everybody reads raymond

Subject: Hashem Aghajari is sentenced to death for insulting the Prophet Muhammad. NY Times - International Section, pg. A8.

Hashem, a �reformist activist� and university professor said that Muslims shouldn�t necessary �blindly� follow religious leaders. This was from a speech he gave in August, in the city of Hamedan, Iran. For insulting the Muslim faith and the Prophet Muhammad, and for doing so while living in Iran, he has now been sentenced to death in a �closed door� trial. But first he also gets 8 years in jail plus 74 lashes. (He also can�t teach for 10 years. �> I don�t get this one as its kind�a hard to teach when you�re dead.) Follow up Link: Iran Mania - Students Plea

I find this whole event appalling. God bless America! Thank you for the freedom of speech & religious tolerance.

With the pending, threatened strike by New York City Transit workers hours away and seemingly little agreement between the MTA & the Union, I believe a "cooling off period" is mandatory. During this "cooling off period" I believe what is called for is a fact finding mission by a third party - one who can present the various issues to all parties. This would include:

1. The MTA's financial data whereby they claim deficit numbers and inability to meet the raise requests of the Union. It has been stated that neither the State of City comptrollers have seen this data, the financial "watch dogs" of New York.

2. The Union's data that they are the most sternly sanctioned, underpaid Union workers with fewer medical benefits than compared to other metropolitan transit systems.

Apparently the Union & the MTA are so far apart on these issues there is little chance of finding middle ground. The Union says, "3%" and the MTA responds, "0%". While you can't negotiate from zero, you further complicate the issue when the MTA won't divulge its financial data. This "hard ball" stance of the MTA is just as dangerous as a Union strike and both sides should be responsible.

While the Mayor & the Governor are taking this time to remind us all that a strike is illegal and that stiff penalties will be imposed on the Union if the proceed, I believe the focus should be on forcing the two sides to make full disclosure. If is is proven that the MTA is under water, then there will undoubtedly be a fare hike, paving the way to meet the Union's request to be compensated inline with national averages. And while this fare hike is most likely in our future it is not a solution to the the inability of these to groups to meet on common ground.

For that to happen, a fair system of disclosure, offering and acceptance must be put in place. This won't happen when you have an agency withholding information and a union banned from work stoppage. In the event that we as New Yorkers are forced to deal without a mass transit system, the city's contingency plans can be found here: New York City Transit Information Center.

Well all be darned. An old friend and long time neighbor (now moved away) was interviewed & photographed by The New York Times, Chris Hedges & James Estrin about her healthy diet of Phish before their hiatus. The story can be found here: A Quest for Rapture Leads a 'Phish Head' Astray.

Beth was and has always been a true friend and a great guide to the new and/or unexperienced. In this article she explains that lyrics and music often collide in confusion and how a "cultish" movement can be torn by contradiction like a nomad needing a vacation. Beth suggests that you are told, "One must go with the flow yet fight evil. It does not always make sense." - exactly!

In her experience she reflects upon the fact that answers are not found in the leaders, but in the hunt. Taken directly from The New York Times article: "I would not be who I am today if I had not done this," Ms. Senturia said. "But I know now I am not going to find what I am looking for in parking lots in other cities. I will find what I am looking for only within myself. It is easier to get in a car and think that the next show will give you fulfillment. It is harder to sit in one place and confront life." Have fun at the reunion Beth!

Today's Wall Street Journal tells us to say "Shut Up!" when we are shocked or amused; or just want to hear more. Column writer, Shelly Branch says that thanks to many sources (I personally remember Elaine from "Seinfeld") "Shut Up!" has become the new and preferred way to say "Oh my God!", "Get out of town!" or "No way!".

This change from negative associations to a more accepted and passive meaning over time is called amelioration. It seems like the phrase has altered its meaning so drastically and widespread that the New Oxford American Dictionary is considering a new entry for "Shut Up!" in its next edition whereby possible entries might include: "used to express amazement or disbelief" or "oh, so true!".

Branch offers a few other examples where this has happened in the past:

"nice" meant "stupid" up to the 13th century
"bad" during the 80's
and "dope".

All I can say is that's some "stupid fresh dope" slang. "Shut Up!"

1: I'm doing my job, are you? And I will continue to do my part this evening at the MOFO's APA Pool night.

“Heineken NV, the world's third-largest brewer, said profit growth stalled in the first half as French, Dutch and U.S. customers cut back on beer drinking.” read the story.

2: Radiohead, Madonna, Jewel and Green Day are new pets of Record Labels seeking end to MP3 download sites as they join the little guy in saying, “buy the album, not the song, please.”

“Top acts and their representatives are expressing reservations about the creative and financial implications of shifting to a singles-based model.” read the story.

3: Chatting with the CEO. I'm happy to see this becoming a “thing” despite the drawbacks, as I am used to seeing the penny-stock touted by the President in RagingBull type sites without checks-and-balance.

“Corporate executives aren't known as the spill-their-guts type. But some are beginning to participate in an activity once thought to be the preserve of technology geeks and political partisans.” read the story.

4: Another Black Hole? That makes two, right?

“A middleweight black hole, thousands of times heavier than the Sun, is dragging young stars towards the monster black hole known to sit at our galaxy's centre, astronomers suspect. The discovery could help explain how the monster grew so fat in the first place.” read the story.

5: A couple of weeks old, but new to me:

“Co-developed by Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard, Athens sports a translucent case, integrated wireless phone complete with handset and headset, integrated video camera for video conferencing and a gorgeous 23-inch flat panel display with an integrated CD/DVD drive built into the monitor.” read the story.

6: That's a great idea. ::: considering a dog named “Bloomberg” :::

“A man feuding with his neighbour in China is being sued for naming his pet dog after the woman and cursing it in public.” read the story.

The Wall Street Journal reported today that women have steadily been pushing the fashion boundaries and Islamic law governing their outerwear.

Crackdowns just help business, Ms. Alf insists. She has been through them before. "The more they tighten the leash, the more resolve women get. It's one fight the clerics will never win." read the story.

Apparently, the women of the Islamic world are tired of looking like a head-to-toe black blob and are opting for sexy, figure hugging alternatives that feature leg revealing slits and brighter colors. The government's attempts to "crack down" has only caused increased demand and more creative designs. The new law of slits being no longer than six inches from the ankle hemline has spurred the creation of a zippered slit from hemline to waist, allowing women to adjust at a moment's notice. You go, Arab girl!

9 January 04: Sorry to all those I upset with the geographical mistake. Now corrected, that should have been, "You go, Persian girl!"

Take the time, visit the site, read the information, do your part, get the T-shirt and help the little guy take on the unbalanced legal actions by the over powerful, well funded RIAA. While I do NOT support P2P file-sharing to the extent of a utopian style love festival where music is free and the artist's work is viewed as a humanitarian contribution to the universe, I DO believe that the RIAA is using its awesome power and legal maneuvering to cling to a dying business model. As the EFF points out, there are many business models where the artist can be paid for their work and P2P file-sharing can exist. The following was taken directly from the EFF Site:

Imagine a world where technology can empower us all to share knowledge, ideas, thoughts, humor, music, words and art with friends, strangers and future generations. That world is here and now, made possible with the electronic network -- the Internet -- with the power to connect us all. And future developments in technology will enable us to access information and communicate with others in even more powerful ways.

Based in San Francisco, EFF is a donor-supported membership organization working to protect our fundamental rights regardless of technology; to educate the press, policymakers and the general public about civil liberties issues related to technology; and to act as a defender of those liberties. Among our various activities, EFF opposes misguided legislation, initiates and defends court cases preserving individuals' rights, launches global public campaigns, introduces leading edge proposals and papers, hosts frequent educational events, engages the press regularly, and publishes a comprehensive archive of digital civil liberties information at one of the most linked-to websites in the world: http://www.eff.org

Thanks to Steven at Magnetic Field and Zuijlen's weblog I got a peek at the new Lord of the Rings December release.

Check out the trailer here. Its small, but cool.

Well this is interesting: Beatles sue Apple over iTunes - BBC News

It seem that the remaining members of the Beatles and the spouses of those passed are suing Apple because they are now upset that Apple is using its logo and the word 'apple' in its "new application for downloading pre-recorded music from the internet", according to the article.

What I find funny, is that if you do a Google search for Apple Corps there are 181,000 listings - few of which actually point to the company supposedly belonging to the Beatles.

Some of my favorites are below:

1. - Mr. Apple/Potato Head - fun!

2. - The Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps Band - this is apparently "OK" with the "Fab 4", (& maybe even the Fab 5 from "Queer Eye")

3. - Apple Corps.Org - a school organization.

4. - Apple Corps.Com - a dead Link to what I believe is the Beatle's website. Nice job, boys.

While I wrote this, iTunes played: Come Together from the album "1" by The Beatles and thought it to be fitting. :-)

On 24th June 2003 Simon Whitaker auctioned this ordinary British pound coin on eBay. Eight days later, bids topped one million pounds .

This is a great story. Thanks to Rebecca for the link.

If Boston had two (2) Martinez pitchers to call up (and had Boston called �em up in the 7th) they would have won without question. But as there is only one (1) such man, our pen-stripe boys had the better of the 7 game test. Welcome Florida to the World Series � a game Eddie Izzard says the US is sure to win again. My guess is he�s right. :-) So, let's play ball!

BTW: Martinez had a great game for 107 of 123 throws to the plate - by anyone's record an MVP performance, if the short-end had such a title.

Also noted: Mariano is still scary w/3 shutout innings & praise be to Aaron Boone for his 11th inning, first-pitch HR hit!

Further noted: I had my rally cap on since the 6th inning & GOD BLESS MIKE for clearing out the 4th, 5th, & 6th without a run!

Oh, my!  And here I thought I was among an elite few who had a weblog - one that had more than 2 posts - one that was more than a month old - and that I must be cool and hip.  Tonight I discovered that the latest and greatest is PodCasting, whereby you "post" audio files vs. text files for peeps to download, save to their iPods and listen to while riding the bus or running on the treadmill.

Well, not to be out of the loop or left behind (and so that I can keep my coolness badge) I will have to look into posting my own podCast material.

More on PodCasting:  Wanna know what it is?  Wish to see how its done?  Interested in the biggest players in the PodCast sphere and how they work?  Need a software client?  Check out these articles, forget the spell check and grab a microphone.

How Podcasting Works: by Peter Rukavina: I've been doing a lot of talking about podcasting recently: explaining to people what it is, and how they can do it, and how they can listen, and how it works. I thought it might be useful to provide a very simple step by step illustration of how to "subscribe to a podcast."

Podcast to broadcast: Think podcasting is just for geeks and gadgeteers? Think again. Podcasting went mainstream last week when San Francisco’s KYOU 1550 AM began broadcasting listener-generated podcasts over the airwaves. Playlist’s Mathew Honan explores this bold radio experiment.

Wizards Podcast brings you the exclusive release announcement for iPodderX 3:  It's a 'very special' Wizards episode, as the Wizards welcome August Trometer and Ray Slakinsky from iPodderX.com, who make the worldwide release announcement of their brand new podcast client,...

iPodderX adds features, gives away iPods:  Thunderstone Media has released iPodderX 3.0, the third major update to its popular podcast client. Version 3 includes a host of new features such as SmartSpace file management, the NewsCaster text-to-podcast converter, complete integration with iTunes and iPhoto, Playlist Builder, full-screen video, and much more. In celebration of the release, Thunderstone Media is giving purchasers of iPodderX a chance to win one of four iPod shuffles or a grand prize iPod photo. iPodderX 3.0 retails for US$24.95 and is a free upgrade for all current iPodderX users. A 30-day free trial is available.

And now, if that wasn't enough.  There's RoadCasting:  Capture your friend's radio and tell him how you really feel.  Or listen in to George & Martha's marital issues.

Watch for Roadcasting Rage:  An in-car entertainment system is on the way that will allow drivers to tune in song collections from other vehicles as they whiz by. Roadcasting -- 'me-to-me' sharing -- could be perfectly legal. By Daniel Terdiman.

And then, there's always the drunk guy:  He ruins it for everyone, but not anymore.

Steering Clear of Drunk Drivers:  A patent is pending on a steering-wheel skin sensor for cars that tests a driver's alcohol level before allowing the car to start.

And you thought PodCasting was a fad!

While writing this I listened to the PodCast: [ ep 03.v ] foodies' revenge from the album "The Invincibles in "So... you want to be a foodie?"" by The Invincibles.

I see that the US, in all its wisdom, decided to strike fear into hearts of man by bombing someone, someplace, something. While the US might be chanting praises and whoops of glory, the European view is a little different.

In a local paper, here in Zurich, an expert was asked a series of questions that went something like this:

Q: The Americans just bombed somebody,...who was he?
Expert: He was part of a terrorist ring. As people go, he was a very bad guy, as terrorist go, he was just a guy with lots of friends.

Q: Was he important?
Expert: Not really. Just unlucky.

Q: Will this bombing and the execution of this guy change terrorism?
Expert: No. It might make it worse. This was only one guy in a sea of thousands.

Q: Are Americans any safer today?
Expert: No. And it will probably get worse.

Q: Are Europeans safer today?
Expert: Not really.

Q: Then why did the Americans do it?
Expert: Bush needed a win to deflect the attention away from his horrible numbers and an eroding economy. Plus, he needed to make sure that everyone saw that they were actually "doing something" in Iraq.

Q: Will they ever catch Bin Laden?
Expert: Never. American politics needs an enemy.

What a difference it makes to not be exposed to the political machine of the US and its control of the media. I think I'll stay in Europe for a while. "Ra-Ra-Ree! Kick 'em in the knee! Ra-Ra-Rass! Kick 'em in the other knee!"

This is a test of Writely.com's ability to post to my weblog. According to the ABC News Story: REVIEW: Writely Mostly Hits the Mark, By JESSICA MINTZ AP Business Writer:

From: REVIEW: Google's Writely Mostly Hits the Mark, but It's No Word Killer: By JESSICA MINTZ, Oct 5, 2006 (AP)

With Google's backing, Writely has a jump on its competitors, which include AdventNet Inc.'s Zoho Writer and ThinkFree Corp.'s ThinkFree Write. (There are even rumors Microsoft will jump into the online word processor space.)

But as several substantial open-source alternatives have shown, it's tough to take market share from Microsoft Word. Even with the search leader's name attached, there's little danger Writely will crush Microsoft or its pricey boxed programs any time soon.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

So,...lets test if it hits my weblog. OK. It did. But I had to go back to my usual editor: Ecto and make some adjustments to things like "category", even though Writely said I could assign them and to the Title of the post - which I did adjust in Writely, but it didn't take - and I had to clean up the line breaks a bit as well as the "quoted" text. But, all-in-all, I would say that in a pinch, or when using another computer with internet access, it works.

I took a lazy Sunday today.  Woke up mid-morning.  Brushed my teeth and crawled back into a warm bed until noon.  Had some naked time with my lover and later shared an omelet and bacon (the real stuff) while the fall air drifted through the windows.  Afterward, it was time for her to pick up her studies and for me to do some work - research mostly for a new project.  But then I got the latest email message from MacWorld saying that my new issue was ready for download.  I said to Sybille, “You get sports on Sunday in Switzerland?”  I explained that I wanted to skip work and have a lazy, fall Sunday - the kind where you sit on the couch, reading a book (or on-line magazine) with the sun on your shoulders while high priced athletes do acts representing physical activity on the TV...that  you don't watch it but know that its somewhere in view, with the sound turned down to a “background” level.  I also explained that the sun and the warmth of the laptop in your lap combined into a sort of slumber-like elixir that Sundays were meant to be.

At any rate, this is Europe and there isn't baseball.  And there isn't football.  There's racing and there's snooker.  But it did the trick.  So what did I learn while I electronically flipped through my magazine subscriptions?

• That Google isn't really the king of the hill, but they're trying.  Check out David Vise's book.
• That Americans buy more books than anyone, but that we don't read them...that Thailand watches more television, surfs more web and reads more than anyone (do they work?)...that the titles of Harry Potter pirated copycats are funny:  “Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-up-to-Dragon”, from China, wherein Harry becomes a hobbit at Hogwarts and it sprinkles sweet-and-sour rain.
• That in January, Western Union gave up on the telegram service, having gone from 200MM in 1929 to less than 20K in 2005 - and I'm surprised it was that many.  But if you are still keen on them, use: iTelegram.
• That FON is still alive - so signup and start sharing your broadband.
• That non-pc blogs are worth the read...Back Seat Drivers - BSD speaks of stories that'll never make the US main-stream news and Awful Plastic Surgery says it all.
• That they don't give MacWorld UK away, but that its better content than the “lite” version called MacWorld.
• That I don't want a subscription to either AmericanPhoto or PopularPhotography as they are full of fluff, but that the Nikon sponsored MentorSeries of photographic and educational vacations looks like a lot of fun.
• That I would love an new camera and management software - Aperture.
• ...and that there really is an advantage to the Apple: MagSafe Power Adapter as I accidentally pulled it out 3 times while writing this list.  Watch the ad.

Hope you had a good Sunday, too.  Enjoy your week.  I'm off to Frankfurt to see about the future of business.  While reading and writing, I played nothing on iTunes but listened to snooker.

With the US population passing (an estimated) 300 million, some things still remain as true when we had half that amount - we're still stupid when it comes to the world outside the US, and occasionally even about things inside the US.  So is it 300MM or 1.5B?

According to a National Geographic Survey one third of the Americans surveyed thought the US population to be between 1 and 2 billion.  But we're not alone when compared to the “rest of the world”.  There is a lack of knowledge as to geography almost everywhere.  And the good news is that if it were not for Mexico, the US would have placed last.  And if not for Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and Sweden (the winner), the US might have been first.  I would suggest that we want to be the biggest and the best(est), that we get rid of those other 7 countries.  Only problem is that 11 percent of the Americans polled couldn't even find the US on a map; and one-third were unaware of the location of the Pacific Ocean - there are only 5 oceans for goodness sake.  Come on.  1 in 5 should have gotten it right by default odds.  The fact that the true results were only slightly higher than that is ugly, just ugly.

But when a full 74% of all that were polled thought that English was the language spoken by the most people in the world as their primary language, I guess you can't fault them too much,..afterall, with America being 1/3 of the World population by the American count, how can you blame them for not caring about a couple of funny-looking people speaking Chinese?

My Election Predictions:

Its 11:30PM EST and the mid-term elections are too close to call when it comes to the Senate majority.  The Dems need 3 seats and the GOP requires 4 to retain.  However, the real story will be Virginia - and my prediction is that it will be the laughable story heard around the world as we, again, go through a legal battle regarding who is in power.

Virginia will be contested; there will be a re-count; and there will be legal challenge over that count as both parties fight for the top spot.  That's my call.  And I hope I am wrong, as I can already see my future wife's eyes rolling as she “tisks” me and my stupid little country.