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Old 2007-08-18, 16:56   Link #221
Thingle
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Any update on the 3 Israeli soldiers who were kidnapped? Are they still alive?
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Old 2007-08-27, 11:39   Link #222
Kaioshin Sama
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Alberto Gonzalez (U.S Attorney General) Resigns

Finally Mr. Gonazalez has realized that he's pretty much screwed politically and has nobody but Bush on his side (Now it's time for Bush to do the about face in a speech though and admit Gonzalez has made some mistakes, in some ways the guy just can't get a break, but who does he have to blame......yeah that's right). I had a feeling he'd be the next Bush Appointee to go after the embarassing testimony before Congress and being called a liar, deceitful and incompetent by both Democrats and Republicans alike. For those who didn't know, Gonzalez has been under fire for the firing of 8 Federal Prosecutors, for reasons that appear to point to them simply holding different philosophies from the Bush Adminstration, making them unpopular with the likes of Karl Rove (Who's also gone now). To be honest I never thought he'd last this long, and I'm sure we've reached a record of most senior officials to resign under a single presidents term.

I'd just like to add on more thing...... Another One Bites Dust!
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Old 2007-09-02, 22:34   Link #223
TinyRedLeaf
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Leechers begone?

File-sharers forced to play fair

Quote:
BBC News (31 Aug 2007): Researchers have found a way to enforce good manners on file-sharing networks by treating bandwidth as a currency.

The team has created a peer-to-peer system called Tribler in which selfless sharers earn faster upload and download speeds but leechers are penalised. The technology is being assessed by a European broadcasting body looking at ways of piping TV across the net.

Tribler has also been used to turn Sony's PlayStation 3 into a video-sharing device.

While file-sharing networks are good ways to help lots of people get hold of large files often they have far more people taking from the system than they do giving. Peer-to-peer networks can become sluggish if too many users download content without sharing with others.

Using bandwidth as a kind of currency helps to encourage better habits said Dr Johan Pouwelse, an assistant professor at Delft University of Technology, Amsterdam and co-creator of Tribler.

Dr Pouwelse has been working with associate professor David Parkes from Harvard University to add an accounting system to Tribler to encourage users to upload as often as they download.

"In our model your TV would use "TV watching minutes", our form of P2P currency, to download content," said Dr Pouwelse. "The TV would connect directly to the internet and provide video on demand in HDTV quality. After you watch a program on TV, the system would automatically share this program during the night with other people, until your 'TV watching minutes' credit is healthy again," he said.

"If we get this right, it would mean quite a change in the TV business," said Dr Pouwelse.

Using bandwidth as a currency can remove some of the problems seen in file-sharing systems such as BitTorrent, said Dr Parkes. "In peer-to-peer, I can build up credit by offering upload capacity and then use the credit for download in the future," he said.

"There is still a balance, but the balance is on the order of days rather than seconds and this time-shifting can be welfare enhancing, said Dr Parkes.
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Old 2007-09-12, 11:21   Link #224
Kaioshin Sama
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced his plans to step down on September 19. Here is a link from the BBC describing the frenzy following this announcement. The main question from the Japanese press appears to be simply "Why?". I could tell you why, it probably has something to do with his dismal approval rating and unpopular nationalistic and local policies, but apparently his own party may have cut him off.
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Old 2007-09-24, 04:11   Link #225
TinyRedLeaf
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'$100 laptop' to sell to public

'$100 laptop' to sell to public

Quote:
BBC News (24 Sep 07) -- Computer enthusiasts in the developed world will soon be able to get their hands on the so-called "$100 laptop".

The organisation behind the project has launched the "give one, get one" scheme that will allow US residents to purchase two laptops for $399 (£198). One laptop will be sent to the buyer whilst a child in the developing world will receive the second machine.
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Old 2007-09-24, 04:52   Link #226
Amry
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Hmmm... something tells me that these "$100 laptops" won't be running any version of Windows...

Well, I guess it's a worthwhile effort, although frankly I'd use the $100 for more basic literacy / educational program. Computers can wait.
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Old 2007-09-24, 22:31   Link #227
SeijiSensei
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No, they use a customized graphical interface called Sugar which runs on top of Fedora Core 6, a Linux distribution. All the OLPC software is open-source. Linux users can download a copy of Sugar and run it on their machines. I'm planning on doing so sometime soon to see how it works.

Sadly the project can't yet produce a machine for the original $100 target price; currently it costs slightly under $200. That's why they've started this campaign to get people in the wealthy countries to buy a second machine to donate to a child in the developing world.

The OLPC's hardware is also pretty impressive, especially the various techniques they've developed to extend battery life. The famous crank that was intended to drive a generator and charge the battery has been eliminated and a variety of alternative low-cost power supplies developed The screen itself is also remarkable for its ability to change from color in darkened rooms to black&white in bright sunlight to maintain legibility. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some of these technologies make their way into the commercial world over the next few years.
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Old 2007-09-24, 22:42   Link #228
anti-random
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^that is a good incentive to buy stuff.
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Last edited by anti-random; 2007-09-24 at 22:42. Reason: typo
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Old 2007-09-25, 17:30   Link #229
rooroobearr
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OhEmGee News In Japan!

If you haven't seen it yet (which you probably have) goto
http://stage6.divx.com/user/shinokodomo/blog/30005/
Crazy stuff about how a teen goes berserk due to anime....
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Old 2007-09-25, 17:33   Link #230
Silasj
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I remember reading about this..
Reminds me an awful lot about the proposition to ban all games that contain violence in Germany. I was never one for that violent manga/animes however
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Old 2007-09-26, 05:59   Link #231
TinyRedLeaf
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A prayer for peaceful resolution

Burmese riot police attack monks

Quote:
BBC News (26 Sep 2007) -- Several thousand Burmese monks and other protesters are marching in Rangoon despite a bloody crackdown by police. One death is reported.

Police beat and arrested demonstrators at the revered Shwedagon Pagoda, including up to 100 monks, on the ninth day of unrest against military rule.
And so, violence is starting to break out in Rangoon, as Burma's military junta begins acting on its threat to crack down on the tens of thousands of Buddhist monks swarming into the capital. These are the largest demonstrations in Burma since 1988, when the junta brutally clamped down on student uprisings with lethal force.

I had hoped that the "Saffron Revolution" could be resolved peacefully, but if all things come to a head, we could well be seeing the start of a bloody revolution in Burma. This could possibly be history in the making. My best wishes go to the monks and the Burmese people.
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Old 2007-09-26, 17:50   Link #232
anti-random
We want chicken tonight
 
 
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^ I rather much have the war instead of a peaceful revolution,. Many things in history could of been then faster and earlier if proper planning took place and the violence. For example: in India if Gandhi didn't come along then we would all be screwed yes. No, they were a lot of who went against the British but failed due to lack of proper organization. If I wanted to talk power I would organize a systematic mass killing on the same day like the Pope did to the Knights Templar. It would be far easier.

However, I do feel sorry for the monks. They did nothing shame on the government of Burma.
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Old 2007-09-28, 10:38   Link #233
Kinny Riddle
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle2550369.ece

Link contains disturbing video of Burmese soldier shooting civilians and Japanese cameraman
This is just insane. A Japanese cameraman was shot dead, deliberately, at point blank range.

For too long this ridiculous dictatorship has managed to hang on despite all the sanctions, all thanks to Communist China propping it up in exchange for its natural resources.

The government in Beijing is sullying the names of Chinese everywhere by propping up such dictatorships around the world like Sudan, North Korea, Zimbabwe and Burma. It is these regimes that require changing as soon as possible.

Beijing might be bothered about people boycotting next year's Olympics as a result of the backlash, but if they have to choose between clinging on to power or showing off to the West, I have a feeling they would choose the former.
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Old 2007-09-30, 06:53   Link #234
anti-random
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Yeah, I too agree with that Kinny Riddle. Its like my predication that Communist China will start to disintegrate in about 20 years give or take. Its become more capitalist then anything and will continue to do so in the future. For Burma, these riots will be crashed in full force but the military. It would be cool if the Americans (crappy idiots) decided to help the Burmese people and get rid of the military dictatorship then fight in Iraq.
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Old 2007-10-02, 20:40   Link #235
Rahan
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It's time for a new manga / anime bashing campaign in the West.

Notes in park reportedly say "Watashi wa Kira dess" with misspelling
(sorry, the article is not very good since it's only a brief summary of a french one, but it's the only one I found in english)

It's just insane.
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Old 2007-10-06, 13:00   Link #236
Pendevous
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Scoop: "US Does Not Torture People" --> Bush

Quote:
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush insisted Friday the United States does not use torture to interrogate suspects, despite a weight of testimony and a renewed debate about the methods used in the "war on terror."

"This government does not torture people. We stick to US law and our international obligations," Bush said.

And he defended his "war on terror" launched in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks as well as the secret, controversial policy of detaining and interrogating suspects.

"I have put this program in place for a reason and that is to better protect the American people and when we find somebody who may have information regarding a potential attack on America, you bet we're gonna detain him and you bet we're gonna question him," he added.

The New York Times on Thursday alleged that since 2005 a US Justice Department document has authorized and justified the use of violent techniques in interrogations of "war on terror" suspects.

The legal department document was circulated in 2005, the same year Congress adopted a law banning cruel inhumane and degrading treatment, the Times said.

"The new opinion, the officials said, for the first time provided explicit authorization to barrage terror suspects with a combination of painful physical and psychological tactics, including head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures," the Times reported.

Human rights groups and Democratic Party lawmakers are now calling for the documents to be handed over to Congress for investigation.

In 2004, the Bush administration already had to release a first memo, drawn up two years earlier, which stipulated that no interrogation techniques were off-limits provided they did not trigger extreme physical pain.

Although the US administration has not denied the existence of the new documents, it is refusing to reveal their contents, insisting instead on the need to use alternative techniques to interrogate terror suspects.

"The American people expect their government to take action to protect them from further attacks and that's exactly what this government is doing and that's exactly what we will continue to do," Bush said.

He argued that highly trained professionals were employed to question "these extremists and the terrorists."

"We have got professionals who have trained in this kind of work to get information that will protect the American people."

White House Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend told CNN Thursday that the program had involved a team of fewer than 100 interrogators.

"We start with the least harsh measures first," Townsend told CNN television. "It stops ... if someone becomes cooperative."

But witness statements from former prisoners held in secret CIA jails or in the US military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have all testified to the use of systematic, and at times unchecked, of alternative interrogation techniques.

Former detainees, most of whom have been released without charge after several years in detention, have told of being held for months in solitary confinement.

They complained of being denied sleep, barred from seeing daylight, left naked in tiny, suffocating or freezing cells, forced to stand for hours in painful positions or being subjected to the onslaught of loud music.

Many of these accounts have been set down in official documents, such as the interrogation of Saudi prisoner Mohammed Al-Qahtani, who in a detailed 83-page testimony sets out almost minute-by-minute his incarceration in Guantanamo Bay from November 2002 to January 2003.

The FBI also released earlier this year some emails dating from 2004 sent by agents returning from missions to Guantanamo in which they denounced the mistreatment which they witnessed.

They talked about detainees being forcibly shaven, handcuffed to the ground for more than 24 hours, or even parade before savage dogs.

But Townsend said the White House was "baffled" by suggestions that if the US government did not employ harsh interrogation tactics, Al-Qaeda would treat captured Americans better.

And she suggested the harsh interrogation techniques had support and understanding of the American public.

"If Americans are killed because we failed to do the hard things, the American people would have the absolute right to ask us why," Townsend said.

- AFP /ls
Source:
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Old 2007-10-15, 06:20   Link #237
Kensuke
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Finland
Heads up, Finnish members, time to change your password if you have an accounts on Finnish forums, as far as I know this is limited only to those.

Finnish police investigate internet password leak
Quote:
Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is investigating the lead of tens of thousands of internet usernames and passwords.

The NBI has asked for executive assistance from foreign officials.

The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-FI), part of the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority, had warned on Saturday that a file containing about 80,000 Finnish usernames and passwords had been found on the internet.

Erka Koivunen, the head of CERT-FI, said that although file had been removed from its original server it was possible copies might have been made.

Mr Koivunen encourages users to report any misuse of personal data by third parties directly to the NBI.
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Old 2007-10-17, 12:41   Link #238
TinyRedLeaf
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BBC in drama of 21st century media

Quote:
Reuters (LONDON) [17 Oct 07] - HAVING angered the Queen and the public, Britain's BBC is set to shed staff with sweeping job cuts this week in the biggest crisis to hit the world-renowned broadcaster since a government clash over Iraq.

The publicly funded corporation, known for its excellence in journalism, has seemingly stumbled from one crisis to another this year, damaging viewers' trust and its credibility.

On Thursday, Director General Mark Thompson is expected to announce plans to cut up to 2,800 positions due to a tighter budget, with news and factual departments to bear the brunt.

Staff and unions have warned the quality of its output will drop. Its Web site, which it says attracts about 35 million users a month from around the world, will also be affected, according to media reports.

The result is plummeting morale and questions over strategy.

To some, the BBC's problems reflect its struggle to adapt to the digital age.

Fearing irrelevance in a time of so many digital channels, the corporation - which is funded by a tax on television-owning households - has launched a host of new channels, radio stations and interactive services to appeal to niche audiences.

Its critics argue that this drive for volume, ratings and viewer involvement has led to its latest problems, including the fiasco with the Queen. It is against this backdrop that the job cuts will come.

Unions say they are expecting up to 2,800 cuts to be announced, with 500-600 coming from the newsroom, after a lower-than-expected licence fee settlement with the government earlier this year.

Mr Thompson has said the corporation faces a 2-billion-pound (S$6-billion) funding shortfall over the 6-year period and must become leaner. But staff and analysts fear the cuts will damage quality, especially in journalism.

'There will be less time for the kind of work the BBC has been so spectacularly successful at, like 'From Our Own Correspondent'", Prof Barnett said.
I'm sure a lot of people would have noted that I'm a fan of the BBC. I hold the organisation in extremely high regard, and as a professional editor, I regard the BBC as the standard of journalistic excellence. So these news are of concern to me, even though I'm not a Brit.

To provide one very important reason why the BBC is so good at doing what it does:
Quote:
The BBC is funded directly by the license fee, a tax paid by British households that use a TV set.
Source

Meaning to say that the BBC is not beholden to any commercial interests. I guess I owe a lot of thanks to British taxpayers then.
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Old 2007-10-17, 17:19   Link #239
User65554
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^In Britain, the BBC is a fairly average news broadcaster, known for it's liberal bias, however I can't argue that it's international service is one of the best in the world.

If you are not in Britain, this should not affect you much if you use either the BBC World Service (radio) or BBC World (tv) (although mainly the World Service), as neither are funded through the license fee. In fact, the BBC World Service, funded by a grant from the Foreign Office, has been granted increased funding.
BBC World is funded by commercial sponsers, but it still receives its news from BBC News, which produces the news for the rest of the BBC (and is funded by the license fee (with the exception of some, mainly regional, news made by the World Service).
If you use the website, well, that seems to be funded by the license fee as well...

Still, this is not good news...
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Old 2007-10-20, 08:24   Link #240
Stephanie
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A Mall in my country got bombed.. It was in Makati, center for Business trade and stuff..

Good thing we went on an outting, we usually go to that mall on Fridays or weekends..

I might've been killed.. It was confirmed it was an act of terrorism.

Damn it! 9 people have been found dead so far in the rubble, 70 injured.

Just look at this Before the blast
Imagine how many people they are, how cruel!
Good thing it wasn't hundreds that died since it was only part of the mall that the explosion occurred.
(Which means they're trying to impart what? These 'terrorist'?)

The name of the mall is Glorietta, you can find actual news stories from TV in YouTube.
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