Originally posted by god's shoeshine:You should have hit me up sooner. I would have given you the audible edition so you could listen to the nice the British lady read it to you.
and its not so much the economist specifically, but no news mags at all was just weird
Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
Originally posted by vansmack:Somebody finally did the math for me…
AT&T's iPhone 3G subsidy will cost 'em
AT&T Paying High Price For iPhone 3G
AT&T may be paying Apple $325 per unit for right of carriage, Oppenheimer financial analyst Yair Reimer wrote in a report.
Additionally, Reimer said AT&T will pay another $100 for subscribers signed up in Apple stores. When you add these figures to the retail price of the handset, AT&T could be paying as much as $624 for the 8-GB iPhone 3G, and $724 for the 16-GB version.
Apple will receive an average of $466 per iPhone.
Sad, sad, day today. And since weâ??re on summer break and Iâ??m not going to get called into any foreign relations classes on campus, youâ??ll have to indulge me. Or ignore me, if you see fit.
You see, Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew his opposition candidacy for President of Zimbabwe over the weekend because he could not ask his supporters to cast a vote for him, when doing so could very well cost them their lives. Robert Mugabe, the ruler for the past 30 years, has led a vicious and violent attack on members of Tsvangiraiâ??s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Party since the earlier primary, which MDC claimed to have won outright. This all but assures Robert Mugabe five more years of brutal rule, and the people of Zimbabwe will continue their slide from one of the wealthiest countries in Africa to one of the poorest countries on Earth (inflation, for example, is currently â??sittingâ? around 150,000%).
While I feel for the people of Zimbabwe, thatâ??s not the most compelling nor disappointing part of this story. That the election would not be fair was predictable, to say the least. Whatâ??s sad is that the one country that had a chance to make a difference in Zimbabwe let the rest of the Continent down â?? South Africa.
The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), a group of 14 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa of which both Zimbabwe and South Africa are members, chose South Africaâ??s Thabo Mbeki to be the chief negotiator between the two rival parties. Mbeki failed to hold Mugabe to the fire (or even force to do anything), even to the point where Mbeki was ready to allow a shipment of guns (from China) into South Africa that were to be transported to Mugabeâ??s people in Zimbabwe. It wasn't until the pro-union dock workers of South Africa refused to unload the boat, and the Chinese, to stave off international embarrassment before the Olympics, told the boat to turn around that the arms were kept from the hands of those who intended to use them to force the outcome of an election.
Mbeki has even gone out of his way to block talks on the UN floor about the situation in Zimbabwe. There are other leaders in Africa that have taken to the pulpit against Mbeki, such as Zambiaâ??s president, Levy Mwanawasa, however, none of them have a seat on the UN Council, like South Africa. This was a huge opportunity missed for South Africa to take a leading role in shaping the continent. The SADC should now replace Mbeki as the negotiator (and let Kofi Annan do it), not recognize the result of this weekâ??s election, and not allow Zimbabwe at seat the SADC table until they hold a proper and fair election.
And, as punishment for the accomplice role South Africa played, FIFA should strip South Africa as the first African host of the World Cup as they have shown that they are not fit to truly represent a Democratic Africa, but thatâ??s for later.
You see, Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew his opposition candidacy for President of Zimbabwe over the weekend because he could not ask his supporters to cast a vote for him, when doing so could very well cost them their lives. Robert Mugabe, the ruler for the past 30 years, has led a vicious and violent attack on members of Tsvangiraiâ??s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Party since the earlier primary, which MDC claimed to have won outright. This all but assures Robert Mugabe five more years of brutal rule, and the people of Zimbabwe will continue their slide from one of the wealthiest countries in Africa to one of the poorest countries on Earth (inflation, for example, is currently â??sittingâ? around 150,000%).
While I feel for the people of Zimbabwe, thatâ??s not the most compelling nor disappointing part of this story. That the election would not be fair was predictable, to say the least. Whatâ??s sad is that the one country that had a chance to make a difference in Zimbabwe let the rest of the Continent down â?? South Africa.
The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), a group of 14 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa of which both Zimbabwe and South Africa are members, chose South Africaâ??s Thabo Mbeki to be the chief negotiator between the two rival parties. Mbeki failed to hold Mugabe to the fire (or even force to do anything), even to the point where Mbeki was ready to allow a shipment of guns (from China) into South Africa that were to be transported to Mugabeâ??s people in Zimbabwe. It wasn't until the pro-union dock workers of South Africa refused to unload the boat, and the Chinese, to stave off international embarrassment before the Olympics, told the boat to turn around that the arms were kept from the hands of those who intended to use them to force the outcome of an election.
Mbeki has even gone out of his way to block talks on the UN floor about the situation in Zimbabwe. There are other leaders in Africa that have taken to the pulpit against Mbeki, such as Zambiaâ??s president, Levy Mwanawasa, however, none of them have a seat on the UN Council, like South Africa. This was a huge opportunity missed for South Africa to take a leading role in shaping the continent. The SADC should now replace Mbeki as the negotiator (and let Kofi Annan do it), not recognize the result of this weekâ??s election, and not allow Zimbabwe at seat the SADC table until they hold a proper and fair election.
And, as punishment for the accomplice role South Africa played, FIFA should strip South Africa as the first African host of the World Cup as they have shown that they are not fit to truly represent a Democratic Africa, but thatâ??s for later.
no offense, and i like reading/chatting about this stuff, but why don't you blog (even pseudonymously?)
an aside … do you RSS? what's your favorite straight-news feed?
i've been using huffington post's "full news" feed for a couple of months and it does a good job of pulling from a lot of different sources, but can be a little too gossipy
i generally like to keep a single feed for breaking news / aggregating other sources, in addition to my other newspaper feeds
i've been using huffington post's "full news" feed for a couple of months and it does a good job of pulling from a lot of different sources, but can be a little too gossipy
i generally like to keep a single feed for breaking news / aggregating other sources, in addition to my other newspaper feeds
Originally posted by HoyaSaxa03:Thanks.
no offense, and i like reading/chatting about this stuff, but why don't you blog (even pseudonymously?)
Nothing is anonymous, so even a pseudonym doesn't help (only being behind a cgi-bin has kept me out of potential hand-slapping). The good news is I'm close to getting permission to write about foreign policy/affairs. Of course, I've felt I've been close before…
Originally posted by HoyaSaxa03:I use my google toolbar with the following widgets:
an aside … do you RSS? what's your favorite straight-news feed?
i generally like to keep a single feed for breaking news / aggregating other sources, in addition to my other newspaper feeds
Google Desktop News (favorite)
NYT
Economist (which is awful, but I get A LOT of email from them)
ESPN
Originally posted by vansmack:is that just a straight "top stories" google news feed? i used that for a while but it felt like over-kill and i was getting way too many local stories
Google Desktop News (favorite)
i'm on the hunt for something that aggregates like google news but has a little more of a human touch
Originally posted by HoyaSaxa03:Yes, but I turn off personalization so I get very few local stories. I rely on MSN Messenger Alerts for local news updates (SF, DC, & OC). For example, the top 3 stories right now are from The Observer, Forbes, and FT.
is that just a straight "top stories" google news feed? i used that for a while but it felt like over-kill and i was getting way too many local stories
I am not interested in the human touch. I like the facts and then put my own human touch on them.
would you buy the soon to come out, non-human woman, i think from japan but could be wrong, for your dislike of the human touch, if you were not married, of course? i believe i have heard it can do everything a real woman can do sexually (but better?) and even some are getting excited about the fact it will not talk. not sure about the actual release; it is still in planning.
No yellow fever for me.
Instead, I simply pretend like I care…
Instead, I simply pretend like I care…
Seriously? I can't wait to hear the Libertarian slant on this…
FCC wants no-porn, free broadband wireless auction
WASHINGTON–The Federal Communications Commission on Friday said it wants to auction a section of wireless airwaves to buyers willing to provide free broadband Internet service without pornography.
The agency asked for public comment on its plan to auction an unused portion of the wireless spectrum with the condition that the winning bidder offer free Internet access and filter out obscene content on part of those airwaves.
Successful bidders for the spectrum would also be required to provide coverage to at least half of the United States within four years, and to at least 95 percent of the U.S. population by the end of the 10-year license, the FCC said.
"Additional obligations associated with the licensee's free broadband service would include a requirement to provide a network-based filtering mechanism for the free Internet service in order to protect children and families, and a requirement that the network allow for the use of open devices," the agency said.
FCC wants no-porn, free broadband wireless auction
WASHINGTON–The Federal Communications Commission on Friday said it wants to auction a section of wireless airwaves to buyers willing to provide free broadband Internet service without pornography.
The agency asked for public comment on its plan to auction an unused portion of the wireless spectrum with the condition that the winning bidder offer free Internet access and filter out obscene content on part of those airwaves.
Successful bidders for the spectrum would also be required to provide coverage to at least half of the United States within four years, and to at least 95 percent of the U.S. population by the end of the 10-year license, the FCC said.
"Additional obligations associated with the licensee's free broadband service would include a requirement to provide a network-based filtering mechanism for the free Internet service in order to protect children and families, and a requirement that the network allow for the use of open devices," the agency said.
And just because I know Beetsnotbeats would never stumble on to this himself…
[a real President] wouldnâ??t be using his last days in office to threaten Congressional Democrats that if they donâ??t approve offshore drilling by the Fourth of July recess, they will be blamed for $4-a-gallon gas. That is so lame. That is an energy policy so unworthy of our Independence Day.
The energy policy debate is going to be great this political season, mostly because there are serious flaws in both candidates positions.
[a real President] wouldnâ??t be using his last days in office to threaten Congressional Democrats that if they donâ??t approve offshore drilling by the Fourth of July recess, they will be blamed for $4-a-gallon gas. That is so lame. That is an energy policy so unworthy of our Independence Day.
The energy policy debate is going to be great this political season, mostly because there are serious flaws in both candidates positions.
Originally posted by vansmack:i don't mean to begrudge your decision, but in the interest of playing this thought out….
Nothing is anonymous, so even a pseudonym doesn't help (only being behind a cgi-bin has kept me out of potential hand-slapping).
if one was concerned about one's employer or grandparent or something following one's blog and objecting to provocative content, i would think pseudonymity would provide enough of a cover (a) to have whoever one wants not to find it not find it (unless they were really persistent), and (b) that if they did find it, tell them that they needn't worry about the content because your name isn't attached to it (most employers seem to really just care about embarrassment from having their employee's name associated with objectionable material)
you're right that it would never really be "anonymous" unless one went to some extreme measures, but if the above paragraph holds true then anonymity would only prove necessary if one were posting some really weird/illegal shit
i'm guessing bay area people are much more in tune with the perils of blogging / social-networking, right?
It has little to do with my current employer, who has been prodding me to blog about higher education policy for some time now. And they don't care what I do at my desk, however, I'm guessing if (1) they knew how much time I spent here, they'd ask me not to and (2) if they really wanted to know, they could. We have academic freedom on campus, and I think they respect that.
Nor does it have to do with my family, who find my musings on pop culture a sign that I may never grow up, yet some how appear so professional when they see me in action.
It has to do with a previous employer and an agreement I signed upon leaving. I've been working with them to get the OK to blog about foreign policy/affairs for some time now. I have a blog, it took forever to get approval, and was supposed to be only about soccer. I (foolishly) posted the Pakistan piece I shared on here and they notified me within 48 hours that I was in violation of my departure agreement. They are a small nonprofit shop, but are primarily funded by a larger government entity, so they must be getting help in keeping an eye on my commentary.
So I post here, where you have to be a member to read, and it won't be picked up by the usual spiders and search engines and I have not heard from them once. You're either the beneficiaries or the victims, depending on how you look at it.
Nor does it have to do with my family, who find my musings on pop culture a sign that I may never grow up, yet some how appear so professional when they see me in action.
It has to do with a previous employer and an agreement I signed upon leaving. I've been working with them to get the OK to blog about foreign policy/affairs for some time now. I have a blog, it took forever to get approval, and was supposed to be only about soccer. I (foolishly) posted the Pakistan piece I shared on here and they notified me within 48 hours that I was in violation of my departure agreement. They are a small nonprofit shop, but are primarily funded by a larger government entity, so they must be getting help in keeping an eye on my commentary.
So I post here, where you have to be a member to read, and it won't be picked up by the usual spiders and search engines and I have not heard from them once. You're either the beneficiaries or the victims, depending on how you look at it.
NYT today on google news: At Google, Slow Growth in News Site
last paragraph:
last paragraph:
â??There is only so far you can go with an algorithm,â? said Mark Glaser, editor at PBS MediaShift, a site about online media. â??In the long run, people want a human touch.â?
Sometime ago I posted about a web site called FabChannel that archives live perfromances from The Paradiso in Amsterdam.
Tomorrow, they will be broadcasting a live performance from Elbow.
Tune into the live video webcast of Elbow concert at the Paradiso - Main Hall on 25 Jun 08, 2:30 PM ET
If you can't watch it live, it will always be archived.
Tomorrow, they will be broadcasting a live performance from Elbow.
Tune into the live video webcast of Elbow concert at the Paradiso - Main Hall on 25 Jun 08, 2:30 PM ET
If you can't watch it live, it will always be archived.
Originally posted by vansmack:btw, i'm in full agreement with you. . .also, i would call out the u.n. a bit more (who, amongst other things, allows mugabe to violate all sorts of e.u. sanctions against him, in addition to allowing mbeki to dictate the conversation), but that's probably expected of me. . .
Sad, sad, day today. And since weâ??re on summer break and Iâ??m not going to get called into any foreign relations classes on campus, youâ??ll have to indulge me. Or ignore me, if you see fit.
I would only allow you, my friend, to go from "disband the UN, they're useless" to "it's their fault, they're not doing enough."
Originally posted by vansmack:i don't see a contradiction. . . point b simply supports the more general point a, just another example of its irrelevancy.
I would only allow you, my friend, to go from "disband the UN, they're useless" to "it's their fault, they're not doing enough."