Data protection expert openly talks about the path to a surveillance state - don't worry, won't impress anyone, we'll continue as planned. Civil rights don't interest anyone anymore.
Archive 27.10.2006 - 7.11.2006
Efficient JavaScript - you should definitely go through it, can't hurt.
Fission for Mac OS X - lossless audio file editing. Nice addition to Audio Hijacker by the same manufacturer, e.g. for recording life events on the internet ...
inches - yikes!
Light Zone - interesting tool for image editing. Not too expensive, demo available, in Java (and actually portable across multiple platforms). Sounds at least interesting for a test.
Personal selection via facial analysis: Telltale bump on the head - "Phrenology was ultimately also the basis for the racial science popular during the Nazi era".
Judgment: T-Online may not store connection data - unfortunately only for one customer and for everyone else another lawsuit would be necessary. Such an absurd thing - the BGH finds that T-Online acts unlawfully, but simply ignores that they will continue to do so for a million (or however many) other users ... this is then called a rule of law ...
VIA closes driver sources - it would be best to simply boycott VIA. Somehow, the company is just too arrogant.
World Mysteries - Voynich Manuscript - strange ...
Ballmer Invites Patent Talks with Competing Linux Vendors - well, now it seems Microsoft is trying to crack the Linux market. They will look pretty stupid if they only reach the commercial distributions and the free distributions just give them the middle finger ...
Bill Gates warns of digital divide in Germany - "Their goal is to make four million people fit for dealing with information technology in professional life by 2010." - well, "to indoctrinate for Microsoft products" probably describes the goals of an MS campaign better. And our politicians obediently hold the ladder.
Brandenburg: Neonazis beat journalist - now politicians will of course once again spew out a mountain of affectedness babble and talk about isolated incidents. And about how there is of course no neo-Nazi problem in Brandenburg. And how the authorities of course took completely excusable so long. But the truth, no one wants to speak it - that the brown filth continues to rise and we are already far beyond "beginning problems."
Kündigungsschutz: Glos' Pläne in der Kritik - cute, how our proletarians, through their blinkers, only see exactly the small part they want to see. Because the guaranteed support for the unemployed over a period of up to 4 years with 80% of the last income (which means that the benefits in Denmark are higher than they have ever been here!), this is simply ignored. They are just proletarians, not politicians ... (but that the media does not clearly point this out, that is an absolute disgrace)
Millions of Europeans sat in the dark - it's already embarrassing how they all mocked the Americans before, and now a simple shutdown of a line is causing Europe-wide problems ...
Programming in Color - colorful pixels make a program. Insane.
Torque : TGE - interesting engine for networked games. Multiplatform (Windows, Mac and Linux), source code included and low hardware requirements. However, not distributed, networked worlds.
British attack on Deutsche Telekom - oh yes, now the locusts will certainly be discussed away again, because it can't be what can't be - that capitalism is stupid and short-sighted.
The end of Second Life: Picture coming! - the Blöd reporters now also want to invade SL. Well, here's to that.
Corrupted Pharmaceutical Research - why the call for stronger industry engagement in public research is a bad idea. And why we already know this today.
Man removes sharp hand tool from rear at gunpoint - you can't reach into a naked man's pocket, but you can pull a hidden weapon out of his ass ...
THANK GOODNESS! by Daniel C Dennett - In the long run, I think religious people can be asked to live up to the same moral standards as secular people in science and medicine.
[The Parable of the Two Programmers](http://www.csd.uwo.ca/staff/magi/personal/humour/Computer_Audience/The Parable of the Two Programmers.html) - that's how it works.
With Microscope and Tweezers: Chronology - 18 years ago yesterday, the first Internet worm struck.
Artists in Metal—Mark Ho - if anyone is still looking for something for me for Christmas ...
Explosion shakes PayPal headquarters - someone must have wanted to blow up the bank?
Banknotes dissolving - I had imagined the depreciation of money differently ...
Jamendo : Mach die Ohren auf - another CC music portal. Looks quite nice, a bit hypy, but hyping might be important for CC music right now.
NASA will repair Hubble space telescope after all - well, that's that. It can be done.
The "C is Efficient" Language Fallacy - shot down. Again. Will they ever stop?
The Django Book - progressive Beta-Releases of the Django Book chapters on the web (with information on when the chapters go online).
Fewer rights for works councils in the public sector - Co-determination? Annoying. Get rid of it.
World's smallest fish title in dispute, new marine species is 20% smaller - parasitär lebende Männchen, die sich für den Rest ihres Lebens am Weibchen festbeißen und nur aus Hoden bestehen. Äh ...
Charlie's Diary: "The book is not that interesting, as tales of desperation and survival are actually quite common." - Buchkritiken auf Amazon. And then they voted.
Converting Pi to binary - DON'T DO IT!
Electronic Voting Machines - a different point of view. Very different.
Leica M8 Review - 2 second startup time? Hmm. I'll cling to the reason not to buy it ... (for now?)
SDU-Wahlcomputer excluded from Dutch parliamentary elections - and when will this madness be completely stopped? And here too? I am in favor of a Europe-wide ban on silly voting computers. Sorry, but counting the classic way is really not that hard that we would need a computer for it ...
Six Word Stories about Programming Languages - literary!
Scandal about private health insurance protest action - what do you expect from an industry whose main goal is to avoid providing the sold services and get away with it?
Small crimes against the planet - stupidity galore. Extra Virgine Olive Oil aus Neuseeland? My ass ...
Prosecutor's office not allowed to involve GVU in copyright investigations - first signs of reason?
Alice and Bob - Eve is not the attacker.
Good Math, Bad Math : Pathological Programming: Ignorance is Bliss, or at least control. - ok, and this language is so absurd, one has to go and take a look. Although it reminds me a bit of sick Snobol, in terms of format ...
Good Math, Bad Math : Prime Number Pathology: Fractran - Programming language that consists only of prime numbers. Ouch.
Molecule of the Day: L-Methamphetamine (Would you believe this is over the counter?) - Mirror molecule to D-Methamphetamine. Same chemistry, but rolled up differently. One (D) is a drug, the other (L) a cough medicine ...
"Push! push! push!" - Ironman in a wheelchair. Wow.
WebSnapr - Thumbnail images for links. Interesting concept.
Switchman sick: Railway line blocked for hours - sorry? The Düsseldorf-Cologne rail connection depends on the existence of two officials?
German government wants customer data for preventive crime fighting - on to the internet surveillance state! We've already slipped drastically in terms of press freedom, and we'll manage to do the same with internet freedom! Roll up your sleeves, monitor, and denounce! Every citizen is called upon! Or maybe it's time to think about using tor, JAP, and other tools for encrypting and, above all, anonymizing communication?
The Voting Booth - exactly. The annoying counting only bothers.