Poetro's blog

Friday, December 29, 2006

Shooting in Queens draws mayor's rebuke

[q url="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-groom28nov28,0,2616070.story?coll=la-home-headlines"]NEW YORK â/&/#128;/&/#148; Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Monday said that police who shot three unarmed men â/&/#128;/&/#148; riddling their car with 50 rounds â/&/#128;/&/#148; had used "excessive force," but he urged angry citizens to wait for facts to emerge from an investigation.

Bloomberg and New York Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly spent much of the morning listening to complaints from the Rev. Al Sharpton, Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), and about 20 clergymen and elected officials from Queens, which was home to Sean Bell.

Bell, 23, was killed early Saturday morning as he left his bachelor party, held at a strip club that police were monitoring for illicit activities. He was to be married later that day. Two other men in the car were wounded, one critically

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iPhone Launched... But Not By Apple

[q url="http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=20307//&/amp;/amp;hed=iPhone+Launched...+But+Not+By+Apple//&/amp;/amp;sector=Industries//&/amp;/amp;subsector=InternetAndServices"]The iPhone is here. And it’s not from Apple. Home networking specialist Linksys on Monday introduced a series of Web-friendly handsets and systems designed for making Internet calls dubbed iPhone, a trademark that parent company Cisco Systems has owned for years.

The iPhone product series launched by Linksys, which manufactures home-networking equipment, works with Internet calling services, such as eBay’s Skype. The move came after months of speculation that Apple Computer would use the brand to launch a combined mobile phone and music player.

Cisco gained ownership of the iPhone trademark in 2000 when it acquired InfoGear Technology, an Internet appliance company. The San Jose, Calif., company’s reputation for manufacturing routers and switches that direct Internet traffic began changing in 2003 when it acquired Linksys, a maker of consumer home-networking products.

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Footage test

Testing the footage view

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Tags: asdasdasd | Technology

Test 2

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Tags: multiplicate | mathematics

Po-210 easy to produce, can be found in food - ex-nuclear minister, MOSCOW, November 30, (RIA Novosti)

[q url="http://en.rian.ru/russia/20061130/56244741.html"]MOSCOW, November 30 (RIA Novosti) - Polonium-210, a highly toxic radioactive isotope widely believed to have been used to poison former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko, can be manufactured even by a layman, a Russian former nuclear minister said Thursday.

Litvinenko, a Russian intelligence defector and a close associate of fugitive Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, died last Thursday in a London hospital. British health officials said Friday a large dose of Po-210 had been found in his body.

"Polonium is not actively used anywhere," Yevgeny Adamov said. "However, it is not difficult to manufacture. It can be done even by a layman without a chemical background."

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How not to be an iPod killer

[q url="http://playlistmag.com/weblogs/ipodblog/2006/11/ipodkiller/index.php"]Last week, Computerworldâ/&/#128;/&/#153;s Mike Elgan wrote an article titled, â/&/#128;/&/#156;Zune: So you want to be an iPod killer.â/&/#128;/&/#157; In it, he talked about the things he thinks Microsoft needs to do with the Zune to make it a true competitor to the iPod. Although he made a number of good points, about both the Zuneâ/&/#128;/&/#153;s current flaws and how it could improve to mount a stronger challenge to Appleâ/&/#128;/&/#153;s portable-player hegemony, I think Elganâ/&/#128;/&/#153;s main argumentâ/&/#128;/&/#148;that making the Zune work more like a Windows PC would result in a big win for Microsoftâ/&/#128;/&/#148;is off-base.

At the risk of making this article look like a point-by-point message-board response, allow me to quote the statements with which I differ most significantly from Mr. Elgan, and offer my own views:

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After all, the Mac is more elegant than Windows, but most people prefer Windows. And thatâ/&/#128;/&/#153;s how Microsoft can kill the iPod: Make the Zune more like a Windows PC.

Appleâ/&/#128;/&/#153;s closed, our-way-or-the-highway approach to locking everything down stifles innovation and customization. Some of the biggest iPod fans go to great lengths to overcome Appleâ/&/#128;/&/#153;s controls and modify their iPods. Just check out iPod Hacks, a site devoted to voiding iPodâ/&/#128;/&/#153;s warranty and bypassing Appleâ/&/#128;/&/#153;s strict gadget lockdown. Many of the hacks involve the installation of Linux with a special iPod interface called Podzilla.

This is what people do, even when Apple bans it. Imagine what would be possible if Microsoft encouraged modification of the Zune.

Let people transform the Zune into an Xbox game controller, a TV remote control, a portable presentation device, a wireless PC hard drive or a Vista gadget emulator. Give me a wireless keyboard and a Zune version of Pocket Outlook, and Iâ/&/#128;/&/#153;ll never buy another iPod.

Build ClearType into Zune and make it the ultimate eBook reader (and sell eBooks on Zune Marketplace).

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Jackson Calls On Entertainment Industry To Stop Use Of Slur

[q url="http://www.nbc4.tv/news/10406454/detail.html"]Jackson also asked the public not to buy a DVD box set of the seventh season of the TV show "Seinfeld" that was released last week.

Richards, who played the wacky neighbor Kramer on "Seinfeld," triggered outrage with a Nov. 17 racial rant against two black men when he was heckled during a stand-up comedy routine at the Laugh Factory nightclub in West Hollywood. A patron recorded the outburst with a video camera phone.

Richards has made several apologies, including one Sunday on Jackson's syndicated radio program, in which he has said he is not a racist and was motivated by anger.

At the press conference, comedian Paul Mooney said he has used the "n-word" numerous times during stand-up performances but will no longer do so after watching Richards' rant.

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re-edit, Penguins dance to top of US box office

[q url="http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=165837"]The dancing penguins of Happy Feet stayed atop the North American box office, while the new James Bond shot toward a box office record for the franchise, according to estimates issued on Sunday by box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations.

The animated tale of Happy Feet, released by Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros, earned $US37.9 million ($A48.59 million) over the three-day weekend in the United States and Canada, bringing its two-week box office take to $US100.1 million ($A128.34 million).

The latest James Bond movie, Casino Royale, featuring actor Daniel Craig as the franchise's newest Bond, pulled in $US31 million ($A39.75 million), bringing its domestic total for two weeks to $US94.2 million ($A120.78 million). The film's distributor, Sony Corp's Columbia Pictures, said Casino Royale's worldwide sales of $US224.4 million ($A287.71 million) put it on track to become the biggest Bond ever.

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Ford bets the firm that new credit is key to recovery

[q url="http://www.moneyweb.co.za/shares/international_news/477001.htm"]In arranging to borrow as much as $18 billion, Ford Motor Co. is making a massive bet that by pledging its assets as collateral, it can take advantage of buoyant debt markets to help pay for a difficult and costly restructuring.

The 103-year-old auto maker will pledge practically all its U.S. automotive assets and stakes in financial arm Ford Motor Credit Co. and its Volvo unit as collateral for much of the new debt. The move underscores the depth of the hole Ford must escape as falling U.S. market share and high labor costs hit its operations, hampering its ability to borrow without backing from pieces of its business.

Ford -- which first mentioned the borrowing plans in October -- said it expects to obtain $15 billion in secured loans, comprising an $8 billion, five-year credit line from banks and a $7 billion loan that will be held by institutional investors, including hedge funds. The borrowing amount is roughly equal to Ford's market value.

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Palestinians Preparing New Round Of Violence

[q url="http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7005654047"]Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - While Israel and the international community celebrate the latest opportunity for regional peace, Palestinian terror groups are actively preparing the next round of violence against the Jewish state.

A spokesman for the Hamas-affiliated Popular Resistance Committees confirmed in an interview with WorldNetDaily on Monday that the much-touted Gaza ceasefire is merely a tactic to allow anti-Israel forces to recuperate their strength.

"The ceasefire offers a period of calm for our fighters to recover and prepare for our final goal of" clearing the land between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea of Jews, said Abu Abir. "We will keep fighting (Israel), but for the moment we will postpone certain parts of the military struggle."

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'Home Game:' When Israeli hoop dreams lost to Gaza pullout (Podcast, video)

Britney Spears, Bisexual & Threesome-Eager?

Press reports indicate that K-Fed is now contemplating writing a tell-all book about his estranged wife. The wannabe rapper is allegedly planning to make the book so outrageous, that jaws will drop over the juicy revelations. A "source close to Kevin" says that he was "prepared to reveal everything in court" as well.

A family source close to Federline said he was "prepared to reveal everything in court". "Britney has told him more than once she is sexually attracted to women and men equally. She has asked Kevin many times if they could have a threesome," the Sun quoted a source close to K-Fed as saying.

Fed-ex allegedly is looking to reveal that Britney is bisexual and begged him for three-in-a-bed romps. Federline, 28, will say that the "Pop Princess" regularly fantasized about women and was desperate to share one with him. The wannabe rapper is also expected to claim Britney is guilty of a string of mishaps involving Sean Preston.

Apparently Kevin Federline wants to write about his soon-to-be ex-wife's "lesbian encounters, reported use of cocaine and marijuana and secret plastic surgeries." K-Fed is said to be furious that his wife slammed him with divorce papers two weeks ago.

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[q url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds39777.html] Kevin Federline has denied possessing a tape of himself and wife Britney Spears having sex.

After Spears filed for divorce earlier this year, some tabloid papers claimed that dancer Federline had a sex tape that he intended to make public.

However, his lawyers have claimed that the tape does not exist and that "stories of Kevin attempting to sell such a video are patently false".

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Players in pursuit of iPod

Everywhere you look, those white earbuds are sprouting out of people's heads.

Apple's iPod has become so popular that it has morphed into a digital music platform, not just a simple MP3 player. New cars come with iPod attachments, and major airlines soon will offer iPod jacks in airplane seats. I'm sure Amtrak is not far behind.

But maybe you don't want to carry an iPod along with a mobile phone anymore. Or maybe you want a smaller player, something cheap, that also plays video. Or perhaps you're just tired of being like everyone else wearing those white earbuds.

I've been testing alternatives. And while none beats the iPod in terms of ease of use out of the box, these players are worth a look.

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Tags: Pursuit | player | iPod