Turkish Troubles; are we on the wrong side?

More Turks are pouring into the streets, proudly showing the Turkish flag and marching in support of secular government:

Celebration of Democracy in Izmir; Streets Red With Flags, Banners of 1.5 Million Secular Protestors





(see link above for more photos) So what are we doing? The USA supports the Islamic AKP party, which the protesters warn is trying to institute an Islamic government:

Secular-Centrist Turkish Journalist Voices Thoughts of Many Secular Turks: Americans Have Decided to Hold AKP in Their Hearts

I don't know about Americans embracing AKP; maybe the State Department does, but I suspect that most Americans don't even know much about what's going on in Turkey.

Rice shaking hands with AKP member Gul

Islamist Turkish Dailies Encouraged by Rice's Support For AKP

Their are claims by the opposition that the US is supporting AKP against them. It would seem that the US has reversed itself, or at least become less neutral, toward AKP. In so far as they are elected, you can't just bypass them and deal only with the oppositon. Yet should we be so enthusiastically endorsing them? They have been doing some scary things.

The AKP claims to support secularism in government, but is it true? Certainly many people in Turkey believe their secular government is threatened. Here are some of the reasons why:

AKP party leaders with their wives, with heads fully covered
Turkish High Administrative Court, Danistay: Turkey Threatened by Reactionaryism and Fundamentalism
The highest administrative court in Turkey is reaffirming it's support of the principles and reforms of Ataturk in support of secular government, warning that any action against these principles would be defined as "irtica," that is, reactionaryism, backwardness, and fundamentalism.

The court was physically attacked by Islamists in May of last year, resulting in the death of one of it's judges.

Turkish Education Minister: Under AKP, Hundreds of Imams Were Transferred From Religious Affairs Directorate To Teach Public School
Since the AKP came to power in 2002, 836 trained imams, graduates of madrassa-style Imam Hatip schools that train imams, work as teachers in Turkey's public schools.

Opposition and secular circles in Turkey claim the AKP has been filling most public positions in Turkey with "their men".

AKP Makes Radical Changes in Turkish Constitution in the Last Weeks of Current Parliament
Here I think you have the major issue behind the protests; AKP is trying to make major changes to Turkey's form of government. It's being seen as a power grab by Islamists, circumventing protections built in to the current system to prevent tyranny by a majority.

AKP may believe that if it can get a majority of votes in parliament, it should be able to do whatever it wants. They may claim that is Democracy. But Democracy alone, without the rule of law, is nothing more than mob rule, which always self-destructs without restraints. I think the opposition parties want the restraints to remain in place, lest they get trampled.

Turkish radio is also having it's share of troubles. Some really disturbing comments being made from AKP members... what IS Rice doing? Does she have a clue? I sometimes fear she is too academic in her approach to these issues, without considering enough the reality of circumstances on the ground. I could be wrong about that. History will be the final judge.

It's worth noting that Turkey's secular opposition is not without it's blemishes either; AKP can make good arguments in it's defense, too.

Whichever party leads, I hope secularism in government is maintained.


Related Link:

Turks show massive support for secularism
     

Microsoft generates more FUD about Linux

Gates' strategy: If you can't beat them, assimilate them?
Back in February, Microsoft inked a deal with Novell to support their version of Linux, and they also made an agreement not to sue each other, or each others' customers, for patent infringement. I did a post back then about Microsoft's possible intentions. Many people were critical of Novell, warning that Microsoft would use the deal to claim ownership of Linux code. So what we are seeing today really isn't surprising. It's actually the continuation of a battle that's been going on for a long time.

Steven Vaughan-Nichols at DesktopLinux.com sums it up nicely. Some excerpts:

Microsoft's reignites its war on Linux

Analysis -- Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on May 14 claimed that "Linux violates over 228 patents. Someday, for all countries that are entering WTO [the World Trade Organization], somebody will come and look for money to pay for the patent rights for that intellectual property."

With that comment, Microsoft declared war against Linux and open source yesterday... Oh wait. My mistake, Ballmer made that attack in November 2004.

What Microsoft did yesterday, in an interview with Fortune, was to have Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, reiterate and elaborate those tired old claims. This time around, Microsoft claims that the Linux kernel violates 42 of its patents, while the Linux graphical user interfaces break another 65. In addition, the Open Office suite of programs infringes 45 more, an assortment of email programs violate 15 others, and an assortment of free and open-source programs allegedly transgress 68 more patents.

[...]

How are these programs violating the patents? Heck, which patents are being violated? We don't know. Microsoft isn't saying.

Gosh, vague threatening IP (intellectual property) claims without any facts.

Where have we heard that before? Could it be from early days of the long discredited claims against Linux by SCO? Claims that have fallen from grandiose heights to 326 unimportant lines of code?

If we look closer at Microsoft's claims, we see that we don't need a court to dismiss them. [...]

(bold emphasis mine) The story of SCO is interesting. I believe it goes thus:

Microsoft bought large shares of stock in SCO, a struggling Linux company. SCO then began to make copyright infringement claims against other Linux vendors, demanding royalty payments. When it finally came to trial, SCO did not succeed. But the threats and the trial dragged on for years, and helped Microsoft's campaign to create FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) about Linux, thereby slowing it's progress.

SCO was a small company. I think it was a practice shot for Microsoft; many people claim they used SCO as a proxy, to see how much damage they could do, and what to expect. No doubt they learned things from that, and now Microsoft itself is making infringement claims.

Since Microsoft is a much bigger company, with much greater legal resources, the threat is a lot more significant. Even if they don't succeed in destroying the legality of Open Source Software, the FUD this generates can slow or stop the progress of Linux, which has been steadily cutting into Microsoft's profit margins in many markets.

The article has more details and many good embedded links; it's not long, and it's a good introduction to the ongoing battle.




Could Microsoft's strategy backfire? From a legal standpoint, some advocates of Open Source Software believe Microsoft could be on shaky ground.

More on the legal perspective from Roger Parloff at CNNmoney.com. An excerpt:
Microsoft takes on the free world

[...] The free world appears to be uncowed by Microsoft's claims. Its master legal strategist is Eben Moglen, longtime counsel to the Free Software Foundation and the head of the Software Freedom Law Center, which counsels FOSS projects on how to protect themselves from patent aggression. (He's also a professor on leave from Columbia Law School, where he teaches cyberlaw and the history of political economy.)

Moglen contends that software is a mathematical algorithm and, as such, not patentable. (The Supreme Court has never expressly ruled on the question.) In any case, the fact that Microsoft might possess many relevant patents doesn't impress him. "Numbers aren't where the action is," he says. "The action is in very tight qualitative analysis of individual situations." Patents can be invalidated in court on numerous grounds, he observes. Others can easily be "invented around." Still others might be valid, yet not infringed under the particular circumstances.

Moglen's hand got stronger just last month when the Supreme Court stated in a unanimous opinion that patents have been issued too readily for the past two decades, and lots are probably invalid. For a variety of technical reasons, many dispassionate observers suspect that software patents are especially vulnerable to court challenge.

Furthermore, FOSS has powerful corporate patrons and allies. In 2005, six of them - IBM (Charts, Fortune 500), Sony, Philips, Novell, Red Hat (Charts) and NEC - set up the Open Invention Network to acquire a portfolio of patents that might pose problems for companies like Microsoft, which are known to pose a patent threat to Linux.

So if Microsoft ever sued Linux distributor Red Hat for patent infringement, for instance, OIN might sue Microsoft in retaliation, trying to enjoin distribution of Windows. It's a cold war, and what keeps the peace is the threat of mutually assured destruction: patent Armageddon - an unending series of suits and countersuits that would hobble the industry and its customers.

"It's a tinderbox," Moglen says. "As the commercial confrontation between [free software] and software-that's-a-product becomes more fierce, patent law's going to be the terrain on which a big piece of the war's going to be fought. Waterloo is here somewhere." [...]

(bold emphasis mine) I like the comparison to a cold-war. In this situation, Microsoft reminds me of North Korea, threatening to heat the war up unless people agree to pay them extortion money (or in Microsoft's case, royalties on code that's not proven to be theirs).

This article IS quite long. I personally find it interesting. I used to work for a large group of attorney's, and the largest firm specialized in patents and intellectual property. If you are at all interested, it's a good in depth look at the legal/business aspects involved.


Related Links:



Microsoft's Linux stance threatens self-harm

Microsoft, Linux, and our software choices

showusthecode.com
     

Sunday Funnies 05/13/07

Iranian Fashion Police at work... literally

It's no joke. Here is a compilation of video clips of the fashion police at work, as shown on Iranian TV.

#1445 - Iranian Police Enforces "Islamic Dress Code" on Women in the Streets of Tehran.
Iran Ch.1, IRINN (Iran) - 4/15/2007 - 00:03:08 [video]

A portion of the transcript:

[...]

Dress code enforcer: The manteau you are wearing is tight and has a long slit. Don't you think it violates our society's norms? You live in an Islamic country, right? Your head is completely uncovered as well. Your make-up is too heavy.

Dress code enforcer: As an Iranian citizen, do you think the way you are dressed is appropriate?

Woman: My trousers aren't short, and nor is my manteau.

Dress code enforcer: But your head is uncovered, and that scarf you are wearing – do you think it is appropriate?

Woman: So the problem is only with my hair?

Dress code enforcer: Of course. Your head is uncovered. Please rearrange your scarf. What you are wearing is a sarafan. In the Islamic dress code, this is not acceptable as an appropriate covering.

Woman: Why not? It has sleeves, and it is not short...

Dress code enforcer: No, what you are wearing is a sarafan. Do you admit that it's a sarafan?

Woman: So what's the difference between a sarafan and a manteau? It's got sleeves like a manteau.

[...]

Dress code enforcer: Come here, please. Good day. You are an Iranian citizen and a resident of Tehran, just like me. Don't you think that what you are wearing is problematic with regard to the Islamic social norms? What do you think, dear lady? Is it or is it not problematic? Do you agree that it is problematic? Your scarf is too thin, your hair is showing, and your manteau is short and tight. Please be more careful. When you go out, make sure you follow the social norms of this country.

Dress code enforcer: Please wait here for a few moments. Your hair is showing from the back. Your manteau is... Your trousers are too short. Please come with us into the bus. We have some things to discuss with you...

In the West, people make jokes about the fashion police. How easily we forget that for many people in the world, it's no joke, but a harsh reality.

Is "harsh" too strong a word? Considering that violators can be imprisoned and punished with "lashes" - quite painful and severe, even lethal sometimes, I would say "harsh" fits perfectly.

Consider the screaming woman at the end of the video. She's certainly afraid of something.

You can view the clip here.


Related Link:

Women's rights in Iran; the right to be a penguin
     

3-D "printer" makes actual plastic objects

Already in use by industry, medical and other professions, the 3-D printer may become common place in the home. Uses could even include letting little girls make their own customized Barbie dolls - with their mother's face on it! Are we there yet? Almost...


By Saul Hansell from the New York Times Technology section:
Beam It Down From the Web, Scotty

PASADENA, Calif. — Sometimes a particular piece of plastic is just what you need. You have lost the battery cover to your cellphone, perhaps. Or your daughter needs to have the golden princess doll she saw on television. Now.

In a few years, it will be possible to make these items yourself. You will be able to download three-dimensional plans online, then push Print. Hours later, a solid object will be ready to remove from your printer.

It’s not quite the transporter of “Star Trek,” but it is a step closer.

Three-dimensional printers have been seen in industrial design shops for about a decade. They are used to test part designs for cars, airplanes and other products before they are sent to manufacturing. Once well over $100,000 each, such machines can now be had for $15,000. In the next two years, prices are expected to fall further, putting the printers in reach of small offices and even corner copy stores.

The next frontier will be the home. One company that wants to be the first to deliver a 3-D printer for consumers is Desktop Factory, started by IdeaLab, a technology incubator here. The company will start selling its first printer for $4,995 this year.

[...]

IdeaLab hopes companies will sell three-dimensional designs over the Internet. This would allow people to print out replacements for a dishwasher rack at home. And it would open up new opportunities for toys.

“You could go to Mattel.com, download Barbie, scan your Mom’s head, slap the head on Barbie and print it out,” suggests Joe Shenberger, the director of sales for Desktop Factory. “You could have a true custom one-off toy.”

How many people will want such a thing? It is impossible to say for sure, but some who work with the current crop of 3-D printers say they will be very attractive when the price puts them in reach of home users. [...]

Eventually, the price for these "printers" is expected to fall as low as $1,000. The article talks about many other uses for the machines as well, and also offers more information about how the machines work, has photos of sample objects that the machines have made, and links to more information. It makes for fascinating reading.
     

More Tiny Linux Computers comming soon...

This computer will be available for as low as $99.00, IF you sign up for their optional on-line storage service for $12.95 per month. Without the monthly service, the device will cost about $250.

Zonbu to Roll Out $99 Linux-Based Computer This Summer

There's a cheap computer on the way that undercuts them all, the $99 Zonbu, due this summer in a silent-running form factor that's about the size of a paperback book. It has 4GB of flash memory on board, and automatically backs up a copy of your data online. Besides that $99 purchase price, you'll also pay $12.95 a month (for 25GB,scales up to 100GB for more money) to store its data on the Zonbu servers, giving you the ability to compute anywhere with this tiny device, or access your data from other PCs. If you don't commit to a service plan, the little PC costs $250.

Of course, you'll have to buy a keyboard, monitor and mouse for this diminutive computer, and you'll need a broadband Internet connection, too, but the company says its little Gentoo Linux-based mini PC has all of the applications most people ever need already preloaded. This sounds intriguing, but what applications are included, and can you actually get any work done with it? [...]

See the article for screenshots and more details. There is also a feature on the device at Softpedia:

Tiny Linux-based PC. Only $99! - Zonbu will release a cheap computer this summer!


Another device is comming out from SD-Omega:




Ultra-compact Core 2 Duo system supports Linux

Hong Kong-based mini-PC manufacturing specialist SD-Omega has launched a new system claimed to be the smallest Core 2 Duo PC to support both Linux and Windows Vista. The SD635 is based on an Intel 945GM/ICH7M chipset and measures 6.2 x 10.1 x 2.2 inches (156 x 256 x 56mm).

Despite its small size, the SD635 is fairly substantial, weighing in at 5.5 pounds (2.5 kilograms) when "fully equipped." The diminutive system has room for a slimline optical drive and a 2.5-inch hard drive, and it appears to be constructed with a steel case. [...]

See the article for more hardware specs. The company offers 20 different Linux-friendly models. At least one model has been demonstrated running both Linux and Vista (see article for link).


Related Link:

Are the next generation of PC's already here?
More inexpensive Linux Micro-computers.
     

What to expect from the new president of France

From John Fund at the Opinion Journal:
L'Adulte:
Can Sarkozy reform France?

Conservative Nikolas Sarkozy's comfortable victory over Socialist Ségolène Royal in France's presidential race may indicate that Europe's slowest-growing major economy is finally ready for some change.

[...]

By French standards Mr. Sarkozy is positively effusive about the need for the two countries to emphasize their points of agreement. "My dedication to our relationship with America if well known and has earned me substantial criticism in France," he said. "But let me tell you something, I'm not a coward. I embrace that friendship. I'm proud of the friendship . . . and I proclaim it proudly." He then went on to say that France's foreign policy had often suffered from an arrogant and insensitive approach, a clear reference to the haughty attitudes of retiring president Jacques Chirac and his prime minister, Dominique de Villepin.

But the clearest break that Mr. Sarkozy represents from leaders like Mr. Chirac is in his background. The son of a Hungarian immigrant, he has always been viewed as an outsider by French elites. He failed to attend the prestigious National School of Administration, where almost every leading figure in French politics, including purported populist Ségolène Royal, went.

It is difficult for Americans to appreciate just how removed from the French people the nation's bureaucratic elite is. Its arrogance is mind-boggling.

[...]

Mr. Sarkozy acknowledges he is now part of the elites of French society, but he pledges he will govern in a way that is beyond their interests. "If I'm elected," he told reporters before yesterday's balloting, "it won't be the press, the polls, the elites who chose me. It will have been the people." His clearest break with much of French elite opinion came last week when he made a dramatic speech about a "moral crisis" the nation entered in 1968, when the "moral and intellectual relativism" embodied by the 1968 student revolt that helped topple President Charles de Gaulle from power the next year. Today, many philosophers and media commentators routinely pay homage to "the élan of 1968" and lament that the revolutionary spirit of the time did not succeed in transforming bourgeois French society more than it did.

Mr. Sarkozy took on that '60s nostalgia. He labelled Ms. Royal and her supporters the descendants of the nihilists of 1968, and even appealed to France's "silent majority" to repudiate the false lessons of that period. He claimed that too many Royal backers continue to hesitate in reacting against riots by "thugs, troublemakers and fraudsters." He declared this Sunday's election would settle the "question of whether the heritage of May '68 should be perpetuated or if it should be liquidated once and for all." [...]

(bold emphasis mine) Amen to that! I don't expect miracles from this; France will still be France. But that doesn't mean the situation won't improve at all. Just as Angela Merkel of Germany has been an improvement over her predecessor, Sarkozy may well be an improvement over his. Lets hope so!

He certainly faces a lot of challenges. Already violent riots and arson have begun, as predicted (or threatened?) by socialist loser Segolene Royal. Many more photos of the riots can be found at the flickr.com link below:



Welcome to Sarkoland

Click on the link and look what Sarkozy will have to deal with.
The legacy of 1968. I don't envy him.
     

Turks show massive support for secularism

As the presidential elections draw near, demonstrations have been increasing. The crescent and star, an Islamic symbol, is also the national flag of Turkey, which has been displayed prominently as Turks rally in support of their secular democracy.


I've wanted to post about this for a while now. Turks have been taking to the streets in massive demonstrations, in support of keeping their government secular. Here are a selection of posts and photos that have been appearing on Memri.org.

No Hijab for these Turkish ladies.

Demonstrations by Secular Turks Spread Throughout Turkey

[...] Tens of thousands rallied yesterday, May 5, in cities in western Turkey to protest against the AKP party and Islamist fundamentalism, and to assert that the Turkish people desires a secular, democratic Turkey.

Following the giant demonstrations in Ankara (April 14) and in Istanbul (April 29), the protests have spread throughout Turkey. The western Turkish cities of Amasya and Canakkale witnessed today the largest demonstrations in their history. These protests, like the previous demonstrations, were organized and supported mainly by women’s organizations.

A third protest rally took place yesterday in Marmaris, a resort town on the Aegean coast. The messages delivered by demonstrators there were the same as protestors expressed in previous rallies: "Turkey is secular and will remain secular," "No imams and mullahs in Cankaya," "No to Shari’a."[...]

I had wondered these photos some of the demonstrators were carrying. The explanation is given below:

[...] Among the tens of thousands of flags that filled the streets with red was a large poster showing a 1986 photo of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan kneeling before terrorist leader Hikmetyar, with the caption "This is You [AKP]," alongside a 1930s photo of Ataturk with the ruling government of his time, in modern Western attire, with the caption "And This is Us."[...]

This is just the latest, there have been earlier demonstrations as well:




Mass April 14 Demonstration in Ankara Against Erdogan Presidency

Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated peacefully to protest against Turkish PM Erdogan as president, the policy of the AKP government, and the Islamization of Turkey, and in defense of the core values of the republic and of the reforms of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The crowd included large numbers of women and children, and the streets were red with Turkish flags – some of them miles long. All the speeches were by academicians and officials of NGOs.

Signs carried by demonstrators read: "We don't want an imam in Cankaya (the presidential residence)"; "Turkey is secular and will remain secular"; "I am aware of the danger and I am here" (see relevant clips at Turkish Elections Ad ; More Turkish Elections Ad) [see article for links]; "We are aware of the danger and of our strength"; "No mullahs in Cankaya"; "The road to Cankaya is closed to shari'a"; "Those who kneel at the feet of Gulbettin Hikmetyar cannot sit in Cankaya"; "We respect faith but not fundamentalism"; "Democracy is not tolerance of fundamentalism"; "No military boot and no takunya [slippers worn by Islamists]; "Canyaka belongs to the [Turkish] people"; and "The Turkish people are called to duty!" [...]

There were also demonstrations against the murders of three Christians by Islamist extremists:

The signs say: "We Are All Christians".

Turkey Shocked By "Savage" Triple Murder of Christians

Turkey's mainstream media is headlining its front-page stories on yesterday's murders in Malatya "Savagery" (see "Turkish Daily: Three Dead in Grisly Attack at Bible Publishing House").

Protestors at a demonstration in Istanbul hours after the murders carried signs saying "We Are All Christians" (see photo).

While foreign media have been attributing the execution-style murders to increasing Turkish nationalism, the Turkish press is pointing fingers at the growing Islamism and intolerance over the last few years.

The three Christian victims, two Turks and a German citizen, worked in the city of Malatya at a branch of the Zirve publishing house, which prints and distributes Christian Bibles. According to reports, five assailants entered their third floor office, bound the victims' hands and feet, and slit their throats. [...]

(bold emphasis mine) This is all quite amazing. While Turkey is hardly a liberal paradise by Western standards, it IS liberal by Muslim standards; it is unique in the Muslim world.

The Turks, the majority hopefully, value their secular government, and they know they have to fight the extremists to keep it. There have been increasing attempts to curb free expression in Turkey. The Turkish courts seem to be ruling mostly in favor of the defendants thus far. The people are aware of the danger. My hopes are with them for success.

Here is video footage, via YouTube:

What is that music? Turkish "rock"?
     

Sunday Funnies 05/06/07

Some bi-partisan fun...

First Ladies as dogs


(Hat tip to Born Again Redneck Yogi.)

Hizbullah TV in Lebanon, courtesy of Iran

The following clip shows excerpts from music videos aired by Al-Manar TV during the parliamentary elections campaign in 2005. Al-Manar is the Hizbullah TV station in Lebanon. Hizbollah recieves most of it's funding and support from Iran.


#713 - Hizbullah TV Music Videos during Parliament Elections
Al-Manar TV (Lebanon) - 6/2005 - 00:03:59

Campaign music videos are supposed to inspire voters to vote for the party making the videos; the videos are supposed to show what the sponsoring party is all about, and what they intend to do. These "music" video clips show quite clearly Hizbullah's intentions. It's no coincidence that the following year, they launched missile attacks from Lebanon against Israel.

Up until the 1970's, Christians were a sizable group that wielded a lot of power in Lebanon; Beirut flourished, and was known as the "Paris of the Middle East". It was a prosperous, tolerant country. That all began to change with an influx of Muslims who would not assimilate. From Brigitte Gabriel, a Lebanese Christian who lived through jihad as a child:

[...] In the early '70s, Lebanon was a majority Christian country . . . a republic very much like America. We prospered. We focused on growing our economy. We were multicultural, fair and tolerant, and had an open border policy. We welcomed everybody into our country, because we wanted to share the westernizations we had created in the Middle East. . . . Sadly, many people who came didn't want to assimilate and adopt westernizations, but wanted to drag us down to their tribal Islamic culture. . . . By 1974, Christians stopped traveling. We became prisoners in our homes and cities because Muslims would set up fly-by-night checkpoints. . . . Our religion is written on our national ID. . . . So, Muslims would stop cars, look at their IDs and if a Christian family was traveling, they would shoot them in cold blood. The whole family. . . . Extremist Muslims started coming from all around the Arabic world to fight alongside the Muslims in Lebanon. [...]

The extremist Muslims in Lebanon are now controlled by Iranian supported Hizbullah. Few Christians run for office in Lebanon anymore, because they are assassinated. Nancy Pelosi said during her recent so-called "fact finding" trip to the Middle East, that the road to peace in Lebanon lies through Damascus. Since Syria also supports Hizbullah, how is that supposed to work?

Pelosi's recent visit to Syria, one of Iran's proxies, has gotten widespread press coverage in the Middle East. It's excited many tyrants, as they now believe they no longer have to deal with the Bush Administration, but can appeal directly to the Democrat Party instead. Iran is even talking about inviting Pelosi to come visit and "talk".

Here is a recent clip from Hizbullah TV in Lebanon:


#1433 - Anti-American Filler on Hizbullah TV
Al-Manar TV (Lebanon) - 4/28/2007 - 00:00:29

Looks like they got Pelosi's message loud and clear. No wonder Pelosi and the Democrats think we need to talk to Iran. They have so much in common ideologically.

Nancy Pelosi, the good dhimmi

Nancy needn't bother to cover her head when she visits Middle East Tyrants; they will still think she is a whore. But they will like her anyway, because she is THEIR whore.

If you think that's harsh, note that I'M not saying that ANY woman is a whore for not covering her head. I do however see a political element of prostitution in letting yourself be used by misogynistic tyrants to further your own political ends.


If the Democrats succeed at assuring we lose the war, they will also have to deal with the aftermath and all that follows. If they win the Whitehouse in 2008, they will have to deal with the consequences directly. Just as they have no plan now, they seem to have no clue as to what would follow. What would they do? I hope we don't ever have to find out.
     

Are the next generation of PC's already here?

I don't mean the latest new technology; I mean existing technology used in more efficient and smarter ways. I think that is what you will find if you look at what a Bangkok company called NorhTec is offering. There is an article about one of their products at Linuxdevices.com. Below is a link, with some excerpts:

Tiny, sub-$100 PC runs Puppy Linux

A Bangkok-based company is shipping a tiny, sub-$100 PC capable of running Puppy and other lightweight Linux distributions. NorhTec's MicroClient Jr. measures 4.5 inches square, draws 8 Watts, and has a 166MHz Pentium-compatible processor with three integer units. It targets thin-client, kiosk, and electronic signage applications.

The tiny MicroClient Jr. fits in your hand.

The MicroClient Jr. appears to the smallest of several extremely small, energy efficient PCs and servers offered by NorhTec, which in four years of operation, has supplied PCs to such big-name clients as McDonalds of Canada, according to its founder, Michael C. Barnes. Barnes says he built the company specifically to produce sub-$100 PCs, explaining, "When I founded NorhTec, I knew that in a short period, computers would drop below $100.00 USD. When that happens, it will shake up the industry because none of the major players are set up to afford their infrastructure selling computers at $100 each."

The MicroClient Jr. saves cost in part by booting from CompactFlash, rather than a hard drive. Barnes explains, "We have been selling a product called the MicroServer General Purpose for four years now. The unit was revolutionary when it was introduced, but the price point is a bit too high because of its reliance on hard disks. Most of our customers use very little drive space, and we were spending $80.00 just to boot the system."

Barnes adds, "We also wanted to be able to add components such as WiFi, RS232 ports, and an additional NIC." [...]

NorhTec MicroClient Jr, front and back.

The article goes on to give more details about the units, which have no cooling fan or moving parts. Read the whole article for complete specs and more information about the company.

I've used Puppy Linux, it's an amazing Linux distribution that is small and compact, yet will let you do most of the things people use computers for.

If however, you have greater requirements, NorhTec offers a whole range of products to choose from, including machines with even greater capabilities.


Related Link:

Here is a photo of the French Linutop PC.

There are a whole slew of "Thin Client" PCs that are comming onto the market now. Below is a link to a listing of many of them:

The Linux Thin Client Showcase
     

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs use Mercury; is it bad science, an environmental scam, or both?

These bulbs are becoming increasingly common. Yet they contain mercury, a toxic element that environmentalists warn us about continually. If you break one of these bulbs, how dangerous do you think it is? Is a $2,000 "toxic cleanup" really required? And if so, according to whose standards?

Steven Milloy, publisher of JunkScience.com and CSRWatch.com, has the following article in Canada's Financial Post. Some excerpts:

The CFL mercury nightmare

How much money does it take to screw in a compact fluorescent light bulb? About US$4.28 for the bulb and labour -- unless you break the bulb. Then you, like Brandy Bridges of Ellsworth, Maine, could be looking at a cost of about US$2,004.28, which doesn't include the costs of frayed nerves and risks to health.

Sound crazy? Perhaps no more than the stampede to ban the incandescent light bulb in favor of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). [...]

It goes on to tell the nightmare story of what happened when a Maine housewife broke one of the bulbs in her daughters bedroom, and ended up dealing with her state's Department of Environmental Protection.

These bulbs are being pushed on consumers, and are also advocated by environmentalists. Yet, how safe are they? If they are really that toxic, why aren't we being warned? Is there some hypocrisy at work here?

[...] It's quite odd that environmentalists have embraced the CFL, which cannot now and will not in the foreseeable future be made without mercury. Given that there are about five billion light bulb sockets in North American households, we're looking at the possibility of creating billions of hazardous waste sites such as the Bridges' bedroom.

Usually, environmentalists want hazardous materials out of, not in, our homes. These are the same people who go berserk at the thought of mercury being emitted from power plants and the presence of mercury in seafood. Environmentalists have whipped up so much fear of mercury among the public that many local governments have even launched mercury thermometer exchange programs.

As the activist group Environmental Defense urges us to buy CFLs, it defines mercury on a separate part of its Web site as a "highly toxic heavy metal that can cause brain damage and learning disabilities in fetuses and children" and as "one of the most poisonous forms of pollution."

Greenpeace also recommends CFLs while simultaneously bemoaning contamination caused by a mercury-thermometer factory in India. But where are mercury-containing CFLs made? Not in the United States, under strict environmental regulation. CFLs are made in India and China, where environmental standards are virtually non-existent.

And let's not forget about the regulatory nightmare in the U.S. known as the Superfund law, the EPA regulatory program best known for requiring expensive but often needless cleanup of toxic waste sites, along with endless litigation over such cleanups. [...]

It sounds like some folks want to have it both ways. Is there an Inconvenient Truth we're missing here? Wouldn't some GOOD science, and truthfulness and honesty be preferable?




The only warning on the packaging of the bulbs I have is to keep the bulbs away from radios, TVs, wireless phones and remote controls, as they may cause interference. It also says to keep them away from maritime safety equipment or other critical navigation or communication equipment operating between 0.45-35 MHz.

There is also a caution that it's not intended for use with emergency exit fixtures or lights, electronic timers, photocells or dimmers.

It also warns that the lamp may shatter and cause injury if broken, but it doesn't say anything about how you should clean it up if the bulb breaks. For disposal, it refers you to a website: www.lamprecycle.org. Since recycling is voluntary, I'm sure most of the bulbs just end up in the trash, getting crushed in land-fill dumps.

It makes me long for the good old days, when a light bulb was a light bulb.

I expect the DEP, with their $2,000 plan to clean up one CFL bulb, was doing what government bureaucrats are so good at doing; creating jobs for themselves. But it's still true that mercury is toxic. I find it ironic that environmentalist who are pushing to have mercury no longer used in thermometers, gleefully push CFL bulbs. How many thermometers do you throw away per year, compared to light bulbs?

But surely there is hardly any mercury in the bulb? Good question. The article continues:

[...] We'll eventually be disposing billions and billions of CFL mercury bombs. Much of the mercury from discarded and/or broken CFLs is bound to make its way into the environment and give rise to Superfund liability, which in the past has needlessly disrupted many lives, cost tens of billions of dollars and sent many businesses into bankruptcy.

As each CFL contains five milligrams of mercury, at the Maine "safety" standard of 300 nanograms per cubic meter, it would take 16,667 cubic meters of soil to "safely" contain all the mercury in a single CFL. While CFL vendors and environmentalists tout the energy cost savings of CFLs, they conveniently omit the personal and societal costs of CFL disposal. [...]

Milloy maintains that Environmentalists and vendors like Walmart are working together to push CFLs on us, without acknowledging the true long term consequences and costs. It would seem that "feel-goodism" trumps good science once again. And government bureaucrats get to create a problem and then offer themselves later as the solution to cleaning it up, insuring they will always have government jobs. How nice for them; how expensive for us. I recommend reading the whole article.
     

Billy & kiko - Dog and monkey best friends

The story from the description on Youtube:

Billy the dog disappeared during the big floods of 2002 in Caia, mozambique.

He emerged from the jungle this year, carrying a little monkey on his back, Kiko.They were skinny and half dead, bud they had made it through all these years.

Billy had defended kiko from all the dangers of the jungle, including a bunches of savage dogs willing to have kiko as dessert.

They are unseparable, kiko sleeps hugged to billy,they eat together,do everything together and they still are unconfident about humans...Only the two of them, forever...

The footage was filmed by a reporter for Reuters.
     

Dell to offer Ubuntu Linux pre-installed

Why is it a big deal? Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols at Desktoplinux.com explains:

What Dell's desktop Linux move means

[...] Dell also is saying something else that's equally important about the desktop world. It's saying, for the first time in more than a decade, that standard x86 PC users have a choice. For the first time since OS/2 mattered, users have a choice again. No more are users stuck with Windows. No more are they forced to pay the Microsoft tax.

Even users who never intend on using Linux should be glad to see Microsoft's iron hand finally lifted, albeit just an inch. Just as the arrival of Firefox forced Microsoft to improve Internet Explorer, the arrival of Linux on a mainstream desktop will force Microsoft to make significant, rather than cosmetic, improvements to its own operating systems. [...]

Ultimately more choices benefit everyone. This is good news.




Related Link:

Dell to choose Ubuntu
     

OLPC: becoming available in America?

The One Laptop Per Child project, devoted to making low cost laptop computers available for schoolchildren in third world countries, is now considering also making the laptops available here in the USA.

From Chris Preimesberger at Desktoplinux.com:
OLPC Linux laptop could succeed in U.S.

The director of software for the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child project believes there is a big market for the self-powered machines in the U.S., provided the user wants to perform basic computer functions.

"The XO machine is quite sweet," the OLPC's Walter Bender wrote in an email to DesktopLinux.com today. "I guess the question boils down to what you want to do with the machine.

"If the goal is browse the web, send email, VOIP, chat, video conference, play movies and music, read, write, compose, draw, program, etc., then the XO is a great machine. If you want to play 'Grand Theft Auto III,' then it leaves something to be desired. From all indications, there is lots of demand for the former," Bender wrote.

Reuters news reported last week that OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte recently said that the OLPC might market a version of its laptops in the U.S., reversing its previous position of only distributing them to the poorest nations.

"We can't ignore the United States. ... We are looking at it very seriously," Negroponte told at a press conference in Cambridge, Mass., according to the Reuters report.

Once known as the $100 laptop, the lime-green-and-white devices apparently are increasing in price. In February, the project estimated said they would sell for $150 each. Negroponte said their price tag for U.S. children would be $176 apiece, Reuters reported.

The laptop features a string pulley to charge its battery, a keyboard that switches between languages, a digital video camera, wireless connectivity, and an open-source Linux operating system tailored for remote regions. [...]

The article goes on about the potential for the US market (they cite a school laptop program in Maine, which I remember received a lot of enthusiastic support), and gives more details about the production of the units and the projects current status.

When I first heard about this project, I thought that it could also benefit kids right here at home. Why not sell it in the US, for a slightly higher price, and use the profits to subsidize the charity part of giving the units away to poor children? It looks like they are now considering doing just that.

I think they should also consider selling it commercially, to anyone who wants it. Why limit it to just kids? I think there are a lot of adults who would like to buy an inexpensive laptop that would let them do the things most people are interested in doing with their computers. Profits could then be used to subsidize the school programs. I hope they will do that eventually.

These laptops are a whole new way of thinking about and using computers. Hard drives are not the necessity they used to be, especially with Linux, and larger memory modules that can hold and run the entire operating system along with data files in RAM. I wish the project great success.




Related Link:

ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD by FuseProject
Read more about the laptop here, with more photos and many links, too.