Random News Stories

[Cain]

Having recently dealt with the nightmare that is EA's "Origin" client/DRM checking device, I wholeheartedly approve.

However, there needs to be a way to incorporate several dozen extremely frustrating phone calls, a nice but dim customer services rep, a shitty and clueless supervisor to said rep, EMAILS WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS, threats of bodily violence and punching a wall in frustration into the concept.

[Junkenstein]

I think they call that "Performance Art"

[Elder Iptuous]

Not really sure where to put this, but this strikes me as a really good take on DRM.

http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/drm-chair-self-destructs-after-8-sittings

I suspect there may be a whole unexploited field of art taking tech concepts and applying them to reality.

He's dead in the water, since Apple's going to sue him into oblivion.  (his chair has rounded corners!)

[Pergamos]

US correspondent living in Japan. I read it as humour due to "the west" having various perceptions of cultural norms in Japan.

I would suggest the more interesting aspect is the unspoken accord between Yakuza and Law enforcement. This guy was given a stamp of approval for having a moral code. This does seem typical of Japan to me, where crime figures and results are highly politicised it would make sense to have guys like this you can reliably go to and know that violent crime will be kept to the lowest level possible.


I really don't know why various crime syndicates and cartels are not recruited in law enforcement more often. The goals seems very similar at times.

I'm pretty sure it is usually the other way round (law enforcement being recruited by criminal syndicates) and that it is indeed pretty wide spread.

[Cain]

In Japan, the Yakuza and the Establishment are virtually indistinguishable.

In the pre-WWII period, the Yakuza societies effectively acted as Japanese intelligence, helping undertake sabotage and assassination operations in China, Russia and Korea.

After WWII, many were recruited by G-2 (US Army Intelligence) to counter the threat of Communist inspired union actions, strikes and similar.  Many Yakuza got rich during WWII, and used their wealth to buy up politicians in the Japanese so-called Liberal Democratic Party, a party which has ruled Japan almost completely since the end of the US occupation.

If you go to Japan, you'll see that many Yakuza gangs even have prominent public offices, easily marked as such.  They're as much a part of the ruling class as the CEOs of large Japanese corporations, senior civil servants, politicians and, yes, those in charge of the police.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Vanity press is a growing industry. The vast majority of "celeb" auto/biographies are essentially deals with publishers to sell X amount of copies (Bought directly and sold through book tours) with various newspaper, magazine and promotional events tied in. Cross market the shit out of whatever else you happen to be promoting and every brain dead idiot with awful indistinct relatives will lap it up.

If you ever wonder about the publisher being paid to take some awful heap of shit, they probably got paid. A lot.

Have you ever seen his book? If you ever get a chance to look at it in a bookstore, you should. It's incredible. I was working at Borders Books when it came out and my first thought was "HOMIE'S TROLLING".

Oh good, Amazon lets you look inside, you can get a feel for it: http://www.amazon.com/Bad-as-I-Wanna-Be/dp/0440222664#reader_0440222664

Basically, Charlie Sheen is a pale imitation.

[Junkenstein]

I would like to highlight this as a prime candidate for "Book Heckling".

I was introduced to this concept recently and it's a fast growing amusement. Before your shopping outing, prepare a small piece of paper with your heckle. "He/She dies" or a reveal are particularly spiteful. When in a bookshop, grab a copy and place said heckle nice and close to the spine. Close the book and walk away.

The applications are only limited by shitty books. I now carry a pad for impromptu heckles.

[Junkenstein]

The UK's most senior judge has warned that the legal profession will be "troubled" by aspects of plans to allow courts to examine secret intelligence in private.

MPs backed the plans, which apply to civil hearings, on Monday.

But Lord Neuberger told BBC Radio 4's Law In Action cases might occur where "one party doesn't know what the other party is putting before the judge".

Any lawyer "worth his or her salt" would have concerns, he added.

I forget the exact number of MP's with a law background. A fair few. Emphasis mine, expect this to go right ahead. Interesting times ahoy.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/03/whos-fighting-who-map-conservative-fingerpointing/62741/

Nice little guide to some of the GOP infighting.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/transportation/cars/washington-state-rep-ed-orcutt-claims-bicycles-cause-more-pollution

Washington State Rep. Ed Orcutt (R) recently claimed that riding bicycles causes more pollution than driving cars.

According to SeattleBikeBlog.com, Orcutt wrote an email to a voter who disagreed with his support for a new tax on the sales of bicycles.

In his email, Orcutt wrote: "If I am not mistaken, a cyclists [sic] has an increased heart rate and respiration. That means that the act of riding a bike results in greater emissions of carbon dioxide from the rider. Since CO2 is deemed to be a greenhouse gas and a pollutant, bicyclists are actually polluting when they ride."

Wow.

I can only hope he chooses to do his part in this crisis and stop breathing.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/27/illinois-republican-gun-control-exactly-like-forced-castration/

"Here is the problem in Illinois," he said on the House floor. "I love you folks in Chicago. You're the ones that have the problem, you have a runaway gun problem. Don't blame the rest of us. This isn't about Democrats, it's not about Republicans. It's because Chicago wants a warm fuzzy. 'Let's pass a bill that will eliminate assault rifles.' Last year there were more people killed with hammers than with assault rifles."

"Here's an analogy folks, I ask you to think of this. You folks in Chicago want me to get castrated because you're families are having too many kids. It spells out exactly what is happening here. You want us to get rid of guns."

Today, my e-mail mostly brings me crazy people.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/transportation/cars/washington-state-rep-ed-orcutt-claims-bicycles-cause-more-pollution

Washington State Rep. Ed Orcutt (R) recently claimed that riding bicycles causes more pollution than driving cars.

According to SeattleBikeBlog.com, Orcutt wrote an email to a voter who disagreed with his support for a new tax on the sales of bicycles.

In his email, Orcutt wrote: "If I am not mistaken, a cyclists [sic] has an increased heart rate and respiration. That means that the act of riding a bike results in greater emissions of carbon dioxide from the rider. Since CO2 is deemed to be a greenhouse gas and a pollutant, bicyclists are actually polluting when they ride."

Wow.

I can only hope he chooses to do his part in this crisis and stop breathing.

More to the point, the dumbass has admitted there's a problem.

[Elder Iptuous]

I believe i heard yesterday on the radio that Orcutt admitted to being a moran regarding his statement.
too late.  that's your political legacy, buddy! 

[Junkenstein]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21684105

The UK is to provide armoured vehicles and body armour to opposition forces in Syria "to help save lives", Foreign Secretary William Hague has said.

It will offer millions of pounds in "non-lethal" equipment, including search and rescue, communications, and disease-prevention materials.

Mr Hague said it was a "necessary, proportionate and lawful" response to "extreme human suffering".

But some MPs said they feared being drawn into a military intervention.

Well this is just an astonishing surprise. I'm not even taking bets on how this will go.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21684105

The UK is to provide armoured vehicles and body armour to opposition forces in Syria "to help save lives", Foreign Secretary William Hague has said.

It will offer millions of pounds in "non-lethal" equipment, including search and rescue, communications, and disease-prevention materials.

Mr Hague said it was a "necessary, proportionate and lawful" response to "extreme human suffering".

But some MPs said they feared being drawn into a military intervention.

Well this is just an astonishing surprise. I'm not even taking bets on how this will go.

Totally humanitarian, of course.