Dvorak News Blog

Dvorak Poll: Where Are You On The Political Spectrum?

By Uncle Dave Sunday May 10, 2009

Time’s cover story is about the shrinking of the Republican party. This past week, a national poll indicates that those who identify themselves as Republicans has slipped to 31%. A different poll puts the figure even lower: 21%. Fewer woman are identifying themselves as Republicans. Arlan Spector left the party, although his defection may be more of the save your ass kind.

Few doubt the Republicans shot themselves in the foot multiple times these past eight years. While the country may be generally a little right of center, the Republicans can’t get themselves right enough to the exclusion of those who disagree and might vote for someone who isn’t a Dem, but can’t stand their stands. While we’re hardly saying the Dems are shining beacons of purity and light, they do have the WH and Congress, and a much higher number of Americans claiming membership.

Where do you stand on the political spectrum? With which party do you associate yourself? What do you think the Republicans can do to keep from dying out? Should the party die out as others in the past have and be replaced with a center right party? Are the Democrats too far left? Not far left enough?

Evangelical Soldiers Hunting Muslims for Jesus

By McCullough Saturday May 9, 2009

97 Comments

6a00cd9721fedb4cd500e398c39d740002-500pi

Trolley Crash Blamed on Operator Texting Girlfriend

By McCullough Saturday May 9, 2009

12 Comments

The operator of a Green Line trolley that slammed into a train stopped at Government Center was apparently text messaging his girlfriend when the crash happened, said MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskus.

“Two detectives have interviewed the operator of the train in the hospital and in the course of that interview he admitted to texting at the time of the crash,” Grabauskus said. The crash happened in a tunnel between Government Center and Park Street stations, sending more than 40 people to area hospitals with cuts, head wounds, and neck and back injuries. None of the injuries was life threatening.

The most seriously injured person was the texting operator of the bullet trolley. He was able to walk out and was taken to a hospital in stable condition. The cars were damaged at the point of impact, but bounced off one another and were still upright when emergency crews went aboard. Boston Fire Department District Chief Richard DiBenedetto said the crash occured about 7:20 p.m. Because of the number of people on board the trains and a few trapped inside the cars, he called for a second alarm, he said.

Boston EMS Deputy Superintendent John Gill said many of the wounded were able to walk out of the cars, but about 40 people were placed on backboards and carried to the surface by EMTs and firefighters. The injured were laid side by side on City Hall Plaza and triaged by emergency crews while music blared from inside the Big Top Circus – also in the plaza – which was putting on its nightly show. Last May the operator of a Green Line trolley that crashed in Newton was killed while several passengers were hospitalized with serious injuries. Passengers in that crash reported her using a cell phone prior to the crash, however prosecutors said there was no evidence it contributed to the collision.

Currently, drivers are allowed to carry cell phones but are penalized for using them while on duty with three-, 10- and 30-day suspensions, ending in termination.

I have an idea, since these idiots can’t seem to act responsibly, how about banning cellphones from the cockpit of all transportation, public and private.

Blu-ray is not dead yet!

By SN Saturday May 9, 2009

15 Comments

TG Daily – May 07, 2009:

A new report by the NPD Group indicates that Blu-ray video technology has moved “further into the mainstream.” Indeed, first quarter (Q1) sales of stand-alone Blu-ray players in the US increased by 72 percent to over 400,000 units.

Meanwhile, the average selling price (ASP) for a stand-alone BD player decreased by 34 percent – from $393 in Q1 2008 to $261 in Q1 2009.

“The rising penetration of high-definition televisions and lower Blu-ray player prices are broadening the format’s market opportunity,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at NPD. “Even as options expand for accessing movies digitally, Blu-ray is carrying forward the widespread appeal of DVD into the high-definition marketplace.”

“Blu-ray’s superiority used to be difficult for many consumers to grasp, but when friends rave about it, or demonstrate Blu-ray in their homes, they are selling the benefits in a way that is far more effective than simply viewing an advertisement or seeing it demonstrated at a retail store,” added Crupnick.

Sales of Blu-ray movies, which were rather slugglish during 2008, also registered a significant increase in 2009.

Attack of the Giant Spiders: Is global warming to blame?!

By SN Saturday May 9, 2009

31 Comments

Eco Worldly – May 7th, 2009:

Scientists studying northeastern Greenland’s hairy, meat-eating wolf spiders have discovered every arachnophobe’s worst nightmare.
It appears that as the Earth has been warming and summers have been getting longer, the 8-legged hunters have been steadily growing larger and more numerous. And it’s likely that other creepy-crawly species around the world could be growing larger too.

The precise cause of the trend is still a mystery, but the growth was strongly correlated with hotter, longer summers. For instance, in years when spring came 30 days earlier, many spiders grew exoskeletons which were 10% thicker than usual. Translated for the squeamish: that means the spiders were bigger, hairier and more difficult to squash.

And they aren’t just getting larger, they’re increasing their numbers too. The study also discovered that most of the species growth happened among females. Since larger females tend to produce more offspring, that means more spiders overall.

Whatever the cause, the news highlights how many of the effects of global warming could be unexpected, and it’s not yet clear how the larger, more numerous spiders could effect local ecosystems. Or human psychology, for that matter.

Congressman wants erectile dysfunction ads banned, too “inappropriate”

By Eideard Saturday May 9, 2009

38 Comments

“I AM smiling.”

Representative Jim Moran (D-VA) has seen them … and you’d be hard pressed to see a smile on his face when he talks about the ads.

“A number of people,” he says, “have come up, including colleagues, and said I’m fed up. I don’t want my three or four-year old grandkid asking me what erectile dysfunction is all about. And I don’t blame them.”

Enter H.R. 2175. That’s a bill that Rep. Moran introduced last month that would prohibit any ED ads from airing on broadcast radio and TV between 6AM and 10PM….

CNN asked Pfizer, which makes Viagra, the first pill available by prescription to treat ED, what they thought of Rep. Moran’s bill.

“Pfizer is committed to responsible advertising… In line with our policies and the policies of the industry, Viagra advertising is aired in shows most likely to reach men suffering from erectile dysfunction. ED can be a signal for other serious medical issues, including high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular disease”….

Rep. Moran [says,] “It is an intrusion into the quality of life that we like to experience…. You know enough is enough. This is inappropriate.”

It sounds like some people need some training in answering kids’ questions. They’re going to ask them. Hiding under a rock won’t help. You give them an answer “appropriate” for their age and understanding. At an early age, that answer can be very general and non-specific, like if a four-year-old asked, “What’s a spleen?”

Thanks, K B

Germany bans paintballing in response to school shooting

By SN Saturday May 9, 2009

34 Comments

Telegraph – 07 May 2009:

Experts from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and her Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners have agreed to outlaw all games in which players shoot at each other with pellets.

The governing parties say paintball trivialises violence and risks lowering the threshold for committing violent acts…

A 17-year-old shot dead 15 people in the southwestern town of Winnenden, before killing himself in March, stunning many Germans and leading politicians to call for tighter gun rules…

The new rules would also grant authorities more rights in conducting checks with people owning guns, the sources said.

Sources in the SPD said the parties were also moving towards on agreement on the creation of a nationwide weapons register and were considering setting up biometric security locks for weapons’ stores.

Check out more Glamour Girls of Paintball pictures here!

Rupert Murdoch wants YOU to pay for online newspaper access!

By Joe C Friday May 8, 2009

76 Comments

Newspaper Death Watch

Rupert Murdoch expects to start charging for access to News Corporation’s newspaper websites within a year as he strives to fix a ”malfunctioning” business model.

Encouraged by booming online subscription revenues at the Wall Street Journal, the billionaire media mogul last night said that papers were going through an “epochal” debate over whether to charge. “That it is possible to charge for content on the web is obvious from the Wall Street Journal’s experience,” he said.

Asked whether he envisaged fees at his British papers such as the Times, the Sunday Times, the Sun and the News of the World, he replied: “We’re absolutely looking at that.” Taking questions on a conference call with reporters and analysts, he said that moves could begin “within the next 12 months‚” adding: “The current days of the internet will soon be over.”

Executive perks disappear with the recession

By Eideard Friday May 8, 2009

12 Comments

The boom times brought many things to Riverside County government — revenues, jobs and enhanced comfort of a private sort. But like most places in America, times are tough, and four-ply toilet tissue must go.

Two years ago, the county’s supervisor, Jeff Stone, responding to criticisms that the quality of the one-ply toilet paper used in the county’s 340 buildings was substandard, switched, with the board’s approval, to the softer two-ply.

This was good, and the people were happy.

But then, as sometimes happens on the taxpayers’ dime, a bit of entitlement seemed to set in, and soon enough, the county’s 10 elected officials, the executive leadership and their staff members were being treated to Angel Soft four-ply toilet tissue…

There was some whistle-blowing, and the whole toilet paper thing did not go over so well at a time when all county workers are taking a 10 percent pay cut in light of huge budget shortfalls. The county buys half a million rolls a year, its biggest volume purchase, and spent $270,000 on toilet paper in 2008…

“If we can save money, we will be switching,” Mr. Freeman said. “We’ve all taken a 10 percent pay cut. We stopped the process of people taking the government cars home, that type of thing. This is being taken very seriously.”

Or they can recycle newspapers.

Did you skip the National Day of (Conservative, Christian) Prayer?

By Eideard Friday May 8, 2009

142 Comments

Conservative religious groups are criticizing President Obama for what the Associated Press called his “muted” observance of National Prayer Day Thursday. “At this time in our country’s history, we would hope our President would recognize more fully the importance of prayer,” said Shirley Dobson, chairwoman of National Day of Prayer Task Force, which organizes the prayer day festivities. The Family Research Council said Obama’s decision to not have a big White House prayer event constituted a “de-emphasis on prayer.”

Also a de-emphasis on silly walks.

I think this is actually a case of religious conservatives having cut off their noses to spite their faces. Putting aside for a moment the question of whether it’s appropriate for the White House to be involved in encouraging prayer, this particular occasion has evolved in a way that almost guaranteed its demise.

The Bush White House had National Prayer Day run by a conservative, evangelistic Christian group. The mission statement on the Task Force’s Web site states that “in accordance with Biblical truth,” the Task Force seeks to, among other things:

“Foster unity within the Christian Church”
“Publicize and preserve America’s Christian Heritage”
“Glorify the Lord in word and deed”

The event became a showcase for religious conservative Christians to lead the nation in prayer…

Eight years of public butt-kissing doesn’t make ritual and superstition automatically part of the Constitution.

The “Girls”

By hhopper Friday May 8, 2009

33 Comments

(Click photo to enlarge.)

The Truth About A Lie Detector — Censored

By Uncle Dave Friday May 8, 2009

27 Comments

The Nemesysco lie detector – click pic for website

If scientific research can be censored like happened in this article because it might hurt a business’ business, then by extension there is no way to protect the public from charlatans and scam artists whose business would be harmed by proving their wares are fake.

One year ago, Francisco Lacerda, a professor of linguistics at Stockholm University, and Anders Eriksson, professor of phonetics at the University of Gothenburg, published an article in the International Journal of Speech Language and the Law, a magazine for voice experts working for the police and security services. The article entitled “Charlatantry in forensic speech science” gave an overview of the last fifty years of research in the field of lie detectors. The article’s conclusion is that there is no scientific evidence to show that lie detectors actually work.

Article withdrawn
In the autumn, Equinox, the British publisher of the magazine, were canvassed by the Israeli company Nemesysco Limited, a manufacturer of lie detectors. Following this the company demanded that the article be withdrawn, which the publishers duly did. In the online version of the journal only an abstract of the article is now available, along with a clarification from the publisher.

“It is incredibly serious that they are trying to silence us in this way. I have never heard of anything like it. We have apparently damaged their business,” says Francisco Lacerda to the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.

The article was aimed directly at the company’s lie detector patent,” said Francisco Lacerda to Dagens Nyheter, “We showed that the invention cannot work. The article had a journalistic tone and was rather provocatively written. We wanted to prove that the technology behind the lie detector is a scam.”

Publisher faced with threat of prosecution
In a letter to the publisher Nemesysco’s lawyers wrote that the authors of the article could be sued for defamation if they wrote on the subject again. The publishers accepted the lawyers’ angle on the article, “We would like to warn the authors that they should not publish the article in another forum and that if they send in a similar article to another journal, they can be sued for defamation,” writes the publisher, cited by Dagens Nyheter.

No Agenda #95 – Now On Cage Match

By KD Martin Thursday May 7, 2009

9 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

Running time: approx. 90 mins.

Duke Nukem Nuked

By John C Dvorak Thursday May 7, 2009

14 Comments

Activision sales surge.
How big can the Kindle get?
Microsoft dumps WGA.
3D Realms goes under. No more Duke Nukem Forever.
NASA to return to the moon.
Hacker steals Virginia health records. He demands $10 million for its return.
Twitter co-founder says Twitter not for sale.
PC World says Win 7 not that fast.
Dell has plans for Android.
Microsoft search to be built on open source.
As economy softens Microsoft studies the mundane.
This show sponsored by Squarespace.com Code word: Tech.

click ► to listen:

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

Fugeddabout the Chinese… Defense Secrets Bought and Sold on eBay

By McCullough Thursday May 7, 2009

16 Comments

Secret details about the U.S. missle defense system were found on a computer hard drive bought on eBay during an investigation into personal data stored on computers being carelessly discarded, the Guardian reported.

The information about defence contractor Lockheed Martin included a document detailing test launch procedures, blueprints of facilities and photos and personal data about employees – including their social security numbers.

Access to such data could allow identity theft or industrial espionage against Lockheed Martin, which is working on the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system – a project begun under president Ronald Reagan’s “Star Wars” Strategic Defence Initiative in the 1980s. The computer, which has been turned over to the FBI, was bought online as part of a global research project conducted by three universities – Longwood University in the US, Glamorgan University in the UK and Edith Cowan University in Australia – along with BT and Sims Recycling Solutions.

The annual hard drive survey, now in its fourth year, is designed to bring to public attention the risk to personal data posed by carelessly discarded computer equipment which often contains huge amounts of personal and commercial data. The universities involved in the study use techniques and tools that are readily available from the internet and can be used by someone with a basic knowledge of technology to recover the data left on the drives, often this is not necessary as many are not even wiped. One of the men who analysed the drive – Glenn Dardick, assistant professor of information systems at Longwood University in Virginia – described it as “manna from heaven to hackers”. He said: “If this is out there, then it does beg the question: what else is out there?”

In the mid 80’s as a Field Engineer for TRW, we serviced computers for the Dept. Of Justice among others. At that time there was no way you could remove a hard drive from the premises. What has changed?