instead.

Microsoft has launched a Windows 7-themed restaurant in Taipei to promote its new operating system, an official with the US firm said Monday, on the eve of Asia’s biggest IT trade show.

The restaurant previously named “100 Seafood” has been renamed “77 Concept Store” and features seven technology-themed dishes such as “Electronic Beancurd”, priced at 77 Taiwan dollars (2.40 US), the official said.

Christine Chen, an executive with Microsoft Taiwan, said the restaurant had been picked for its popularity among small and medium-sized businesses.

The concept was inspired by a Windows cafe opened in Paris last year following the launch of Windows 7, she added.

Wasn’t Ballmer at the opening chanting, “Sushi, sushi, sushi, sushi!”

Vermont Farm vs War on Terror

By Eideard Monday May 31, 2010

37 Comments

Dangerous band of Insurgents

In Vermont, the federal government plans to seize a farmer’s land to build a $5 million border post on a quiet country road. The community is fiercely opposed, and the Department of Homeland Security is under fire for planning expensive projects that some say isn’t needed.

The hamlet of Morses Line is just a dot on the Canadian border in the small northern Vermont town of Franklin. A quiet country road leads to the existing brick border station at the edge of a hayfield.

In about two hours on a recent afternoon, one truck and two cars go by. One was a Customs officer arriving for his shift.

“Last night was a little busier because you had bingo at the church in the neighboring town,” says Brian Rainville. The land the U.S. government wants is part of his family’s dairy farm. Rainville goes through a box full of documents and pulls out the architectural drawings for the new border post.

“So we’re looking at putting in a storm water pond, a traffic turnaround, covered parking, three designated traffic lanes, two stages of radiation detectors, a two-story building with a fitness center on the second floor. It all strikes me as a little much for Morses Line,” he says.

“I’m not quite sure how Morses Line, with a traffic rate of 2 1/2 cars an hour, is a matter of national security and utmost budgetary importance…”

No Agenda Show #204
Oil Spill Déjà vu

By John C Dvorak Monday May 31, 2010

22 Comments

This Episode’s Executive Producer: Sir R. Daniels
Associate Executive Producer: Michael Goubeaux
Art by Paul Couture

Listen to show by clicking ►

Direct link to show.
Show notes here.
Donate to show here or here.
Sign up for No Agenda Show Newsletter signup here.

MMA Cage Fighter Tries ‘shrooms; Guts Opponent, Rips Out Heart!

By John C Dvorak Sunday May 30, 2010

34 Comments

Jarrod Wyatt also cut out his friend’s tongue and ripped off most of his face in a brutal assault that police said looked like a scene from a horror film. They found the 26 year old standing naked over his friend’s body with body parts, including an eyeball, strewn around the blood splattered room.

Wyatt told police he had drunk a cup of tea spiked with hallucinogenic mushrooms and became convinced his close friend Taylor Powell was possessed.

According to an autopsy Powell,21, bled to death after his heart was ripped out. The coroner said Powell had been alive when the organ was ripped out after his chest had been sliced open with a knife. Wyatt told the police he thrown the heart into a fire along with other organs that he had removed from the body.

Hmmm…I’ve heard of various visions on mushrooms. This one is a bit unusual.

found by Trevor Pressman

White Light When You Die Actually Cascade Of Brain Activity

By Uncle Dave Sunday May 30, 2010

51 Comments

Huh. So that’s what the crappy ending to Lost, one of my favorite shows up until the last episode, was about.

Doctors believe that a burst of brain activity occurs just before death and this could account for vivid “spiritual” experiences reported by those who come back from the brink. The researchers suggest this surge could be why some patients who have been revived when close to death report sensations such as walking towards a bright light or a feeling that they are floating above their body.

“We think the near-death experiences could be caused by a surge of electrical energy released as the brain runs out of oxygen,” said Dr Lakhmir Chawla, an intensive care doctor at George Washington University medical centre in Washington.

“As blood flow slows down and oxygen levels fall, the brain cells fire one last electrical impulse. It starts in one part of the brain and spreads in a cascade and this may give people vivid mental sensations.”
[…]
In the research he used an electroencephalograph (EEG), a device that measures brain activity, to monitor seven terminally ill people. The medical purpose of the devices was to make sure that the patients, suffering from conditions such as cancer and heart failure, were sufficiently sedated to be out of pain. However, Dr Chawla noticed that moments before death the patients experienced a burst in brainwave activity lasting from 30 seconds to three minutes.

The activity was similar to that seen in people who are fully conscious, even though the patients appeared asleep and had no blood pressure. Soon after the surge abated, they were pronounced dead.

Dem Shouldum Pads…

By hhopper Sunday May 30, 2010

16 Comments

WARNING! The audio on this video is NSFW!

Yes, this is old, real old… 26 years old to be exact. But it’s also one of the funniest standups ever… Bob Nelson at Rodney Dangerfield’s comedy club. I still laugh every time I see it.

David Mitchell on Pascal’s Wager — Heaven For Atheists

By hhopper Saturday May 29, 2010

64 Comments

Thanks Cináedh.

Pic of the Day Dept. — Our Galaxy

By hhopper Saturday May 29, 2010

19 Comments

(Click photo to see original.)

You can pan and zoom with your mouse.

Thanks Cináedh.

Dennis Hopper Passes at 74

By McCullough Saturday May 29, 2010

30 Comments

Dennis Hopper, the maverick director and costar of the landmark 1969 counterculture film classic “Easy Rider” whose drug- and alcohol-fueled reputation as a Hollywood bad boy preceded his return to sobriety and a career resurgence in the films ” Hoosiers” and “Blue Velvet,” died Saturday. He was 74.

A longtime resident of Venice who also was known as a photographer, artist and collector of modern art, Hopper died at his home of complications from prostate cancer, said Alex Hitz, a friend of the family.

A frail-looking Hopper, whose battle with prostate cancer was revealed in October, was able to attend a ceremony for the unveiling of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in late March.

In a more than five-decade acting career that was influenced early on by working with James Dean and studying at the Actors Studio, he made his film debut as one of the high school gang members who menace Dean in the 1955 classic “Rebel Without a Cause.”

One of the Best.

THE WAR IS OVER (The War On Drugs That Is)

By McCullough Saturday May 29, 2010

18 Comments

THE United States has “ended its war on drugs” and is now moving its focus to prevention and treatment, the US drugs chief has told top Irish drug officials.

President Barack Obama’s drugs adviser Gil Kerlikowske held a series of meetings yesterday with Drugs Minister Pat Carey, Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy and Department of Justice secretary general Sean Aylward.

The former police chief said the US had formally ended its much heralded – and hugely expensive – “war on drugs”. “We’ve talked about a ‘war on drugs’ for 40 years, since President Nixon. I ended the war,” said Mr Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

The Obama administration is increasing its budget for demand reduction by 6.5%, bringing it to $5.6 billion (€4.5bn). But the US is still spending $15.5bn on supply reduction.

Mr Kerlikowske said internationally, the US was focusing less on crop eradication in Afghanistan and Columbia. He said the aim in Afghanistan was now on encouraging farmers to grow alternative crops.

This story smells like BS to me, especially the last sentence.

Oil Production & Consumption Worldwide

By Uncle Dave Saturday May 29, 2010

22 Comments

Click pic to embiggen

Watching the live feed over the Interwebitube has been a sensation.

The hypnotic video of mud, gas and oil billowing from the seafloor has become an Internet sensation as Americans watch to see whether BP’s effort to plug the gusher in the Gulf of Mexico succeeds.

BP warned Friday that it could be Sunday or later before the outcome of the cliffhanger becomes clear. And scientists cautioned that few conclusions can be drawn with any certainty from watching the spillcam coverage of the “top kill.” But some said the video seemed to suggest BP was gaining ground.
[…]
BP, under pressure from Congress, made available a live video feed of what is going on underwater, and about 3,000 websites were showing a version of it that the PBS “Newshour” offered for free. On Thursday alone, show spokeswoman Anne Bell said, more than a million people watched it. Many found it hypnotic.