Archive for July 2007
I want night googles!
I was reading on Slashdot that -
“Recent commentary at Nature Climate Change describes an on-going debate about the energy savings associated with the background colors used by high-traffic websites such as Google and the NYTimes. A back of the envelope calculation has suggested energy savings of 750 Megawatt hours per year if Google switched their background from white to black. In response, a new version of Google called Blackle was created. However, other calculations by the Wall Street Journal suggest minimal energy savings.”
And I’m thinking, what could be easier than for google to put a ‘night vision’ checkbox on iGoogle? Or in the preferences page? iGoogle is my home page, and my personal portal to the web. So I spend a lot of time there. Also, the setting could be applied to gmail, docs, etc.
And if not google, then maybe someone could make a firefox extension for this?
About bloody time
Yesterday, in a meeting with Egypt’s Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Jordan’s Abdelelah Al-Khatib Olmert declared that -
Israel and the PA “have begun a process of dialogue that will naturally also lead to negotiations with the PA on the main issues that will enable the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
and
“Israel is interested in discussing the peace initiative with the Arab states with an open heart and an open mind.”
What took you so long? Is it the usual cycle – fail in war try to make a mark in peace? whatever. never mind. As they say “Zadikim melachtam naaset beidei acherim”.
US Senators call for universal Internet filtering | Press Esc
PressEsc tells us that -
US senators today made a bipartisan call for the universal implementation of filtering and monitoring technologies on the Internet in order to protect children at the end of a Senate hearing for which civil liberties groups were not invited.
Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Vice Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) both argued that Internet was a dangerous place where parents alone will not be able to protect their children.
(thanks /.)
Right. So are schools. And what’s even worse, kids can pick up all sorts of funny ideas at school. Not to mention meeting members of the opposite sex, or – heaven forbid – of the same sex. Burn them all!
I prefer the Chinese model. At least they’re honest and upfront about it.
76% of Israelis and Palestinians believe in a two-state solution.
And the winner is…
Laury Haytayan reflects on last summer’s war:
It started with no name…Was it a war or not? Was it the summer war? Was it the war of the bridges? Was it the war of the Katyushas? Was it the Lebanon war? Was it the Merkava versus the Katyusha war?
Whose war was it? Hezbollah or Israel? Iran or The US?
Which side won the war? Each side claiming victory…
Really a strange war…
However, the strangest of them all is the hero of this war…The nominations were diverseAnd the winner was………………….
(You have to read it on her blog)
Mayday! Mayday! kids are seeing titties!
Reuter’s lazy summer story about Nigerian kids using OLPCs to browse porn is making the rounds. Yawn.
I have two young kids at home. They both use both our computers independently, mostly for internet access. I would never consider installing any filter on any system I own or manage. In fact, I’m totally pissed over the unbearable ease of use of filters. For me, any case of person A deciding what person B should or should not browse is a violation of human rights. What are they really going to censor, this, this, this or this?
The other aspect which surprises me is the ease in which we get carried along with the ‘porn threat’ discourse. I can easily name quite a few more serious internet ‘risks’, such as racial bullying, homophobic hate, sexist comments on Digg, Fox news, big brother, and Mac (not to mention McDonnalds) ads.
As a matter of fact, I think this is a heads-up for the OLPC: if its good enough for porn, then its good enough for education!
Ahmadinejad to Assad: kill peace talks, and we’ll give you nukes
Who said the man isn’t honest. Here’s a fair deal.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pledged to help Syria conduct nuclear research during a visit to Damascus earlier this week, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Saturday.
In exchange, Syria agreed not to engage in peace talks with Israel. According to the report, Iran also pledged to provide Syria with $1 billion in military aid to purchase arms from Russia and North Korea.
If ever there was a man in dire need of a good kick in the balls. I mean, he’s not even funny any more. And as for the “Mouse of Damascus”*, show me who your friends are..
But in truth, it looks like one of his worn-out manoeuvres. As in, ‘you better talk to me, now, or else..’.
(digg story)
*: damn. I picked that one up on a Lebanese blog, and can’t find the spot now. Anyone have a link?
Talk the talk? walk the walk.
Mark your calendar: November 27-29, 2007, Nazereth, Gilboa, Barta’a, Baqa al Gharbia, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Walaja, Batir, Wadi Fuqin
Israelis, Palestinians and international participants will spend three days trekking along the route of the Green Line demarcating the border between Israeli and Palestinian territory. This is a political act that will be publicized in Israel, Palestine and the world and will draw attention to the urgent need to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of two states for two peoples.
IPCRI – the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information, a joint Israeli-Palestinian peace center and think-tank, located in Jerusalem, is using the Walk the Green Line event as a fundraiser to support the work of bringing Israelis and Palestinians together in people-to-people programs that advance peace.
Walk the Green Line is a “walk-a-thon” fundraiser for IPCRI. Participants will join the Walk the Green Line event with sponsors backing their participation. Each participant will be required to raise 2,000 € or $2,500 plus their airfare to Israel/Palestine. Sponsors may be friends, family, work colleagues, neighbors, churches or synagogues, etc.
