King George Must Go

I'm disgusted and saddened by the state of American politics. Instead of being the bastion of Liberty and Freedom, the once proud USA is in the clutches of a fascist president who was appointed by the Supreme Court. With control of both houses of Congress, the GOP has shamefully refused to hold their king accountable, despite the fact that there's been alarmingly many pieces of evidence.

During our last president's term, Bill Clinton was dogged by an independent prosecutor who essentially found no real illegal acts. Digging through dirty laundry, quite literally, Ken Starr finally was able to drum up charges of perjury through a semen-stained dress. Incredulously, the world watched as a partisan House of Representatives voted to impeach the President over consensual, albeit extramarital, sexual contact. Those same Republicans calling for impeachment were screaming about the Rule of Law violated by the Commander-in-Chief.

How quick we as a Nation have forgotten those clarion calls. Compare to King George, a man who admitted to wiretapping his own citizens, lead us disingenuously into a war that has killed or maimed tens of thousands of our young Americans, and whose administration illegally leaked the name of a covert CIA agent. Rather than citing the Rule of Law, Bush's apologists insist that we have more to fear from Terror than unchecked power.

Unacceptable. To the members of Congress: stand up for the Constitution and for our Republic. Have courage and punish this executive branch for their absolute corruption and cronyism. Impeach and indict the President and his minions for their Crimes against America. Such an act would restore America's credibility and give citizens faith that the Constitution, and not fear mongering, is our guide to governance.

Sit Down, Girlcotters

I was just mentioning to someone today, "If you never cross the fucking line, how the hell do you know where it is in the first place?"

It reminded me again when I just read through this story about how some girls from Allegheny County, PA are "girlcotting" (nothing like a catchy phrase to get your boycott noticed) yet another controversial Abercrombie & Fitch clothing line. This time the hubbub is based on Abercrombie's so-called "attitude tees" that have such pithy phrases like "Blondes Are Adored Brunettes Are Ignored" or my favorite "Do I Make You Look Fat?"

Granted that these are indeed offensive, but boycotting the clothing is ridiculous! My dear girlcotters, your outrage is not universal and there are many women who find these tee's humorous and empowering. Even worse your group is elevating this into a civil rights issue! Says Emma Blackman-Mathis, co-chairman of the group:

A lot of people don't see it as a civil rights infringement, they don't see it as an issue. But that's what we're trying to do -- bring it to the forefront of people's attention.

Frankly the idea that this is anything close to civil rights is offensive and misguided. This young woman's heart may be in the right place, but A&F has done nothing to impinge on anyone's civil rights. And to elevate your cause to that of discrimination against minorities (including women) devalues the fight for true equality.

Perhaps if Ms. Blackman-Mathis spent some time around a larger variety of women, she would find many who find this clothing line humorous and even empowering. Women who call themselves "bitch" wear it like a badge of honor instead of being shamed by the word. Gay men once were fearful of being called "queer" but now the word has lost its negative intimation.

Add also that these types of "offensive" tee shirts are rather commonplace in New York City among both men and women. If you cannot approach these with a sense of humor, you are obviously not A&F's intended market. Take your moral outrage, and your credit card, to the Gap instead.

This is much ado about nothing; if you are offended by the tee's, don't buy them. It does not give you the moral right to ban these goods for society at large. Instead of focusing your energy on personal choice, try contacting the National Organization for Women and perhaps try getting involved in their "Take Action" program.

SonyMusic Hacks Computers! Call Your Local Paper!

Here's an interesting account from Sysinternals detailing how Mark Russovich discovered a rootkit after a seemingly innocuous install of a Sony Music copy-protected CD. To date the music industry has attempted various schemes to limit mp3 encoding by consumers but none have been so onerous as to hijack your computer. Rootkits, in general, are popular trojan horses which can provide themselves administrative control of your machine without your detection. While this particular rootkit is not as extreme as rootkits can become, these types of trojans can lead to immeasurable damage if used for nefarious purpose.

On one hand there is honest protection of your valuable assets. But this clearly crosses that line. What common sense principle would lead your business to illegal activity? Computers are important personal property, and it's your honest customers that will be affected by this. Those who trade the non-authorized files will continue unabated. Sony Music is acknowledging that this rootkit has been used on CDs in 2005 and obviously feels no shame in hacking their customers computers with their "sterile burning" system.

Sony Music has crossed the line with this latest tactic and consumers need more exposure to these issues. While the tech community is up in arms, will the mainstream press publish these reports? If shown the potential damage Sony Music's aggressive tactics may cause, consumers may be startled and gravely upset by Sony's breach of trust. I'm sending letters to various local editors with the hope to raise awareness since I believe old fashioned paper gets better results than an Internet blog. Hopefully some folks will see this post and try to do the same in their own locales...

Microsoft reaches deal with Real, end run for iTMS?

An interesting development in Microsoft's digital music sales ambitions: they have settled a long-standing dispute with streaming media company, Real Networks. This after last week's news that Microsoft broke talks with the music industry over royalties rates for launching their own subscription service.

This is interesting since Real already has a license for their own subscription service, Rhapsody. While many companies are making a play at digital music services, only Apple's iTunes Music Store has seen widespread success. iTMS has cornered the downloads market so companies like Real have bet that they can find success by using a different sales model: subscriptions. If these subscription services gain traction, it could prove a viable competitor to Apple and Microsoft obviously has been making moves in that space.

Now it looks like perhaps Microsoft is looking to jump into subscriptions by proxy, using Real as a partner. Could we be seeing the beginnings of an end run to take down iTMS? It will be interesting to see how this plays out considering the acrimonious talks Apple and the music industry have also been having...

Scream If You Hate Web 2.0

I'm tired of reading all about Web 2.0... Nomenclature is an important facet of human existence, but this is just a crass marketing term. Spitshine ideas that have been floating around for years and suddenly they're a hip, new thing? Nonsense.

I don't give a damn about Wiki's page calling "the new web" a platform for serving applications. Give me a break. To call the web anything other than a platform is to ignore its development. We are seeing exciting new stuff on the web because it was designed that way. Sure static HTML is simple and boring; but it's a metaphor for the programming concepts involved with presenting things over the Internet.

It doesn't matter that those concepts got better with time or got other technology bolted on top. The obsession with tacking a revision number adds little value other than the buzzword du jour. Stop trying to classify things as "oh that's so Web 1.0" or bless the latest startup company "a stellar example of Web 2.0".

Keep version numbers for products. Leave the damn mediums alone with their traditional names...

Record Labels Might Want Your First Born Too

The war is going public. For the past few years the iTMS has been the far and away winner of the authorized digital music stores. There are several reasons for this, not least of which is runaway iPod sales. But Apple CEO Steve Jobs has consistently said his store's success is also based on generous use rights and the simple dollar-a-track price point. Now that the iTMS has established itself as a legitimate music purchasing outlet, a few labels are a little disgruntled. In the midst of renegotiating with the record companies, Jobs last week made the rift more public, stating that the music industry is getting greedy if they want to raise prices.

This didn't sit well with Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman who last Thursday shot back at Jobs, stating that no content industry has uniform pricing. As if he's a bastion of artist representation, he stated that such pricing schemes are unfair to artists and consumers. The dishonesty of his position is pretty clear: even if back catalog songs floated to less than a dollar, hiking prices on popular songs would really be a boon to the copyright holder (the record labels) but only would minimally impact the creator (the artist). Consumers, obviously, would also be left with higher prices on the songs they want most.

Even more incredible was Bronfman's statement about revenue streams. While the music industry has a right to seek more ways to monetize their intellectual property, do they genuinely believe they deserve a piece of the hardware market? Bronfman, dizzy from his sense of entitlement, says:

We are selling our songs through iPod, but we don't have a share of iPod's revenue. We want to share in those revenue streams. We have to get out of the mindset that our content has promotional value only. We have to keep thinking how we are going to monetize our product for our shareholders. We are the arms supplier in the device wars between Samsung, Sony, Apple, and others.

With that kind of logic, the music industry could ask for kickbacks from Ford or Bose or any other company that includes a product to reproduce music. And if the music industry is entitled, why not software companies? In that case Microsoft certainly deserves a kickback from any company that builds an application on top of Windows.

I'm sorry Mr. Bronfman, but music is not a highway. You can't just erect toll plazas because your product is used in ways that don't directly benefit your bottom line. Instead of trying to nickel and dime every last piece of potential revenue, you should focus on your business: publishing music.

Finally .Mac and Spotlight Come Together

I'm a big fan of my .mac account. Yeah, I know, it's a lot of money to pay for a vanity email address when you can get them for free all over the web. And I also realize the free ones frequently come with larger storage space. Yeah, I've got my gig-sized Yahoo and Gmail accounts but something skeeves me about the latter scanning my messages to target their ads to me.

But despite the "free" stuff, there are limitations that don't work well for me. I want to be able to use a desktop email client because searching, opening multiple messages (and composing multiples as well), and overall presentation don't cut it on web-only mail. And while Gmail gives you POP access for free (Yahoo only provides it for Plus customers), neither service has IMAP. That's a key for me since I have at least 3 places where I check my email regularly. I'll pony up the $100 per year so I can get to my mail using Mac mail or Outlook.

But my big problem with .Mac was storage... It's good to clear our mailbox out, saving those attachments out to your computer for instance. However it defeats the purpose of IMAP and limits the effectiveness of Spotlight (since I have 2 macs with different data sets on each). But thankfully I got the following email from Apple last week:

Dear .Mac Member,

.Mac membership now comes with 1 GB of combined .Mac Mail and iDisk storage and monthly data transfer limits have been increased to 10 GB. We have already updated your account. You can use your Account Settings to take advantage of .Mac's storage flexibility and reallocate storage to best fit the way you use the service.

In addition, .Mac is now available in French and German as well as in English and Japanese. You'll also find that .Mac now includes new Backup 3 software and the ability to create .Mac Groups.

We value your membership and hope you enjoy these enhancements to your .Mac service.

Way to increase value, Apple. Kudos for helping make me a more effective emailer...

Microsoft Breaks Into 3

So there's been a lot of chatter this year about internal Microsoft problems. Several high profile employees have left the organization, some to arch-rival Google, and there have been comments all around about low morale over in Redmond. Well it looks like Microsoft is listening and announced that they will be reorganizing the company. Three divisions have been created with their own presidents: the platform group, the business group, and the entertainment group.

I have to say I'm impressed. As a long time Microsoft customer, I've been frustrated with the integration issues Microsoft has faced for key products like SQL Server, causing big delays and missed product launches. With more autonomy, hopefully each unit will be able to execute more effectively and bring promised features to their products on time.

My cynical side is telling me, "Oh great, big bloated company is trying to appear more nimble." Time will tell whether this is a legitimate change that brings better execution or masks the problems a little better...

My big question: where does Microsoft Office fit? Nothing in the press release or over at Scobelizer mentions it specifically even though it commands quite a large share of the revenue pie...

AppleWorld: Ode to the Mac Zealots

It's funny how Mac (and now iPod) users get the word "zealot" attached to their name the moment they express their appreciation for Apple products. These detractors seem to feel that computers only provide the most basic utilitarian purposes, with no flair or thoughtful design necessary. They think all you need for a good computer is a bunch of top end components tossed in a beige or the newbeige (you know, black) box. "My machine cost a third of your crApple and runs faster too, man."

But computers have crossed over into mainstream long ago. These aren't microwaves or refrigerators; computers are lifestyle items that deserve vanity status and Apple has become successful because they positioned their hardware as such. Do you think car manufacturers just toss together components and put them into a shell for driving you to the grocery store? No, they design them with flair, have big events to show off their latest model, host conventions to get feedback on prototypes... Computers aren't any different and the joy of getting a new piece of equipment matters.

I was amused by this Wired article entitled "Meet the Apple Pack Rats" discussing the phenomenon of Apple customers keeping all the packaging that their equipment and software came in (not to mention photographing them as art pieces). I've noticed this for years, from my brother-in-law holding onto his iBook box until he moved overseas to other Mac fans who quietly store the boxes in a closet or under a desk. It's not just a container that protects the product from damage and enables shipping, but a piece of design work. Yes, it's just a bunch of cardboard or Styrofoam but a team of people created it with the specific intent to immerse you into Apple's world.

From the moment I started my trek home from work with my first "trend Mac", an iBook G3, I noticed I was fast becoming a part of this world. I say "trend Mac" to describe anything after the original iMac and "Yosemite" Powermac debuts, where form became an integral part of the Mac design process. (My Powermac 7100 was as stodgy as anyone else's box back in the day.) But oh all the stares I got on the subway with my iBook in my hands. Furtive glances, knowing nods, and outright stares... It heightened the anticipation of tearing into it and starting it up.

Funny, though, because when I got home I started obsessing about the little touches Apple put in. Opening the box was a revelation; Apple tantalizes you with the components right on top, like the color matched phone cord or the power brick's wonderful cord management feature. It's as if Apple designers went to a strip club and watched a sultry dancer slowly, tantalizingly removing an article of clothing at a time. By the time you pull the actual notebook out, you are simply hooked.

That experience made me hold onto the box. I had to explain to my wife that it's normal, that even her brother kept his box despite his almost transient lifestyle. And that she had 40 odd pairs of shoes which I rarely mention in complaint. I think a part of me enjoys the fact that Apple cared enough to make the unveiling of their equipment important. It's almost fetishistic, but it's not all that extreme; the love affairs men express for their cars or motorcycles can make an Apple user seem indifferent to their prized PowerBook or Mighty Mouse.

I've since bought other Apple equipment and software. A scroll-wheel iPod, iLife '04 and '05, Mac OS X Panther and Tiger, iMac G5, and most recently my own Mighty Mouse. I have all the boxes, not necessarily organized, but never discarded. Including one my wife won't throw away: her iPod's box. Why? Because now she's been immersed too. Her iPod is lovingly named "totoro" (complete with engraving), after the wonderful movie made by Studio Ghibli. And once you're hooked, the box is part of the experience...

Pedophiles Suck... But Privacy Rights Trump Disgust

Pedophiles deserve no regard. Their actions endanger children and those abused kids can grow up scarred for their entire lives. Few things in this world are as damaging to humans as pedophilia. They deserve our derision, our disgust, and our jail cells. Our laws should be used to their fullest extent to ferret out child predators so that they may not harm innocent lives.

But the phrase "fullest extent" means we still have to follow the rule of law. And the US rule of law requires some specifics, including obtaining warrants and limiting search and seizure. This system wasn't created as a haven for pedophiles; it was created to protect the People's interests. The Fourth Amendment guarantees us specific freedoms and an expectation that our embarrassing foibles don't become the interest of our government, even if those behaviors happen to be unlawful.

And while I have nothing but contempt for pedophiles, I find myself supporting an accused one. Out in Washington the case of State vs Westbrook is being litigated. The case involves the government being tipped by a computer technician working on the defendant's computer; the tech's company contacted the police after discovering child pornography. The police viewed the material and then sought a warrant to seize the computer.

And while the child porn is sickening to read about, the bigger issue is this: do you give up your right to privacy the moment that hand your personal equipment to a service technician? The EFF believes that you retain that right and has written an amicus brief in this case. I fully support their contention as our personal computers reflect us in very profound and meaningful ways. Much more so than library records, credit card statements, and even medical records. Email, IM, websurfing habits, and online purchasing can provide a rather complete picture of the kind of person you are.

Privacy rights are codified in US law and are an important part of having a free society. Just as the police can't conduct a full search of your house without reason, it's imperative that technicians honor your private property. Do you really want a tech rifling through your personal files just because you couldn't fix your own computer? Are techs supposed to be extensions of the police or FBI, minus the legal restrictions that limit those authorities' power?

Regardless of the pedophile subject in this case, a chilling effect will be seen if this sort of activity is permitted. But for any of you that are as cynical as me, that just means you should encrypt, encrypt, encrypt. In fact, do it now, because you won't be able to do much about it by the time your equipment breaks. Hopefully the courts will reaffirm this principle but thankfully computers come with locks that are stronger than the ones protecting your house or car...

The Movie Theater Experience Sucks

Hey look at that: a NYTimes piece about the box office slump where they didn't claim copyright infringement was to blame. And even better, it comes up with some interesting points as to why the box office isn't bringing in the masses like they have in years past. I think it chronicles many of the reasons why I am loathe to visit the cinemas these days.

The last movie that got me to ante up $20 (I never go to the movies alone) was Batman Begins, a blockbuster that still manages to be a good film. But that's been an exception over the past few years. Let's face it, there's little to be excited about when movie studios rely on old favorites to bring in new audiences. Bewitched or Dukes of Hazzard or Herbie could only inspire the most nostalgic and least jaded of movie watchers.

And then there's Netflix... I am a big fan of this service for a few reasons. First, it's not BallBuster. Second, unlike pay-per-rent, you don't get penalized for picking poorly. No matter how many bad films you happened to see, your membership price stays the same. You can't roll that dice in the theaters and you certainly can't watch a movie you liked more than the one entrance your ticket allowed you. And the other thing about Netflix is that you are part of a community. Rate movies and they will recommend other titles. And after using those recommendations, they've turned me on to some really great stuff. Netflix killed the theater experience because they make movies a fun endeavor. Loews and Regal just seem like all the other big corporations that exist merely to extract dollars from you. Why the endless crap film trailers, NBC's latest TV lineup, or car commercials? The theater should be insulation from the world outside where it's all but impossible to avoid such advertising. Instead theater owners insist on bringing that world right back inside the cocoon.

The last big reason movie theaters have lost me is for the audience itself. Yammering on a cell phone through the presentation is bad enough. But worse is the hooting and hollering that ensues at the inappropriate moments. An ironic joke? You'd think moviegoers never heard of such a thing... Don't get me started on the seat kickers or the late arrivals. The shared experience you gain from watching the movie with others is totally lost when they aren't your friends and have no respect for your enjoyment of the film.

But in the end I think this story is similar to the music industry one. You can't expect the old paradigms to work for eternity. The home theater with the DVD as centerpiece has provided (as mentioned in that NYT article) an intimate version of the movie theater experience. This goes to show how powerful the medium of film really is, despite the lackluster box office sales. If the movie industry focuses on quality content, they can take heart in knowing that their material will continue being in demand.

The Futility of Monetizing P2P

After all these years feuding with the entertainment cartels, p2p is becoming legitimated. News.com has a writeup discussing the coming launch of MashBoxx and how SonyBMG CEO Andy Lack thinks it'll make millions for MashBoxx head Wayne Russo. The recent Supreme Court decision against Grokster makes it apparent that US operators will be found liable for copyright infringement but this desire has been in the works for years. However the emerging authorized services don't mean that P2P will go from record industry bane to digital music retail stars. Currently the only largely successful retailer is iTunes Music Store but they offer the traditional server-client approach. It results in effective search, lightning fast downloads, and an extensive catalog that can be readily downloaded.

Contrast that to current p2p applications: search is spotty, download speeds vary greatly depending on the peer's upload speed and number of uploaders, and the catalog available is polluted by the likes of MediaDefender or Loudeye's Overpeer. While authorization will take that last problem away, the other 2 issues are outstanding. Perhaps the next crop of legitimized p2p services like MashBoxx will relieve the searching problems but if they rely on the peer system, download predictability will remain suspect.

The second big issue is whether peers will appreciate their paid-for broadband connections being used for music industry profits. After years of being sued by the RIAA, will users be agreeable to providing free infrastructure to line executives' pockets? With iTMS, Apple supports the entire infrastructure and bears the bandwidth costs. This creates a significant bar of entry; for example iTMS Japan racked up a million downloads in its first 4 days online. If you assume the average file size is 4 megs (about 4 minutes of music), the service transferred about a terabyte of data each day. In order to even move that much data in 1 day you'd have to provide at least 2 T3 connections which theoretically only provide close to half a terabyte maximum. Once you factor in the network bursts and redundancy, even more connectivity is required.

On the other hand utilizing users' bandwidth instead of bearing those costs is workable only when there are perceived benefits. In that sense, p2p has shown hugely successful because you can find rare, prereleased, or catalog deleted songs (or movies or video games or porn). A second reason p2p providers have flourished is because their systems barter upload streams and user data collections in exchange for unlimited data downloads.

Monetizing this ends the community's bartering system. No longer given the free data downloads, will users continue providing their upstream bandwidth and their data collections? Considering that most p2p users already limit upstream rates or disable shared files, it's very likely the "sharers" (who provide the bulk of available data) will simply vanish.

Gov. Taft: Almost Did The Right Thing

Well this is a heartening story. A politician getting caught for ethics violations and he actually admits to it. There's a rarity in this day and age. Unfortunately while he claims he's bearing responsibility for these ethics violations, responsibility requires consequence. And in this matter, the proper acceptance of responsibility requires resignation.

So add me to the list for the clarion call: step down Governor Taft. Step the fuck down.

Dave Matthews Barking Up the Wrong Tree

Dave Matthews Band is one of those bands you gotta respect even if you're not into them. Unlike most signed acts, they've encouraged their fans to tape their live shows and trade their music. Instead of being hyper protective of their art, they have a more grounded view where enabling fans is a great way to further connect them to your music.

Unfortunately the recording industry doesn't see it that way. And DRM is their favorite acronym these days. So now mainstream acts are producing CDs that don't rip MP3 files if you're a Windows user. Instead you are given the opportunity of digitizing your music with encrypted WMA files which require license keys to enable playback. Unfortunately protected WMA files are unusable within iTunes; that in turn means you can't convert those WMA files into an iPod playable format such as AAC or MP3. And considering the tremendous market share Apple currently enjoys, a lot of music fans are left in the cold for portable audio purposes.

Enter the workaround. Dave Matthews Band has posted instructions detailing how a Windows user could rip the protected WMA files, burn them to CD and then rip that burned disc within iTunes. But then they blame Apple for not opening up their proprietary format and encourage users to contact Apple to complain. I saw this once before with the latest Life of Agony disc so it begs the question: why blame Apple?

Considering this was a business decision by the label's management, Apple should not be the source of DMB fans' ire. Apple's iPod playsback many open formats and 1 proprietary one: M4P (aka AAC protected). It isn't Apple's decision to prevent Windows users from putting songs on their iPod; quite contrary it's Apple's best interest to support that endeavor. But it does not mean that Apple shoulders the responsibility for content owners' anti-customer stances.

If DMB is really interested in serving their fans needs, they would petition the label and encourage fans to not purchase product that doesn't conform to standard CD audio. Labels will continue to pursue only self-interest because consumers are treated as criminals and not valued for their contribution to the company's bottom line. If you can't use the music on your iPod where you want it, don't purchase the music. Your dollar is your vote, and it's mighty powerful for the music execs that expect your wallet to be open.

Close it for once and see what effect it has...

eBooks are Great (Well They Could Be)

Another day, another DRM story. Princeton and several other universities will participating in offering electronic versions of their textbooks. I could totally give my support for this. Carrying around your science and math books are no easy feat, especially when you got to reach class in 5 minutes but it's on the other side of campus. Speed reading is no substitute for a full-text search.

But oh the restrictions... 5 months after purchase, you no longer can open the file; your two-thirds priced ebook has no resale value. The ebook isn't transportable if you downloaded it onto your desktop computer; so much for hiking to the library when trying to hide from your dorm mates. These restrictions may be wonderful for a publisher (no used book market to compete against!) but terrible if you're actually consuming these things.

Thankfully I think the society of consumers (in this case) will reject this scheme. Out of necessity (like no dead-tree books in stock) some will get sold and price might sway the penny pinchers. All the rest will see this for what it is: an expensive and restricted book lease.

WinVista's Big Selling Point is Security?

Surfing along today I found this Newsweek writeup describing WinVista's key selling point is security. Here's my beef: what credibility does Microsoft have in this arena? Their current client operating system, Windows XP, has proven woefully defective between viruses, scumware, and phishing. The problem isn't new either; Windows exploits have disproportionately affected computer users for generations (even as far back as DOS).

The fact of the matter is that customers looking for better security should dollar-vote a different operating environment. Linux and Mac OS have proven more reliable on the security front. This isn't to admonish Microsoft since they've focused a lot of their attention to the security problem. SP2 for XP helps as does the acquired AntiSpyware application from Giant. Windows 2003 Server has also been relatively secure but I'd posit the reasons include professional IT staff using that technology and the fact that servers don't get used for casual websurfing. In the years following Bill Gates's trusted computing mantra, those 3 releases have been standouts.

But despite all that, should you really buy Windows Vista based on Microsoft's past track record? More importantly, should you even consider it a "feature" when you're deciding to upgrade? Computer security is like having car seatbelts: standard equipment that would never be touted as a reason to buy a new car. I mean, if Ford built a car with ineffective seatbelts, would you buy another?

Washington Post: What About Integrity?

If you are as concerned as I am about the state of corporate news media, this story is a sad but unsurprising one: the White House spins a story to the media with the caveat that they get no counterpoint from Democrats. The Washington Post is advocating the White House position instead of providing balanced reporting of the news.

Have we become so morally bankrupt that we accept such blatant violations of trust? To the editorial board, have you forgotten the tenets of journalistic integrity? You must follow the guidelines of truthfulness, accuracy, and impartiality. Your legitimacy demands more than providing short-term shareholder value. More importantly, even if you believe biased reporting will add to the bottom line, it is not sustainable when your audience or the public realizes they've been hoodwinked.

Hopefully the Post will get letters and complaints for this unethical behavior; you can send one to letters@washpost.com or reach their Ombudsman, Michael Getler, at ombudsman@washpost.com.

Bloomberg: Your Apologies Are Worthless

As evidence of our new found police state in NYC, stories are now circulating about the tour bus raid Sunday by the NYPD. To summarize, a Gray Line bus supervisor called police claiming that there were 5 suspicious men boarding a double decker sightseeing bus who had backpacks and all purchased their tickets in advance. So police raided the bus, detained all 60 passengers for 90 minutes, including handcuffing the 5 men indicated by the supervisor.

However, the men had no backpacks. The Gray Line supervisor seemingly lied to the police because his only real suspicion was that the men were South Asian. Publicly the Mayor and the NYPD have insisted that transit searches would be randomly selected to avoid racial profiling. However this supervisor committed this exact act of racism when contacting the police.

And here's the problem: your words do not match your actions. The FBI Most Wanted Terrorists, linked on the NYPD home page, is almost exclusively brown-skinned men. We are constantly told to report "suspicious" activity to the authorities, without ever defining the term. So when untrained citizens start spying on their neighbors, they are insensitive to race and will automatically finger the profile they see on TV or read in the paper.

This is unacceptable. Mayor Bloomberg, you are responsible for all of NYC's inhabitants, regardless of their race or creed. Mr. Bloomberg, frankly your apologies are meaningless; empty words will not restore my faith that this is a one time incident. In fact this will systematically continue to occur unless the racist undertones are removed from your publications, posters, and the mainstream news. It will continue because citizens aren't trained to spot criminal activity and human nature so quickly reverts to tribalistic, "us vs them" behavior.

Mayor Bloomberg, perhaps you need to reevaluate how the NYPD responds to these sorts of issues because most suspicious calls will turn up nothing and no one should feel intimidated to go about their business in the City.

NYPD: Do you really trust them?

So the paranoia has reached a new height: "random" subway searches. All the local rags are writing about it today like the NYT's reaction piece. Great, the Fearful Ones have another pacifier to make them feel safer. Let's be frank: random searches are going to be fruitless. If you're supportive of this new invasion of our privacy, let me posit this question: do you really expect it to be random? The only randomness will be the police man's profiles.

At what point do we stop this madness. Our country's leadership has deceptively put us into danger on the back of Our Tragedy (9/11 for you dolts). And now they wish to erode our fundamental rights to instill the Fear. After all, Fear is good for control and power. Make no mistake, this is the inevitable result of the road the Fearful Ones have put us on. Keeping us Fearful is the best way to consolidate power and hoodwink us from their apparently corrupt nature.

Don't tell me things like "I've got nothing to hide" because it only demonstrates your fundamental lack of perspective and your overwhelming ignorance. White blindness is so infuriating; society is not equal for all and whites are never subjected to egregious overreach of power. You don't pass policemen or National Guardsmen with automatic weapons and feel intimidated, concerned that your skin color will raise their suspicions. Nor have you gotten the long stares as you board your train to get to work or go out for a few drinks on the weekend.

Your feelings of safety are being carved out of my sense of security. And that's unacceptable to me as a minority and even more so as an American.

The NYC Subway Guide or How I Hate My Fellow (Fat) Man

There's a funny post over at ThisIsWhatWeDoNow.com that rants about NYC's subways. Larry nails a lot of good gripes if you're a daily rider of this world class underground rail system. And evidently some of the comments are none too pleased with his obesity complaints.

Well here's a scoop: you made a fucking CHOICE to get to where you are. This wasn't some overnight phenomenon; it was a systematic process of gorging yourself and not being active enough. Your corpulence may be acceptable among rural and suburban areas of this country but you're taking up VALUABLE SPACE in the city. Space that the city can ill-afford to give you with your clogging up space in trains or backing up sidewalk traffic.

And for the record, calling Larry a bigot is deeply insulting to those of us who have seen real bigotry. But it''s not surprising considering you lack even the perspective to maintain a healthy weight...

Roberts, the new Thomas?

Remember when the first Bush nominated Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court? For me, it was a poor pick based on his lack of judicial experience, his hostility towards civil rights (irony notwithstanding), and his rather questionable ABA rating. Unfortunately politics degenerated the confirmation hearings into an embarrassing case of "he said she said", distracting the public from the real problems with Thomas's nomination.

But in the end, Thomas was an unknown; there were educated guesses but nothing concrete to evaluate him on. He would not answer questions relating to cases like Roe v. Wade, for instance insisting that he had not formulated views on abortion. Sadly this was a successful tactic that was aided by the Anita Hill distractions.

I hope that Dems in Washington remember this as we move into the confirmation process. The best advice I would have is to ask the tough questions (like those posed by Chuck Schumer) and insist on getting substantial answers. Keep in mind that the GOP runs Capitol Hill and the filibuster is inappropriate for this nominee. The White House is weakened as of late and their nomination definitely reflects this. Keep that in mind when you do your Constitutional duties and publicly scrutinize this nominee.

Scoble's Dell About Face

I gotta say that I'm a fan of Scoble. I like to think of him as Microsoft's Chief Blogging Officer since he likes to prod his colleagues into increased dialog through blogs. And as a corporation, I think MS is way ahead of everyone on that front. MSDN is a very valuable resource for a techie professional like me. From all accounts Robert has been the big cheerleader and I think it's been paying off for Microsoft's customer base.

That's why I was a little surprised to see Scoble posting today about Dell. Essentially reversing his previous position (and through various other posts) lamenting on Dell's closed door policy, needling them along the way. Now he's saying:

I think I was wrong to join in the pile on on [sic] Dell. It's not really fair to beat up a company for not blogging and life isn't fair anyway.

Life may be unfair but it doesn't mean we shouldn't pursue the discourse. Dell is the biggest PC maker out there and they have fallen way out of touch with their customers. Why should Dell be recommended moving forward? You claim their equipment "rocks" and you're a happy customer. However, and this is an important point, do you deal with them as a typical end user when it comes to sales and support?

I have found their support to be nightmarish like many other customers except when dealing with their business lines like the PowerEdge/Latitude/Optiplex. My company was a happy Dell shop until a couple years ago when their equipment became less reliable and their support became the excuse-generator rather than problem-solver. I've sought other vendors and have been much happier.

I no longer advise people to buy Dell equipment and their latest actions solidify that recommendation. Robert, if you're not answering your customer needs, why should you have the industry's leadership role? Microsoft seems to be learning this (in no small part by your efforts) so why are you letting Dell off the hook? Not to be conspiratorial but why the sudden change in feelings?

Bend Over, Ohio: You're Getting Shafted

For those of you keeping tabs, here's the 3759th reason America is fucked. Ohio's chief justice, a Republican, has disqualified every judge in Cuyahoga County (evidently largely Democrats) from hearing a corruption case brought by that country's commissioner against high level Republicans including the state's governor. Check out the link for all the gory details so I don't have to summarize it like you're in grade school.

Ohio: clean up your fucking act. Partisan politics is one thing but this smells dirtier than a bordello in Thailand. The "perception of bias" is pretty fucking apparent in this situation: GOP operatives are manipulating Justice. The only real link between the commissioner and the Cuyahoga judges is their political party association. Hagan (said commissioner) controls the budget? So fucking what! If he manipulates the budgets to reward or punish the judges involved, the press should nail him to a stake. I'm confident that the D after his name would guarantee that nowadays...

From where I'm sitting it looks like the Chief Justice is going to be picking the judge he'd like to hear this case. The stench of complicity is overwhelming.

Mac bloggers, how do you do it?

Motherfucking web. Shitty little Blogger. Goddamn Mac.

Fuck the fact that the Web is supposed to be platform agnostic. It ain't. You get reminded of this frequently when you're using a Mac. I'm sure the Linux boys come across this too even though they're usually too caught up in their hobbyist PC bullshit nonsense to admit as much.

Anyway to my point: Blogger fucking doesn't work with any of the browsers I use on my Mac. Safari can't handle rendering the fancy toolbar in Compose mode. Camino gets you a bit further but it's a cock tease: Javascript errors prevent you from actually using the damn Compost mode. Internet Exploiter leaves you wishing for an enema. Something, anything, that'll help you feel cleaner...

Yes, yes, I've since found Blogger's happy help section which gleefully lets me know that I need to use Firefox or that bloated Netscape shit. So Firefox it is even though I'm grumbling the whole way. Funny thing is that I have this love affair with the 'Fox on my PC but I think it looks like ass on the Mac. Probably because Camino is my fall back Mac browser for the times that Safari's KHTML rendering does a shit poor job.

Eh fuck it. I've got more interesting things to rant about. This should work until I get my own website going. Of course I'm sure WordPress is gonna give me the same bile-rising anger for some reason or another...

Well so much for writing about how much I hate Karl Rove or whatever this post was initially going to be... I'm sure I'll have plenty to bitch about later. Which leads me to ask: why the fuck are you still reading this? You're like a fucking perv watching me jerk off on this posting...