The Result of the Investigation Committee on Electoral Fraud

Anyone wondering why I'm linking to my own comments—I was also surprised that a Harald Georgii posted the entire comment in the comments section. But anyway, here it is. Just click on the title. Hmm. I've only found his name elsewhere in connection with the SPD faction on the web (a Word file—dreadful) – is he now wandering through the web copying the text everywhere?

Ok, since I'm admittedly a heretic and someone who soils his own nest, I'm naturally wondering where in the above text one can find the opinion of the Union MPs from the committee – remember P1548, where the Union's opinion was worded somewhat differently. Here's the original article.

Interview with Friedhelm Hengsbach

A very worth-reading interview with Friedhelm Hengsbach on the dismantling of the welfare state.

Many good answers to what politics and business are currently presenting as alleged facts and truths, and which so many people mindlessly repeat without thinking about it. Yes, Germany is regarded as immobile, rigid, a fettered giant, it has the red lantern. Even in that chancellor's speech it was repeatedly said: Germany must get back to the top! These are the sorts of slogans that are stereotypically repeated. But they don't hold true, they are deliberate deceptions of the population, who are being taken for a ride. A gloomy picture is painted using the method of hellfire preachers, a threatening image is thrown on the wall so that people tremble and let everything be done to them. But whoever influences people in this way and exercises power through threatening gestures does not take those affected seriously; he despises them. And that cannot go well in the long run.

At Der Rollberg I found the original article.

Patients suing over robot botch

Great idea: a robot from the automotive industry is suddenly promoted to surgeon without sufficient tests being conducted on risks and problems. Who do you think made a quick buck on the approval at the expense of patients?

I found the original article at Spiegel Online: Science.

Police violence against left-wing media in Hamburg?

What's going on there? Have they completely lost it in Hamburg? Why am I even asking, it was almost to be expected from a Senate that's in cahoots with the Schill crowd...

Here you can find the original article.

Critical Vulnerability in GnuPG Encryption Software

Ouch.

At heise online news there's the original article.

State Minister: Illegal copying is like an evil disease

So cool: Mrs. Weiss is making herself just as much an accomplice to the large, established film and music industry and brings the same stupid and mindless arguments as the corresponding representatives of the US government. Of course, here too there is no appreciation whatsoever for citizens' rights to protect their own interests (e.g. availability of films across hardware generations). Of course, here too immediately the general criminalization of all private individuals who have copied copyright-protected material—for whatever reasons—at some point.

Fits perfectly with the government's concept of bowing to business and trampling on the citizen.

At heise online news you can find the original article.

Wysiwyg pioneer Simonyi wants to revolutionize programming

Is he still harping on those silly ideas? By now it should have become clear to him that they're just pipe dreams. Programming is a creative process that is significantly determined by the expressive possibilities in the language you program in. Nobody would demand that a poet practice their art using the vocabulary of a tabloid newspaper, while also having to strictly adhere to fixed meter and write the whole thing with primitive tools.

As long as software development clings to primitive languages like C++, Visual Basic, or Java, the problem won't be solved in any meaningful way - whoever has low-level languages at their disposal will always think low-level.

Solutions to this problem have been available since the 80s, it's time the software industry took a closer look at them...

At heise online news there's the original article.

Personal Firewall causes DNS disruption

I find it repeatedly shocking how stupid programmers are who work in supposedly security systems. Something like this is an absolute beginner's mistake! And such software is supposed to protect users from attacks from the Internet...

At heise online news there's the original article.

Security Hole in Moveable Type

Ouch. Big hole in Moveable Type: the email addresses entered for sending entry notifications are not validated. This gives attackers the opportunity to abuse it - for example, according to this post, spammers have used the hole to send spam. A patch is also provided there that you can use to add validation, so that spammers can no longer easily abuse MT.

So, people, patch your Moveable Type! Or better yet: get rid of the script!

Here's the original article.

Weblog spam [dive into mark]

Not exactly new anymore, but perhaps worth considering for some of the current weblog spam fighters. I agree with Mark on many points: simple filter lists are the dumbest idea you can have when fighting spam, regardless of the medium. The fact that these filter lists are being positioned as a great new idea in the weblog space again is truly amusing.

It seems we humans are programmed not to believe that even the hundredth reinvention of the triangular wheel is still a stupid idea...

You can find the original article here.

AROS: Amiga® Research Operating System

For Amiga users: an open source system aiming to be compatible with AmigaOS. And these guys are already making real progress. OK, for Amiga fans this might be old hat, but it was new to me. My Amiga, though, has only booted maybe a handful of times during my ownership.

Here's the original article.

Genetic Information Should Not Be Patentable

That's cool - there's a potential procedure for detecting breast cancer through blood tests, and an American company has patented the genes associated with it and is taking action against the use of these tests. Sure, you can get it analyzed by them, but it's more expensive than previous procedures. And of course, Europe is stupid enough to grant such an inhumane patent as well.

At Telepolis News you can find the original article.

Hamster burrow oldest pantry in the world

The rodent from Ice Age?

At Spiegel Online: Wissenschaft there is the original article.

Here comes the horror!

Great. Simply great.

I found the the original article at Der Schockwellenreiter.

Internet Explorer vulnerable again

It would be easier to report only when he is supposedly invulnerable at the moment...

At heise online news there is the original article.

Criticism of Web Server Statistics

Oh yes, he who pays the piper calls the tune ...

At heise online news you can find the original article.

McBride intimates code cleanup in Linux nigh impossible

And he keeps spinning on. If indeed Linux 2.2 - and this is now a statement from SCO itself - had no problems, then Linux could still set up at that level without problems and continue on. The Linux 2.2 kernel was readily functional and usable. So if he were right (which would be absurd and silly - because so far he's done nothing but spout hot air), it certainly wouldn't be the catastrophe he's talking about.

Apart from the fact that he still hasn't grasped that Linux is the kernel and not the system - switching the kernel is really the least of all problems.

And also charming is the claim that suddenly there are millions of lines of code that SCO is now objecting to - if there are that many, why can't he produce even a single example so far that holds up to more than 10 minutes of analysis?

The guy is really amusing. Has certain similarities to the former Iraqi information minister, all of McBride's fuss and feathers.

At XMLMania.com - Google News Search: SCO I found the original article.

Tax Haven Red Light District

Well, but cutting social benefits is much easier than checking whether the state apparatus is actually doing what it should. Above all, politicians are not affected by the cuts, whereas they would potentially be actively involved in the control itself ...

At tagesschau im Internet there is the original article.

Vischering Castle in Lüdinghausen

Remnants of summer follow-up processing - 6 images of Vischering Castle in Lüdinghausen. A beautiful, picturesque castle. Just as you imagine a castle to be, with towers, defensive walls, drawbridges, and moat.

Shot with the Contax RTS III and the Sonnar 2.8/180, the 1.4/50 Planar, and a 3.5/17 Tokina on Kodak Portra 400 BW. Developed and scanned, by the way, at the Münster Fuji Minilab. Only the post-processing (slight tonal value correction and highpass sharpening), of course, done myself.

Here's the original article.

Record low in apprenticeships

This is how the economy is meeting the demand for more training places. That's why a non-training levy is completely far-fetched, as you can see the economy is making every effort to establish training positions ...

At WDR.de there is the original article.

Sharon: "Collective Antisemitism" in Europe

Sharon doesn't have all his marbles together either ...

At tagesschau im Internet you can find the original article.

...I find myself forced to take legal action

Telepolis on the trend of calling the lawyer instead of using reason...

At Telepolis News you can find the original article.

Which side of the road do they drive on?

On the web, there is an answer to everything. So too to the exciting question of who drove on which side when, where and why, and who changed this in history and why. Why did I find this now? Do you believe me that I stumbled upon it while browsing through Python information? The ways of the web are inscrutable...

Here is the original article.

Controversy over Gerster authority

The authority rejected all allegations. - did anyone expect anything else? Nowadays, investigations don't happen when allegations come in anymore. Instead, you deny everything first. That way the press gets a chance to blow the whole thing up properly. Then you can quickly find a few scapegoats to let take the fall. So the citizen can forget about it all quickly and the summer news void is filled. Or something like that.

At tagesschau im Internet there's the original article.

i d l y . o r g :: Porn Sites Hiding Behind Blogs

This fits well with the recent discussion about blog spam: apparently there are currently a number of pseudo-blogs that have been set up solely for the purpose of building Google juice and then later being converted into porn sites once many Google results point there. I'm not sure if that's really the clever strategy — Google throws out the corresponding results at the latest after the next Google Dance (the reorganization of Google indices based on newer Google robot results). And a Google Dance happens often enough that you really can't build lasting results that way.

What would be a fairly insidious technique, however, is if the Googlebot continued to be presented with the pseudo-blogs (it's recognizable to the web server by its user agent specification) while only regular user browsers saw the porn sites. That way Google would continue to diligently index a pseudo-blog and direct users to the home page of this pseudo-blog, where they'd then see the smut.

Here's the original article.

Metro Group continues in warning letter fever

Wow. Germany's biggest food price gouger is now even sending cease-and-desist letters to U-Bahn fans. We should compile a hit list of the most audacious cease-and-desist letters. This one would rank right at the top, alongside Mobilix-Obelix.

At heise online news you'll find the original article.

"Not amused": Bush visit leaves traces

Bomb Iraq? Cool, we're in. Detain people against applicable international law? No problem, we'll look the other way. Lie and cheat to justify a war? No big deal, we do that too.

But heaven forbid the lawn gets damaged. And those poor traumatized flamingos ...

At tagesschau im Internet you can find the original article.

Rondayview: Da Funk and Da Noise

Interesting set of Photoshop actions under MIT license (so free) for reducing noise in digital images. The whole thing makes a good impression and is nice and easy to use.

Here's the original article.

Imprisoned globalization critics on hunger strike

Planting false evidence on globalization critics and then arresting them - does that correspond to the superiority of Western culture that was so touted in the debate over the EU Constitution?

At Telepolis News you can find the original article.

LEICA DIGILUX 2 - more details about the candidate

A bit more for the rumor mill - a rather detailed description of the LC1, which could possibly become a Digilux 2.

Here's the original article.

Name dispute with Red Hat over Fedora

Red hats want to patent floppy hats. Stupid, that.

At heise online news there's the original article.

Suspicion of right-wing extremism at the Federation of the Self-Employed

The attempt at cleaning up and distancing oneself. Just as unconvincing as the original appearance ...

At Telepolis News you can find the original article.

Uproar over TV doping confession in Italy

Wow.

At RADSPORT-NEWS.COM - Nachrichten-Gesamtübersicht you can find the original article.

AT&T Sues eBay and PayPal

Oh how wonderful, another patented banality that's supposed to make money through litigation. The patent describes in great detail and confusingly the banal exchange of identifications (email addresses) and a third party who mediates between two others to process the payment. Incredibly innovative and of course a great intellectual achievement, so naturally one must absolutely prohibit others from implementing it, because surely no one could come up with such a grandiose idea. It's not like it happens in everyday life or anything ...

At heise online news there's the original article.

debian.org hacked [Update]

Grumble At heise online news there's the original article.

Germany, the Belated Nation

Information laggard.

At Telepolis News you can find the original article.

The Legend of the Salt Dome

For those who haven't quite understood what an interim storage facility is. Although I was aware of the fact that above-ground storage for cooling purposes was used, I was not aware that the procedure for repackaging the waste from the Castor into the Pollux container does not even exist yet. I also could not have named the specific time period of over 30 years.

Propaganda works, we forget far too easily and far too willingly, and we are equally willing to believe...

Here's the original article.

New LUMIX camera DMC-LC1 scheduled for spring 2004

The candidate for the Leica Digilux 2?

Here's the original article.

Trouble with the GNUs

I don't like the GFDL either - precisely because of the problems that arise with Debian. So I'll probably never become a GNU maintainer. Well, I don't know if I'd want to anyway - GNU maintainer sounds to me more like a job where you have to shovel antelope shit than actual software development.

At heise online news you can find the original article.

Computer failure and poor training led to US blackout

After all the wild speculation, a very boring explanation...

At heise online news you can find the original article.

Open Content and Related Licenses

On the linked page, an Open Content license and three restricted variants are offered with which content can be released for use in a similar way as is possible with software using the GPL. What is interesting here is that these licenses are tailored to German law. Very interesting - and the licenses are of course themselves freely usable.

Here is the original article.

The ARD on Ghost Hunt

Another broadcast that humanity doesn't need. Esoteric nonsense spread with public broadcasting funds. Just great. But then again, we still broadcast church services and papal appearances on television, which is exactly the same kind of humbug. Whether someone claims to be able to bend spoons or claims their inspirations come from God - it's all humbug. And we happily pass it on, because criticism of humbug makes you out to be a nitpicker and someone without imagination. And ever since Hohlmann, we know that we imaginationless nitpickers are the evil perpetrators ...

What I could never quite wrap my head around though: if natural science already offers such fascinating aspects as promiscuous bonobos, fart-speaking herrings (if only Walter Mörs had known about that!), and black holes - who still needs esoteric humbug?

At Telepolis News you can find the original article.

Skyscrapers are causing Shanghai to sink

That gives the term "land under" a whole new dimension ... tagesschau im Internet has the original article.

Chancellor annoyed about board election results: "Disgrace"

Well, it would certainly be asking too much if the chancellor had to think about whether perhaps his absurd policies are to blame for the poor performance

I found the original article on RP-Online: Politik.

Copy protection debacle possibly also affecting video DVDs

What a load of crap. That would mean I'd have to copy the corresponding films from file-sharing networks - after all, I only watch my DVDs on my notebook. Ok, not that I'd want to see Hulk in any form on any device - the film is so bad that it probably should never have been made in the first place. Why such garbage even needs copy protection is really beyond me - the film's poor quality alone should be enough to ensure that nobody wants to copy this trash.

At heise online news you can find the original article.

License fees for every single bean

The Wonderful World of Genetic Engineering Vultures

The original article can be found at Telepolis News.

SCO Chief: This World Needs Proprietary Systems

Nice Summary of Darl McBride's Complete Loss of Reality

I find his idea particularly amusing that Novell and Redhat could have anything to do with whether Linux is free or not (aside from the fact that it was never free - even a download has costs). Does this joker seriously believe that projects like Debian would stop their work just because he talks nonsense?

Even if the GPL were attacked in some form (which hardly anyone besides SCO's leadership believes), that would only mean a portion of software would become problematic for Linux distributions. And a large part of GPL software comes from the FSF or has been transferred to the FSF - and is thus far outside SCO's reach. But they apparently never understood that a kernel isn't the whole system anyway, what can you expect from such trolls...

But what does SCO actually have to offer for the future? The partially over 10 years old Open Server? The Unixware that hasn't been developed significantly in 5 years? Ridiculous. The only somewhat modern product they have would be their Linux distribution.

At heise online news there is the original article.

SCO claims world software market under threat

Wow. McBride is really a bombshell. So the Free Software community is equated with:

• filesharing
• dot-com bubble
• free love (particularly dreadful!)

And anyway, that the GPL would be attacked is solely IBM's fault. And the world software market is in danger! That's why WIPO has also stepped in and is beating the Intellectual Property drum again.

I'm feeling quite evil right now.

At XMLMania.com - Google News Search: SCO I found the original article.

SCO Hints at *BSD Lawsuits Next Year, And More

Oh cool, the next one wants to try their teeth on BSD again. The question remains which BSD - the market is even more fragmented than the Linux market with alone three larger kernel projects and some userland implementations on foreign kernels

At XMLMania.com - Google News Search: SCO I found the original article.

They found Nemo ...

Here you can find the original article.