Bad news, Iceland, and Bjork

Local right wing paper LA NACION has this headline

"Iceland: from Miracle to cursed"

"Three years ago the country was the world´s most developed; now it´s engulfed by economic crisis and natural disasters"

http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1254753&origen=NLExt



My condolences to the people of Iceland who had embraced the "limited governmet" dogma.

Now, imagine with all these news the mood of Bjork nowadays...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYyyqIZTvYY



FC

Gavin Clarke is an utter moron, once again

[I wrote the following to The Rogister's Gavin Clarke, the anti-Sun, anti-Java pundit always too happy to write something to smear Sun, or now, trying to muddy the Java landscape a bit more]

"In many ways, IBM succeeded. Eclipse became a more widespread and grass-rootsy movement than the top-down, closed-shop style of the JCP that alienated technology creatives. In pure market share, Eclipse become the preferred open-source IDE for Java developers."

You´re an utter moron, I´m convinced now. WTF does JCP, an enhancement-request process, has to do with Eclipse, which is an IDE?.

Sun has its own ide, Netbeans, and in any case, it´s as succesful -if not more- than Eclipse, why? Because it´s cross platform, it's written in Java itself, and it includes everything developers need, unlike Eclipse which needs commercial "plug-ins" for many things.

FC

It was about time Hollywood recognized JJ Campanella´s work

This is the JJ Campanella the World+Dog now knows...

It was about time that Hollywood recognized Juan José Campanella´s outstanding work which won many awards both locally and internationally over the years.

Down here we knew him well, but not wearing a tuxedo, but more resembling something like this:

Yes, El Secreto de sus Ojos won the Best Foreign Film award at the Oscars tonight.

My hat´s off to Campanella, and the beautiful Sole Villamil.


It´s rarely mentioned in the foreign press that Campanella also stars one of the best educational programmes on the public TV (government-run) Educational TV channel Encuentro, created in 2007.

The TV program where Campanella shines as one of the hosts is dubbed "Invisible Environments (of Science and Technology)" (Entornos Invisibles de la Ciencia y la Tecnología) and explains how physics and basic technology works (from the electric grid , to Newton´s laws to.. you-name-it) with a large dose of humour thrown in the mix.

http://www.encuentro.gov.ar/Event.aspx?Id=263

It airs on Encuentro as mentioned, which is available on all cable systems for free, and soon free over the air too, thanks to TDT...

Sorry, you´ll have to learn Spanish first. :)
FC

Google continues ignoring SeaMonkey and firefox derivatives...

Google has recently started informing users of Firefox 2.x that their browser will soon stop being supported for its web sites and web apps.

And they recommend other browsers that people can upgrade to:

IE 7.0, Safari, Firefox 3.6, and Opera...

Well, ¿Where is SeaMonkey?. SeaMonkey is based on the same Firefox 3.5+ engine, so why not mention it?. In fact, Firefox IS the son of the Mozilla.org browser suite, formerly known as just "Mozilla" and then renamed to SeaMonkey.

In fact, Google should stop sniffing for Firefox versions and instead check out GECKO RENDERING ENGINE versions. Plus, they should mention and point towards SeaMonkey, too.

All Mozilla-based browsers use the same rendering engine, and it's good programming practice not to check for browser version but actually checking Gecko in the user-agent string sent by the browser to the web server, as suggested by Mozilla.org itself.

https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Browser_Detection_and_Cross_Browser_Support

IDEA: Hey Google, why don't you guys suggest people using an unsupported or soon-unsupported gecko engine to upgrade to "a newer Mozilla.org based browser" and point towards http://www.mozilla.org/projects/#applications , which includes not only Firefox but also SeaMonkey?.

FC

Every software program should include a reinstall script

It is my belief that every software program should include a "Re-install" script. Something that we can run from the command line and have all configuration values set up as new, without actually downloading and running the installer package again.

This allows moving apps from one system to another effortlessly, and recovering from a backup much easier than having to run a dozen installers and click a dozen times for each. Yes, I'm a command-line junkie.

IBM, back when it was a software firm with a clue, had the very bright idea to include a "rebuild.cmd" command line util with its IBM Works productivity suite included with OS/2 Warp 3.0 onwards.

Hence, the "reinstall.cmd Software Movement" is born, today, to replicate that kind of functionality as widely as possible for popular applications. Target systems are Windows mostly, but could also include OS/2 and Linux for closed source apps that might benefit from it.

I´ve created a redirector at [http://bit.ly/reinstall] that leads to this post, which will be updated to include new reinstall script developments.

My first target? Sun's Virtualbox. Find my re-install script here
https://sourceforge.net/projects/vbox-users/files/

I will release every one I code under a GPL license (they're just command line scripts anyway).

FC

GUI Design: will Egyptian Hyerogliphics replace CUA text menus?

I am excited to join Mike Magee´s latest tech site, "Tech Eye" (www.techeye.net) as a regular writer, in addition to my ocassional INQUIRER piece.

Here´s my first article ... inspired by Google Chrome´s "Monkey Wrench" icon and the total disappearance of CUA menus.



Is this the future of GUI design, and are CUA menu standards going down the tubes, fast?. Should we despair?


And what´s with Google ignoring CUA on one app, but implementing CUA menus in Google Docs?. Guess that people ARE used to CUA style menus after all, huh?.


Feel free to read the article, and have your say in the comments section...
http://www.techeye.net/software/software-gui-design-going-to-hell-in-a-basket

FC

Finally Darth Vader will print more money so the US of A can continue its wars...

I knew the Wall Street speculators have been always on the Dark Side. But knowing that Darth Vader himself took control of the trading floor is reassuring.



Maybe he can now print all the money the US of A needs before it sinks the World+Dog into another financial crisis.

Or maybe that IS the plan after all....

;-)

FC

Comments are often funnier than the story...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/30/solange-magnano-argentina_n_374716.html

Two comments caught my eye:

1. Reader thinks Buenos Aires is in Brazil

--
"Not to rain on the pity parade, but her fixation on having a firm, shakable booty is a symptom of Rio's rapidly-spreading 365/24/7 fixation on Carnival. Everything is connected. At least now it's not only Americans, who are fixated and spend all of their money on beauty treatments."

Another reader´s reply:
"um, lightning joe.....Bu­enos Aires is in Argentina, Rio is in Brazil. They are different countries that speak different languages. Also, South America is still considered America last time I checked, and thus, so are the people."

--

2. Too funny:

---

I regret nothing! Poor Argentinian girls must do what they have to do, to attract rich American politicians! My butt is so firm, St. Peter is bouncing quarters off of it as we speak! Ay, Dios mio!
---

ROF,L...

FC
PS: I´ve just returned on-line after six days without service. Thanks to my cable ISP.

Nine years later, where are the Bush supporters?

About nine years ago, in the Dec. 1, 2000 issue of (print) magazine "Internet World", more precisely page 16, we could read readers´ letters squaring off in support of Al Gore and George W. Bush, both candidates at that year´s presidential election.

First, there was Ken Greenberg, president at the time of Edge Communications Inc.

He made a strong argument for Al Gore, and against GWB:

-----
"George W. Bush is simply the least qualified candidate of my lifetime. Leaving aside Al Gore´s very real role in marshaling Congressional support to fund the Internet, his economic and social policies argue strongly, even overwhelmingly, for his election."

"I find it laughable that so many dot-commers appear to find Bush appealing. Haven´t entrepreneurs done incredibly well under the current Democratic administration (whatever weight you give fiscal policy)? I certainly have."

"Isn´t it clear that a trillion-dollar giveaway and the undermining of Social Security will in fact be ruinous for everyone?"
------

He was, of course, right-on.

But then, the magazine featured a letter from a Duke Walls, president and CEO of "Sabertooth Systems, inc." in support for GWB. He claimed that

---
"A vote for Gore is a vote for dead Internet firms" and that "a vote for Bush is a vote for continued growth and innovation without interference and censorship".
---

So G.W.Bush stole won the election in 2000, and after two G.W. Bush terms, the business of Duke Walls´ firm must have done certainly well, just like the U.S. economy (joke), right? Well, I looked around and there isn´t a Sabertooth Systems Inc. anymore.

The web site at SaberToothSystems.com redirects to a non-existing page at Cology.com. Further googling around reveals a 2005 article showing it was acquired by Cology, a firm dealing with back-end processing of student loans.

And how did the future-reading, Al Gore supported Ken Greenberg fare?. Nine years later, he's still succesfully commanding Edge Communications Inc.

Need I say more about the wisdom and predictive powers of conservatives vs. progressive people?

;-)
FC

Toxic Sludge is Good for You!

I read at Smartplanet here :

Radioactive waste near New Mexico water supply not a health risk, officials say
http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/smart-takes/officials-say-radioactive-waste-near-new-mexico-water-supply-not-a-health-risk/1875/

"Radioactive waste is seeping from mountain burial sites in the canyons of northern New Mexico and moving toward the area’s springs and streams, but officials insist it’s not a health risk."

Heh, that reminds me of a great book that I read more than once and which I keep handy in my bookshelf, whose title inspires this post...


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1567510604?ie=UTF8&tag=mnmsprst-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1567510604

FC

Why I love my Samsung digicam...

...for its "night sky" mode...

FC

Cancer epidemic? You betcha!

The recent death of celebrity Patrick Swayze to cancer brings a good opportunity to think about of what is causing the modern cancer epidemic and what can be done about it.

The video below comes from the excellent, award-winning documentary "The Corporation" by Canadian Mark Achbar, which you can find here.



Also worth reading are Dr. Samuel Epstein´s comments, available in this PDF.

http://www.thecorporation.com//media//Epstein.pdf

Enjoy
FC
PS: VIDEO FIXED. To the anonymous reporter: keep sucking it.

It was about time Palm put an end to Apple´s arrogance

Palm PRE´s software helps it beat iPhone
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31093797/

Palm Pre beats iPhone 3G S in 2 out of 3 speed tests by CNET
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=20065

I´m anxiously awaiting the GSM version...
FC

Brag about your Mozilla / Firefox reported bugs on Wikipedia with my new userbox....

My first Userbox for your Wikipedia user page! Proudly show on your user:page how many Mozilla bugs you've submitted to Bugzilla, and/or how many you've voted on...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Fcassia/Userboxes/

^Instructions on how to easily add this userbox to your Wikipedia user page in the URL above.

Just change user@host for the email address you have used to file bugs at the Mozilla.org bugzilla page....

Enjoy...

FC

Viva Argentina

Hillary Chickenshit Clinton

Protesters Confront Soldiers After Military Coup in Honduras - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/world/americas/30honduras.html?ref=global-home

"In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the last senior
member of the administration to visit Honduras, just three weeks ago,
said that the United States was working toward “full restoration of
democratic order in Honduras.” She said that the situation in Honduras
“has evolved into a coup.” But when pressed by a reporter, she refused to say explicitly that the United States was demanding that Mr. Zelaya be returned to power"

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/chickenshit

On July 2007 Commondreams published this:

Hillary Clinton, Right-wing darling?
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/28/2829



Need I say more?. Empires can´t help being empires. They can´t change, it´s in their DNA. It doesn´t matter if the president is a Democrat or a Republican.

It´s like the fable of the scorpion and the frog. And now when Hillary has a chance to side with the people and side with democracy, she stops halfway across. Just because the deposed president wasn´t very warm towards the USA policies or POV.

FC
PS: The great blog BoRev.net has a pool of the "Most Retarded Justification for the Coup in Honduras". Some of the TRUE statements by local politicos as well as some in the US media are really hillarious, or tragic. And whom do we find there? My pet pevee Mary Anastasia O'Grady, the Queen of Freedom, the fighter against all evil populists and leftists in Latin America. Mary Anastasia O'Grady -referred to hereinafter as MAO -for fun's sake-, a former Merrill Lynch employee turned hatchet job hack at the Wall Street Journal.

Her statement? WSJ's MAO describes the military overthrow as all part of a country's democratic system of "checks and balances." PFFFT!!!!!!!!!

US Republicans to Democrats: "break a leg!!"

It seems to me that a GOP top-secret cabal has hired a vodoo wizard to work on the message "Democrats, break a leg!" Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was working from home Thursday after fracturing her right elbow during a fall the day before, State Department officials said. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/18/clinton.arm/index.html?eref=rss_latest Sotomayor breaks ankle on the way to Capitol Hill http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/08/sotomayor-breaks-ankle-on-her-way-to-capitol-hill/

The BBC gives Monsanto a little helping hand?

Eco-farmer Jimmy in the streets of London

Most -if not all- of the BBC documentaries and investigative news reports I´ve seen are technically impressive. The guys do know their job, and they hire the best. From a content standpoint they are often progressive: from the war in Iraq, to the situation in Palestine, to Global Warming.

So I was a bit disappointed when I watched the Beeb´s program titled "Jimmy´s GM food fight" part of the otherwise great "BBC Horizon" series which I recommend wholeheartedly (For instance the one titled "The Ghost in your Genes" is great).

Jimmy gives the girls a taste of his sausage...
cooked with regular soybean oil and GM soybean oil

He mentions that one saves the environment, while
the other can give the world+dog enough to eat.
...It really goes downhill from there...

To put it in a few words, the program host starts with a supposed skeptical look at genetically modified crops, but soon (at around minute 12:00) the balance starts titlting towards the pro-GM side. I was actually dismayed when he started saying "we've been tinkering with plants for years" equalling genetic selection with genetic MODIFICATION. And more importantly, ignoring the chemicals that come with it, namely Monsanto´s RoundUp (Glyphosate and add-ons).

In short: overlooked was the chemical industry's big business with pesticides and herbicides. The dangers of Glyphosate are only recently being known. While Glyphosate itself might have low toxicity, the compound as delivered and sprayed over crops contains various toxic chemicals IN ADDITION TO glyphosate itself.

So "RoundUp" contains more than just glyphosate. Plus, "enhancers" are sold and mixed to RoundUp, to make it permeate the plant deeper, and be "more effective"..

A court down here in Argentina has recently banned crop dusters from spraying glyphosate near rural towns, where it affected the health of the local population.

http://bit.ly/glyphosateban-spanish

English version:

Court in Argentina bans crop dusters spraying Monsanto´s Glyphosate over soybean fields near urban areas. - AYN
http://bit.ly/glyphosatebaninargentina-english

More from the wikipedia:

--------
Scientific fraud

On two occasions the United States Environmental Protection Agency has caught scientists deliberately falsifying test results at research laboratories hired by Monsanto to study glyphosate
--
False advertising

In 1996 Monsanto was accused of false and misleading advertising of glyphosate products, prompting a law suit by the New York State attorney general.[13] Environmental and consumer rights campaigners brought a case in France in 2001 for presenting Roundup as biodegradable and claiming that it left the soil clean after use; glyphosate, Roundup's main ingredient, is classed by the European Union as "dangerous for the environment" and "toxic for aquatic organisms". In January 2007, Monsanto was convicted of false advertising
--------
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundup

So as you can see things aren´t as simple as "toying with plants"... and GM crops aren´t as harmless as depicted in this BBC programme, because they aren´t just modified seends, they come with the added chemicals sprayed on them.

Here, an Austrialian study which confirmed Glyphosate´s toxicity to frogs,
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/frog-overview.html

Fortunately, an eco-friendly farming UK blog has noticed this little bias in Jimmy´s programme, and is asking people to file a complaint with the BBC.

Let´s hope Europe does not repeat our mistake, and that we can eventually get rid of GMs too.

FC
PS: He came down here and the first part of the programme shows neat images of Argentina's vast GM soybean fields, even from the air.

The G7 thinks about us...

Yet another example of the developed countries caring about us... ;-)

http://tinyurl.com/GSMsecurity

Gavin Clarke is an utter moron...

Frankly, I never heard of a Gavin Clarke before today. He seems to be one of the writers @ that OTHER NEWS SITE.

But after reading THIS and THIS and THIS other story... all on the subject of the Oracle-Sun acquisition, and reading his stupid remarks, I conclude the guy has an agenda against Sun or its products.

Not that there's anything wrong with having a personal agenda. I dislike Microsoft with a passion, for instance, for its monopolistic ways. But at least there's some substance to my claims (DOJ trial, UE ruling against MSFT, South Korea's competition commision, etc).

FC