Dvorak News Blog

Sony says Wii owners will end up buying PS3

By Eideard Tuesday June 9, 2009

For those of you that have any interest in this kind of thing, Sony Europe boss David Reeves stepped down recently and was succeeded by a fellow called Andrew House.

This year’s E3 was House’s first as president of Sony Europe, so it’s unsurprising that he wasted no time in chiming in with a typically brash Sony-style sound-bite when Edge Online interviewed him at the event.

EDGE: What are the key battlegrounds, as we go through the ten-year cycle, on which Sony will engage Microsoft? Is it encouraging people that have bought Wii into HD gaming?

Andrew House: I think you’re absolutely right. If you look back at previous lifecycles, like PS2 versus N64 [sic], we have lots of data that suggests that lots of people bought into N64 as their entry level gaming device, and were happy to upgrade to a more powerful machine later in the life cycle when the price point was right for them.

I think we’re going to see this later on PS3, and the fact that it’s a Blu-ray player as well and that there’s a [greater] wealth of network based experiences than are perhaps available on the device they already have will add to the proposition. I think that will definitely be a factor in the marketplace.

So there you have it. Better start saving those pennies because according to Sony, you WILL be buying a PS3 soon – even if you don’t know it yet.

I hope he has spare batteries for his crystal ball. It may be a spell before his hope becomes reality.

Courthouse religious display ruled unconstitutional – of course

By Eideard Tuesday June 9, 2009

94 Comments

An appeals court has ruled that a Ten Commandments monument at the county courthouse in Stigler, Oklahoma, violates the Constitution because its primary effect is to endorse a religion.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 in a challenge to the monument brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma and by a county resident.

“We hold that the [Haskell County commissioners’] actions in authorizing and maintaining the monument . . . had the impermissible principal or primary effect of endorsing religion in violation of the Establishment Clause” of the Constitution, the judges wrote in a 52-page decision…

On May 18, Gov. Brad Henry signed a measure to place a privately funded monument of the Ten Commandments at the Capitol…

The measure passed despite concerns that it could draw a costly legal challenge and could be interpreted as the state’s endorsement of a religion.

This crap never seems to end, does it?

Mini Review of Palm Pre by JCD

By John C Dvorak Monday June 8, 2009

23 Comments

Price drops at Apple’s WWDC.
I do a mini-review of Palm Pre. Listen in.
Sprint sales records all broken by Palm Pre.
Jeff Moss of DefCon tapped by USA to help with Cyber-Security.
Online ad revenue plummeting for newspapers.
CNET dogging Win7 for some reason saying it will have no impact.
Win7 may cost only $100.
Intel drops $43 million into WiMax in Japan.
China requiring anti-porn.
Sweden’s Pirate Party gets a seat in the EU Parliament.

click ► to listen:

Right click here and select ‘Save Link As…’ to download the mp3 file.

T-Mobile User? Hackers May Be Trying To Sell Your Account Data

By Uncle Dave Monday June 8, 2009

9 Comments

Between warrantless wiretaps, the ability to listen in on you via your turned off cell phone, prisoners using cell phones to run their criminal enterprises from prison, and so on, that someone may have hacked a carrier’s customer database seems so 90’s. Almost quaint. Almost.

And that picture to the left? Click it to order a book on hacking cell phones.

Claims have been made by an unknown party that they have compromised the US cellular network carrier T-Mobile and have managed to extract all of the corporate data, including databases, confidential documents, scripts and programs from company servers and full financial data up to the present time.

Issuing the public announcement over a weekend means that it is going to take some time for T-Mobile to investigate the claims and make a formal statement, but already there are elements which suggest scam, and some which suggest that the material is legitimate.
[…]
So far, based on the table of possible servers, applications, IPs and locations, there is nothing that can be done to further verify the accuracy of the claims by this unknown group. Not enough information is available to say either way, and it is now up to T-Mobile or the group to release further information that will clarify the situation. The arguments for an actual compromise are much weaker than the arguments for it not being real and it is considered much more likely that it is a hoax.
[…]
It is staggering to think how much data is represented by what the hackers have claimed and how long it must have taken to exfiltrate that information from the corporate networks, if the hackers do have it, all without the awareness of T-Mobile’s Information Security staff.

California to Do Away with Welfare?

By McCullough Monday June 8, 2009

52 Comments

Could California become the first state in the nation to do away with welfare?

That doomsday scenario is on the table as lawmakers wrestle with a staggering $24.3 billion budget deficit.

County welfare directors are “in shock” at the very idea of getting rid of CalWORKs, which has been widely viewed as one of the most successful social programs in the state’s history, said Bruce Wagstaff, director of the Department of Human Assistance in Sacramento.

“It’s difficult to come up with the right adjective to react to this,” Wagstaff said. “It would be devastating to the people we serve.”

H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the state Department of Finance, said California is in an unprecedented fiscal situation that has made all programs, from education to human services, vulnerable to deep and painful reductions.

“I don’t wish for a moment to minimize the profound impact” that eliminating CalWORKs would have, Palmer said. “But the easy decisions are way past being in the rearview mirror for us. We face the specter of California not having cash on hand to pay its bills in July.”

Wagstaff and other administrators are betting that the state will rescue the “welfare to work” program. But they are bracing for cuts that would slash benefits to the lowest levels since the late 1990s, when CalWORKs began as part of the federal government’s bold reform of the welfare system.

Great! Now the surrounding states will need to put up a border fence.

Major Burger King Franchisee Defies Corporate with Anti Global Warming Message

By McCullough Monday June 8, 2009

53 Comments

A row between the fast food giant Burger King and one of its major franchise owners has erupted over roadside signs proclaiming “global warming is baloney“.

The franchisee, a Memphis-based company called the Mirabile Investment Corporation (MIC) that owns more than 40 Burger Kings across Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi, has described Burger King as acting “kinda like cockroaches” over the controversy. MIC says it does not believe Burger King has the authority to make it take the signs down.

The dispute began to sizzle last week, when a local newspaper reporter in Memphis, Tennessee, noticed the signs outside two restaurants in the city and contacted the corporation to establish if the message represented its official viewpoint. Burger King’s headquarters in Miami said it did not, adding that it had ordered MIC to take the signs down.

But a few days later readers of the Memphis paper said they had seen about a dozen Burger King restaurants across the state displaying the signs and that some had yet to be taken down. Media attempts to contact MIC to establish why it was taking an apparently defiant stance were rebuffed, but the Guardian managed to grill MIC’s marketing president, John McNelis.

“I would think [Burger King] would run from any form of controversy kinda like cockroaches when the lights get turned on,” said Mr McNelis. “I’m not aware of any direction that they gave the franchisee and I don’t think they have the authority to do it.”

McNelis added: “The [restaurant] management team can put the message up there if they want to. It is private property and here in the US we do have some rights. Notwithstanding a franchise agreement, I could load a Brinks vehicle with [rights] I’ve got so many of them. By the time the Burger King lawyers work out how to make that stick we’d be in the year 2020.”

Fighting porn the official rationale for more censorship in China

By Eideard Monday June 8, 2009

14 Comments

Daylife/Getty Images used by permission

The move will give the government unprecedented control over what can and cannot be seen on the internet. In recent weeks, China blocked access to a host of websites, including Hotmail and Twitter, and expressed worries that the internet was becoming a tool of protest.

An issue of the state-controlled magazine, Outlook Weekly, strongly criticised local officials for not paying more attention to the internet, saying that online debate forums in China are not just “ordinary chit chat in free time” but could also be stirring trouble…

The program, called Green Dam, is designed primarily to stop access to pornography, according to its makers, Jinhui Computer System Engineering company. “From July 1, every PC will be shipped with the software before it is sold to customers,” said a member of the company’s marketing department, who identified herself only as Miss Zhou.

“This is very good news for users, so they should not uninstall it. It will automatically filter pornographic images and antirevolutionary content. It will not take up much space on the hard drive. It is very stable and we have conducted many tests already,” she added.

A second program, called Youth Escort, filters out rude or subversive words.

If the two programs are installed, they can allegedly transmit personal information and make it difficult for users to tell what access is being denied.

Under the terms of the new rules, manufacturers can also ship the programme on a separate disc, but have to report how many units have been sold together with Green Dam.

Of course, you needn’t wear a tinfoil hat to believe the tale that some software producers already collaborate with the FBI and CIA and provide a backdoor for spying on ordinary citizens. After all, most of our Telcos and Internet providers have already been proven to roll over for the Feds – and Congress passed laws protecting them from lawsuits over such an invasion of privacy.

China just appears to be barging ahead in a manner suited to their administrative style. We’re more democratic in the West. Our government allows discussion – before they screw us, anyway.

Recruiting moderates leaves losers in charge of Republican Party

By Eideard Monday June 8, 2009

63 Comments

Daylife/AP Photo used by permission

As Representative John M. McHugh of New York began planning his retirement from the House after being picked to be the new secretary of the Army, a chunk of Republican morale prepared to depart with him.

In picking Republicans like Mr. McHugh for top jobs, the Obama administration says it is assembling a coalition government that welcomes qualified members of the opposition. It gives the White House a claim to bipartisanship despite continuing clashes with Republican Congressional leaders.

But the political benefits are an equally strong incentive. Remaining Republican colleagues become discouraged and feel further isolated in the minority. Political vacancies are created. And Republicans can be painted as being hostile to more moderate Republicans or those willing to engage the Democratic administration.

Caption This Photo

By Uncle Dave Monday June 8, 2009

40 Comments

Found by Mr. Kevin

Dvorak Poll: Should Sonia Sotomayor Be On The Supreme Court?

By Uncle Dave Monday June 8, 2009

104 Comments

You’ve read about Sonia Sotomayor’s rulings and about her, what do you think? Is she Supreme Court material? Is she a racist as Rush and Newt tell you? If she’s qualified, should she be confirmed or opposed because of how you think she might vote on specific issues? Should she be opposed just because Obama nominated her? Should she be confirmed just because she is female, Hispanic and was nominated by the President?

Have at it!

18 killed in bloody Acapulco shootout as Mexican drug war spreads

By John C Dvorak Sunday June 7, 2009

30 Comments

18 killed in bloody Acapulco shootout as Mexican drug war spreads – Times Online — Once a vacation hotspot. Now a charming hell hole.

Sixteen gunmen and two soldiers died in a bloody five-hour shootout in Acapulco at the weekend as the Mexican drug war erupted in the heart of the beach resort.

Members of a drug gang hurled grenades and opened fire on troops laying siege to a house in the city’s hotel zone, where four police officers were apparently being held hostage.

The fierce two-hour gun battle took place late on Saturday night after the army received a tip about the presence of armed men at a gated house. Up to nine soldiers and three Mexican bystanders were injured, while several Mexican tourists were evacuated from nearby hotels.

No Agenda #102 – Now On Cage Match

By KD Martin Sunday June 7, 2009

5 Comments

Click image to go to No Agenda.

John and Adam discuss the news of the day from an international perspective

Queue / cue / Q the closing credits — We hope you enjoy the show!

No Agenda Archive

Running time: approx. 90 mins.

Cute News Woman Farts then Faints Live on Camera

By John C Dvorak Sunday June 7, 2009

30 Comments

What? And quit show business?

Found by Martin Higgins.

Health insurers want you to keep smoking – WTF?

By Eideard Sunday June 7, 2009

77 Comments

Health and life insurance companies in the US and abroad have nearly $4.5 billion invested in tobacco stocks, according to Harvard doctors.

It’s the combined taxidermist and veterinarian approach: either way you get your dog back,” says David Himmelstein, an internist at the Harvard Medical School and co-author of a letter published in this week’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The largest tobacco investor on the list, the 160-year old Prudential company with branches in the US and the UK, has more than $1.5 billion invested in tobacco stocks. The runner-up was Toronto-based Sun Life Financial, which apparently holds over $1 billion in Philip Morris (Altria) and other tobacco stocks. In total, seven companies that sell life, health, disability, or long-term care insurance, have major holdings in tobacco stock.

Why is it a big deal? “If you own a billion dollars [of tobacco stock], then you don’t want to see it go down,” says Himmelstein, “You are less likely to join anti-tobacco coalitions, endorse anti-tobacco legislation, basically, anything most health companies would want to participate in.”

But with $4.5 billion still invested in Big Tobacco, many insurers are reaping profits from a cancer-causing industry. As Himmelstein puts it, “Is this who we want running our healthcare system?”

Well Surprise, Surprise! Citizens of the United States might want to keep this sort of thing in mind when evaluating the upcoming debate on universal health care. These are the exact same “conservative thinkers” who are dead set against Obama’s push toward universal health care.

One of these days, Americans are going to wake up and start smelling the coffee. These jerks, spending hundreds of millions of your very own health dollars to convince you adequate health care coverage is some sort of Communist plot, actually do have an unbelievably large financial incentive to keep you sick and paying ridiculous amounts of greenbacks to get well.

Thanks, Cinaed

So, Mr. Fun Guy comes to your teller window….

By Eideard Sunday June 7, 2009

13 Comments

Imagine having this nutball show up at your teller window:

According to the complaint, [Daniel James]Murray opened an account at Zions First National Bank on May 19 with an $85,000 check….

On May 27, he returned to the bank and tried to withdraw $12,000, but lacked proper identification.

“Not to be disrespectful, but if I don’t get this money, someone is going to die,” Murray said, according to the complaint.

I am torn between picturing Clint Eastwood, or Politeness Man.

A bank manager was summoned and Murray was allowed to withdraw the money without proper identification.

Murray would not accept a check and demanded bills no larger than $50, the complaint says.

“We are 94 million miles from the sun, and are in-between the sun and moon, and the eagle that flies between them and it’s a giant step for mankind. … I have traveled thousands of miles to be here and know things that are going to happen. … the banking system will fail and people will die. … there will be chaos in the world,” Murray said, according to the complaint.

He also reportedly made threatening statements against the President, which necessarily becomes the news headline, although his other ramblings are far more blogworthy. We’ll say it again: News sites and blogs work differently.

Thanks, K B