Archive for November 28th, 2006
Newt Gingrich Says Free Speech May Be Forfeit
Straight from Slashdot: “At a dinner honoring those who stand up for freedom of speech, former House speaker Newt Gingrich issued his opinion that the idea of free speech in the U.S. needs to be re-examined in the interest of fighting terrorism. Gingrich said a “different set of rules” may be needed to reduce terrorists’ ability to use the Internet and free speech to recruit and get out their message. The article has few details of what Gingrich actually said beyond the summary above, and no analysis pointing out how utterly clueless the suggestion is given the Internet’s nature and trans-national reach.”
RIAA Subpoenas Neighbor’s Son, Calls His Employer
Straight from Slashdot: “To those who might think that I might be exaggerating when I describe the RIAA’s litigation campaign as a ‘reign of terror’, how’s this one: in UMG v. Lindor, the RIAA not only subpoenaed the computer of Ms. Lindor’s son, who lives 4 miles away, but had their lawyer telephone the son’s employer. See page 2, footnote 1.”
From Ray’s comments: “You have a multi-billion dollar cartel suing unemployed people, disabled people, housewives, single mothers, home healthcare aids, all kinds of people who have no resources whatsoever to withstand these litigations. And due to the adversary system of justice the RIAA will be successful in rewriting copyright law, if the world at large, and the technological community in particular, don’t fight back and help these people fighting these fights.”
Charlie Rangel… yeah still a jackass
Straight from The New York Sun: “Rep. Charles Rangel has adopted Senator Kerry’s “botched joke” about unsuccessful young people ending up in the military — only Mr. Rangel is not joking.“If a young fellow has an option of having a decent career, or joining the Army to fight in Iraq, you can bet your life that he would not be in Iraq,” Mr. Rangel, a Democrat representing Manhattan and Queens, said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“If there’s anyone who believes these youngsters want to fight, as the Pentagon and some generals have said, you can just forget about it. No bright young individual wants to fight just because of a bonus and just because of educational benefits. And most all of them come from communities of very, very high unemployment,” the congressman said.
Mr. Rangel was responding to a question about a study by a conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation, which found that those enlisting in the military tend to be better educated than the general public and that military recruiting seems to be more successful in middle-class and wealthy neighborhoods than in poor ones.
“He’s really, indirectly, insulting the troops,” the study’s author, Timothy Kane, told The New York Sun. “He doesn’t want to admit the fact that thousands and tens of thousands of young men and women are willing to make these sacrifices. More and more troops are saying duty and honor are motivating them, not college money.”"
Remembering the past – politically correct revisionism
Straight from the Leader: “The seniors – veterans of Bomber Command in the European Theatre of World War II – are shaking their head in disbelief over wording of a descriptive panel in the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa which, they say, classes them as little better than war criminals. They see it as part of a wave of “politically correct” revisionism, which is tarnishing their record of service, and question the apparently arbitrary attitude of Dr. Dean Oliver, director of research and exhibitions for the museum, whom they say, has so far avoided meeting with veterans groups to discuss their concerns.
“We were supposed to have a meeting on Oct. 5, but he called it off,” Wing Commander Jack Meadows, ex-RAF fighter pilot, aviation historian and chairman of the Greater Vancouver board of the Aircrew Association of Canada, said.
Mark O’Neill, vice-president of public affairs for the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation – of which the Canadian War Museum is part – confirmed the museum has no plans to change the panel.
But he said the museum has frequently met with veterans groups and the discussions have led to “adjustments and added information” included in the museum’s Air War Gallery.
The offending panel, installed earlier this year, is part of a display tracing Canada’s participation in the Bomber Command force that conducted raids on Germany’s industrial heartland from 1940 through 1945.
Under the heading, “An Enduring Controversy,” it states: “The value and morality of the strategic bomber offensive against Germany remains bitterly contested. Bomber Command’s aim was to crush civilian morale and force Germany to surrender by destroying its cities and industrial installations. Although Bomber Command and American attacks left 60,000 Germans dead and more than five million homeless, the raids resulted in only small reductions in German war production until late in the war.”
That’s news to two South Surrey veterans: Bill MacNeil, who piloted Handley Page Halifax bombers, and Harry Anderson, who navigated them, as RCAF flying officers in Bomber Command in 1943-45.”
Nintendo sells 600K Wiis at launch, 454K Zeldas
Straight from Joystiq: “Nintendo’s numbers are finally in and business is looking good. Nintendo has reported they sold 600,000 units at launch and are on track to hit the full million goal in the US by the end of the year.The Wii wasn’t flying off the shelves alone. Twilight Princess accompanied 454,000 of them. That number is actually quite surprising given how large a franchise it is; we’d have expected every Wii to be paired up with its very own Zelda game, a 1:1 attach rate. In any case, Twilight Princess is looking to be the first million seller on the Wii if Nintendo can (presumably) reach those 2 million in the US by the end of January.
Nintendo’s positive news is nice for those who still want a Wii but can’t yet find it; you may have a relatively easy time finding one before the next big holiday hits. This is, of course, a far cry better than the other guy. Can Nintendo capitalize on their production capabilities and storm the market?”
Microsoft on PS3’s HD Problem
Straight from GameDaily: “If you bought your HDTV a few years ago, there’s a good chance it doesn’t support 720p resolution. And unfortunately, if you hook up a PS3 to these TVs, the only image you’ll see will be in 480p, not 1080i. Microsoft’s Andre Vrignaud believes this may not be fixable either…
As you probably have heard by now, some owners of older HDTV sets have been having trouble getting proper high-def visuals from the PlayStation 3. The PS3 outputs HD visuals for PS3 games in either 720p or 1080p, and if your HDTV does not support 720p, the PS3 won’t upscale the picture to 1080i either. While Sony initially told us that they are working on a fix (and still are apparently) that would come via a firmware patch, the company has since retracted its statement. Worse yet, it’s not clear if this problem even is fixable via a patch because the PS3 hardware would appear to lack the necessary scaler.”
