I have mentioned the disaster which constitutes ‘The News’ in the United States. But Now I have confirmation in this article THE CHANGING NEWSROOM which clearly shows a introversion of the perspective from the News Room. What the article suggests, is that this is good, and that the papers are being read more than ever, but that they are loosing revenue. These ideas are counter opposed and if representative, indicates that they are NOT being read, and NOT being used as a serious advertising channel because they are not being read.
I think that both of these could be explained simply, there is nothing to read in them, nothing to attract the attention of the public. Aside from scandals, papers rarely would be considered ‘hard hitting’ incisive in-depth producers of valuable information. And they wonder why they are failing! Shallow meaningless babble can be had on any street corner, what people are seeking are facts, and analysis. This is what is driving the move to the Internet to fulfill the desire for information. In the Cloud which is the internet, someone somewhere is talking about what interests the seeker. The Papers are not cutting it, it’s as simple as that.
One thing I’ve noticed about Twitter and Jaiku, is a common thread in IT, Scaleability! It’s an issue that I worked on in my days with AT&T Wireless. Mobile phone vendors have been dealing with SMS and voice connection transactions for many years and the volume of such transactions have only grown over the years since I had to deal with 25+ million transactions per day. If the current growing pains of these Web 2.0 social networking systems are projected, they are both headed for failure in the form of catastrophic system overload. While I admire innovative Ideas, like these services, their infrastructure does not appear well thought out. A bit more foundation in the infrastructure, and less optimism of the performance, should have been the first design requirement.
Being a database kind of guy, I can’t help but believe that a fundamental disconnect in the understanding of transactions utilized in these systems is the root cause here. I have yet to see a significant teaching or understanding of database issues in the current crop of programmers. There seems to be belief that data analysis is not a worth while task in current programming efforts. I see this in the form of articles detailing new ‘database’ products and methods, and new ‘lightweight’ database processes, etc. Mostly the requirements for ‘new’ DBMS and ‘Lightweight’ processes, is the underestimations of the data tasks of most modern IT functions. If you don’t know your own data, you don’t know anything. Any system that is not fundamentally tied in with a database system is merely a calculator.
It’s amazing that when family matters start to stress you, everyday activities like blogging loose their appeal. Facing aging and dying parents and the unpredictability of their loss makes everything else pale to insignificance. But I’m more or less prepared, in part, ready to hop any flight, when my brothers tell me the end is near. I have managed to put in place as many mobile communication and messaging technologies as I could manage so as not to be burdened with packing a laptop and various other bits and bobs that might make flying more of a burden that it will be otherwise. I could probably makes the States with only carry on luggage, dispensing with check in issues and customs. These new toys consist of a new Tri-band Phone in the form of the Nokia 6300 and a Palm T/X for more of the heavy lifting email, and web communications issues. With the U.S. now searching all laptops and sucking off suspicious data from disk drives these devices should prove useful for quick passage.
Someone ask me why I’m looking for a PDA instead of the Smart Phone, and while I’ve considered a iPhone, or Palm Centro, the issue is still this.
* Both are using obsolete wireless technology.
* neither can perform PDA duties while the phone is active.
With a PDA, and bluetooth, when the mobile phone technology advances, substituting the phone, upgrades the PDA. And the PDA can operate independent while the phone is in use. Anyone familiar with the evolution of modem technology will understand this, updating the modem to improve communication speed was a common infrastructure issue. As now the speed at which a device can display a block of data, most PDA’s are readily able to perform faster, as they are generally waiting on data.
BTW: Here in Ireland we still depend on dialup Modems.
I have been in the market for an upgrade to my iPod and the question of a replacement has been this, should I upgrade my old Palm Vx to a Palm T/X or my first generation iPod (5GB). The candidates have been the Nokia N770 / N800 / N810 series, the iPod Touch and the Palm T/X. I have by this time determined that the Nokia systems, while the most versatile are not completely integrated systems, more hacker devices than finished products. So the choices are down to the Palm T/X, which is getting very long in the tooth, running an aging operating system, or the iPod touch with a revolutionary OS/GUI but no third party applications.
The requirements are relatively simple, WiFi, bluetooth, applications like email, browsing communicating. MultiMedia. And any other things would be optional like eBooks. I have a medium sized iTunes collection, and plenty of Palm apps.
I have no intention of buying a totally locked in device. If for no other reason than it’s bad monopolistic practice. It will limit what the developers will be able to develop, and turn away some of the most innovative designs. This would be the most stupid thing Apple could do. A proverbial shooting one’s own foot off. It would cripple any development that might be applied, it would make the Palm the only choice.
I’ll wait until Apple announces on Thursday, but this rumor smells too true, so I’ll start pricing Palm T/X’s.
UPDATE: I looks like Apple has screwed it’s self Here! So my Decision to but an unlocked Obsolete Palm T/X is vindicated yet again!
Or at least that is the desire of some. I’m afraid there is a massive movement of miss information underway to undermine the Obama presidential campaign. Emails and messages are being passed throughout the American South and the Bible Belt that such things as Obama being a Closet Muslin and that he intends to swear into the Presidential Office on the Koran (Quran) rather than the bible. I personally thought this was silly until I saw this video God and Politics in Lynchburg Tennessee It’s amazing the ignorance being spoken here. But the more interesting is the indications that the source of the information is an ‘information artifact’ where there is no defined source for the ‘fact’ being quoted. But the the ‘fact’ carried such emotional weigh that it is believed because it falls into one’s own belief structure. This is dangerous, as Anti Obama information carrying such emotional power, evokes powerful reactions, like assassination.
Bush’s friendly co-conspirator in the White House Lies and deception club has come up with something he can really sink his teeth into, The U.S. Propaganda Agency to quote;
…the United States is losing the war of ideas in the Muslim world, and the answer to that, in part, is through the creation of this new government agency
Whatever happened to the truth? If the truth isn’t there, someone will discover that it’s not the truth, and no amount of lying is going to make anyone listen to it. Mind you if you can control all sources of information (MSN, radio, TV, Internet), and either censor or block the truth, what does it matter what you say?
Radio Free Europe has been identified as one of the most useful tool to bring down the Iron curtain, on a simple principal, that even under political pressure, it would ONLY broadcast the truth.
But this administration doesn’t know the truth, to them, the truth is the enemy, and so we have what we have. A world of spin and deception.
There seems to be a great deal of information masquerading as fact as to the nature of the treasonous act that have been committed by the Bush/Cheney administration. This could be that the conspiracies are starting to unravel, or it could be, as in the George W. Bush military service controversy which brought down Dan Rather the ‘facts’ being seeded in the internet may be believable, but false, and might be cited along with real evidence of the impeachable offenses commited by them. These could have been planted so that they could be refuted, and with them, the real facts relating to treasonable acts, as needed, if and when impeachment hearing begin. The GOP has never hesitated to publish outright lie’s if they thought that they could spin them later to their own advantage. Why should this be any different? They are just laying the groundwork knowing that the many crimes against American Citizens and the Constitution of the United States will eventually come to light.
Seems that FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) has been testing the waters for the Bush Administration as to the viability of not just faking the information, but of faking the entire news reporting. In this apology FEMA sorry for fake news briefing the appearance is of this being an “error in judgment” is yet another attempt to fake the news, one that was discovered, and brought to light. But this was a test balloon, by an agency which has no more creditability to loose, and thus did not have anything to loose when attempting this deception. Only the tip of the iceberg, wait for more attempts in the future.
I’m reposting an email I received from MoveOn.org this morning (the contents of which I mostly agree with).
Dear MoveOn member,
To be honest, I don’t even like to think about the possibility of war with Iran. But here’s the unfortunate truth—plans for an aerial attack have been drawn up.1 There’s nothing stopping Bush from launching that attack any day. And right now the progressive movement’s main strategy for preventing it is simply to hope that it doesn’t happen.
To paraphrase my ninth-grade sex-ed teacher, “Hope is not a method.” We need to do something. There are increasing indications that war with Iran may be imminent. And experts agree it would be a catastrophe.
So today we’re proposing a major campaign to expose the danger of a new war with Iran (see below for details). It’ll cost about $200,000, and if we can raise the money, we’ll start today. Can you chip in $25?
War would be a disaster. Military officials who’ve gamed-out a war with Iran say it’s a very, very bad idea. “Iran would hit back against US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and activate terrorist allies in the Middle East, further destabilizing a region already struggling with two major wars.”2 US troops in the region, Israelis and American civilians abroad and at home would all be at risk.
And it’s a real possibility. For months, there’s been a stream of leaks and revelations by former Bush administration officials that paint a scary picture: Vice President Cheney and the neocons are quietly maneuvering us toward war with Iran—just as they did with Iraq.3,4
Now, the New York Times reports that Freedom’s Watch, a $200 million propaganda machine headed by former White House insiders, has started to press for an attack.5,6 And this past week, Bush and Cheney upped the ante with aggressive statements, even invoking the specter of “World War III.”7
Observers across the political spectrum, from Senator John McCain to former Middle East envoy Dennis Ross, say the threat is closer than it appears.8,9 And it’s never a good idea to underestimate this president’s capacity for recklessness.
We can’t run the risk that they’re crazy enough to do it. That’s why it’s so important that we make sure policymakers understand the cost of war, and we pressure Congress not to roll over on Iran. If we can raise the money today, here’s what we’ll do:
A number of top retired generals and military experts are willing to say publicly that attacking Iran would be a strategic disaster. We’ll put them on tour to speak to political leaders, editorial boards and big audiences.
We’ll run ads challenging the Bush administration and key presidential candidates—and remind people that the last time we heard many of these phony arguments was in the lead-up to war with Iraq.
We’ll commission polling to show wavering politicians that if they stand up against war with Iran, the public will stand with them.
We’ll run a major grassroots campaign urging Congress to confront the administration on Iran.
None of us know how likely a strike against Iran really is. But I’m going to do more than just hope it doesn’t happen. The signs and signals have become too glaring. We have to act.
There have been a few leaders and organizations within the progressive movement who’ve consistently sounded the alarm on this issue. Now it’s time for the rest of us to join them.
Thanks for all you do,
–Ilyse, Justin, Marika, Matt, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Wednesday, October 24th, 2007
Sources:
1. “Shifting Targets: The Administration’s plan for Iran,” The New Yorker, October 8, 2007.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3097&id=11491-3984041-9M7Z8C&t=4
2. “Cheney Targets Iran,” Rolling Stone, October 18, 2007.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3098&id=11491-3984041-9M7Z8C&t=5
3. “The Redirection,” The New Yorker, March 5, 2007.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3099&id=11491-3984041-9M7Z8C&t=6
4. “The Secret History of the Impending War with Iran That the White House Doesn’t Want You to Know,” Esquire, October 18, 2007.
http://www.esquire.com/features/iranbriefing1107
5. “Big Coffers and a Rising Voice Lift a New Conservative Group,” New York Times, September 30, 2007.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3100&id=11491-3984041-9M7Z8C&t=7
6. “Freedom’s Watch targeting Iran,” Media Transparency, October 17, 2007.
http://www.mediatransparency.com/story.php?storyID=216
7. “Nuclear-Armed Iran Risks World War, Bush Says,” New York Times, October 18, 2007.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/washington/18prexy.html
8. “Cheney Targets Iran,” Rolling Stone, October 18, 2007.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3098&id=11491-3984041-9M7Z8C&t=8
9. Video clip of Sen. McCain in Republican Debate. October 9, 2007.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
I was recently presented with The Code Book and while leafing through the pages during a moment of boredom I managed to create a simple crypto using the Julius Caesar character substitution method using Sybase T-SQL. And though I’m sure that the resulting encrypted text could be broken with brute force, it would not be easy, nor very worthwhile for most messaging.
To ask why the President of the United States would have a sexual encounter with a young woman is like asking why someone who worked very hard to earn a large sum of money would then spend it.
Fully explains why Bill Clinton had an affair while in the WhiteHouse. But the real question is even better. How is it that George Bush has NOT had an affair, or maybe he has and hasn’t been caught.
And this statement that terrorist are really just sexually repressed virgin males that think suicide bombing is a great way to get girls.
So polygyny increases competitive pressure on men, especially young men of low status. It therefore increases the likelihood that young men resort to violent means to gain access to mates. … The other key ingredient is the promise of 72 virgins waiting in heaven for any martyr in Islam.
And maybe this is what Bush is doing,
Societies in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean are much more polygynous than the Muslim nations in the Middle East and North Africa. And they do have very high levels of violence. Sub-Saharan Africa suffers from a long history of continuous civil wars—but not suicide bombings.
He likes to start violent wars because he’s not getting sex in the Whitehouse 😉
So for this reason;
Men like blond bombshells
Id’s be looking for some blond under Bush’s bed, maybe named Ann Coulter?
While the rest of the world is talking about the iPhone like Tom O2 to sell the iPhone?. I went to Lidl this morning a pickup a mobile, that can only be described as the antitheses of the iPhone the Motofone F3 and I can tell you after only a few hours of use, it’s as beautiful a mobile phone as the iPhone, in exactly the target audience it was proposed for, as that proposed by the iPhone’s target audience.
I’ll report more as I go along, but for now, I’m just as happy to have this phone as I might have been to be one of the proud iPhone owners.
I am still trying to find out if it runs Linux.
UPDATE: The F3 is a SCPL (scalpel) class device which runs a Java/Linux derived OS called JUIX now all I have to do is hack a command line interface to really get this thing to sing 😉
wasn’t just talking about Beverly Flynn and her previous crimes against the state.
After all, an unrepentant murderer could still be a nice person, if you could trust them.
It seems that this must be a personal wish for the Taoiseach’s own past and an underlying belief of the government and the National Archives, when even items in their own card catalogs are missing or lost in the annals of time and there is no desire amongst the staff working there to correct the situation. It’s no wonder that the Canadians have to digitize the Irish Census for them.
There looks to be a trip to the Silicone Valley of California at Paddy’s Valley. Having spent a few years in the ‘Valley’, I wish them well, in the land of fruit and nuts. There is so much to see there, I almost hardly know where to start.
