One Canuck's Radio Weblog

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The UN Development Programme study found that more needed to be done to close the nation's wealth gap.

It added that a lot had already been done to reduce the sharp divide.'

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The American Conservative chooses Kerry over Bush

Mark Frauenfelder: Chris sez: The American Conservative magazine, headed up by Pat Buchanon, has come out in favor of Kerry by coming out against Bush:

Bush has behaved like a caricature of what a right-wing president is supposed to be, and his continuation in office will discredit any sort of conservatism for generations. The launching of an invasion against a country that posed no threat to the U.S., the doling out of war profits and concessions to politically favored corporations, the financing of the war by ballooning the deficit to be passed on to the nation’s children, the ceaseless drive to cut taxes for those outside the middle class and working poor: it is as if Bush sought to resurrect every false 1960s-era left-wing cliché about predatory imperialism and turn it into administration policy. Add to this his nation-breaking immigration proposal -- Bush has laid out a mad scheme to import immigrants to fill any job where the wage is so low that an American can’t be found to do it -- and you have a presidency that combines imperialist Right and open-borders Left in a uniquely noxious cocktail.

UPDATE: Anonymous sez: If you look closely, you'll notice that their editorial staff was split and so they each did a seperate endorsement. Among the staff, they pretty much endorsed everyone from Bush to Badnarik to (shockingly enough) Nader. To say they endorsed Kerry is accurate, but also very misleading. One editor endorsed Kerry, the rest endorsed others.
[Via Boing Boing]

.< 1:36:31 AM >
Chile Group Plans Bush Welcome with War Crime Suit

SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - Chileans opposed to the Iraq war have accused President Bush of war crimes in a criminal complaint lodged on Tuesday, less than a month before he is scheduled to visit the country.
[Via Reuters: World]

Bravo. I think Canada should follow suit.

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Glad this is coming out before the election. There's more crap to come.

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< 12:47:27 AM >

5.2MB Quicktime Link

(via Lawgeek)
[Via Boing Boing]

.< 12:45:13 AM >
The American Conservative: Kerry's the One
Bush has behaved like a caricature of what a right-wing president is supposed to be, and his continuation in office will discredit any sort of conservatism for generations. The launching of an invasion against a country that posed no threat to the U.S., the doling out of war profits and concessions to politically favored corporations, the financing of the war by ballooning the deficit to be passed on to the nation[base ']s children, the ceaseless drive to cut taxes for those outside the middle class and working poor: it is as if Bush sought to resurrect every false 1960s-era left-wing cliché about predatory imperialism and turn it into administration policy. Add to this his nation-breaking immigration proposal[~]Bush has laid out a mad scheme to import immigrants to fill any job where the wage is so low that an American can[base ']t be found to do it[~]and you have a presidency that combines imperialist Right and open-borders Left in a uniquely noxious cocktail.

.< 12:36:05 AM >
U.S. and International Winners of the 2004 Mac OS X Innovators Contest Announced
Check 'em out! Nice stuff.

.< 12:18:55 AM >
Delicious Library
Quickly importing your stuff into Delicious Library doesn't require a dedicated barcode scanner - you can use any QuickTime®-supported digital video camera, like your Apple iSight. Just hold the barcode on the back of any book, movie, CD, or video game in front of the camera and your item magically shows up on your digital shelf seconds later. Using the same technology found in $800 industrial-strength CCD barcode scanners, Delicious Library reads every single frame of digital video; seeking out, targeting, and instantly decoding any visible barcodes.



  Tuesday, 26 October 2004

.< 11:58:23 PM >
Apple iPod event posted via QuickTime

You've read about the products and the analyst reaction here on MacCentral, but if you'd like to view Tuesday's special event itself, now you can. Apple has posted a QuickTime stream of the event, held in San Jose, Calif. Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the stage to take the wraps off a color iPod that can display photos, a special edition U2 iPod, and introduced Bono and The Edge themselves. He also talked briefly about Apple's success with the iTunes Music Store, and noted that the iTunes Music Store is now available in nine additional European countries.
[Via MacCentral]

.< 11:50:24 PM >
Sonic Studio Releases Next Version of Flagship Premier Digital Audio Workstation

Sonic Studio, LLC, the leader in ultra-fidelity production products for audio professionals, today announced that distribution has begun for version 1.9.1 of their landmark digital audio workstation (DAW) for the Macintosh platform.

SonicStudio HD is the preferred choice for DVD-Audio content creation and was the first ...
[Via DVD-Audio and SACD News]

.< 11:48:35 PM >
Nimbus Records Release New Series of DVD-Audio Titles

‘Surroundyourselfwith’ is the title of a new series of surround sound music discs from UK based Nimbus records. Each disc contains about 90 minutes of music in 3 audio formats: DVD-Video 2-channel PCM Ambisonic UHJ encoded, DVD-Video DTS 4.0 and DVD-Audio 4.0 MLP.

Nimbus Records has pioneered surround sound since 1972. All Nimbus recordings have been made using Ambisonics...
[Via DVD-Audio and SACD News]

.< 11:45:27 PM >
Warner Music Group Release DualDiscs from The Donnas, Simple Plan, Grateful Dead

Beginning today, Warner Music Group will release four DualDisc albums in the U.S. from critically acclaimed artists on the new music product, a two-sided disc made up of a CD on one side and a DVD on the other.

In stores on October 26th, Simple Plan’s ...
[Via DVD-Audio and SACD News]

.< 11:12:03 PM >
Announcement: Sonic Studio SS*DDP

Sonic Studio's SS*DDP can open, play back, edit, and save the DDP (Disc Description Protocol) files commonly used for CD metadata at mastering facilities and music labels.
[Via MacInTouch]

.< 8:23:38 PM >
Headset for VOIP on Mac
A headset with microphone is a good investment. For new Mac's with USB headsets by Plantronics (DSP-300, DSP-400 or DSP-500) and by Logitech (Premium USB Headset 300).

Spotted this on a page on VOIP at Macintouch. I'm probably going to get one of these eventually.

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In the Yukon.

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Canuck pricing for the 40 Gig iPod Photo is $679 and for the regular iPod $559.

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Yes! Happy to be launcing with other Europeans.

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Wow! Big news. At last, an iTunes store for Canucks.

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Get these people out of the White House and then charge them with war crimes.

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You don't expect his to start telling the truth now.

< 10:13:55 AM >

It was an inauspicious beginning to Florida's election season, and a reminder that Democrats must remain vigilant against Republican efforts to steal yet another election. And in that regard, Republicans have been mighty busy.

[snip] These efforts are not isolated incidents, but part of the Republican Party's "Victory" programme. While ostensibly a voter registration and "get out the vote" operation, the programme includes a concerted nationwide effort by Republicans to lock in their electoral gains by any and all means necessary. Sounds like partisan rhetoric, sure, until you hear it from the source. Alluding to the fraud committed by his party in his home state of South Dakota, former Republican governor and congressman Bill Janklow told the Associated Press last week that the entire Victory programme is rife with electoral fraud: "These people are cheating. When you tamper with it, you cheat the system. And cheating in elections is the worst form of cancer because it's uncontrollable."

.< 10:10:55 AM >
Polling truth

The clear message from all those voter surveys is that Bush is in trouble, writes US blogger Markos Moulitsas.
[Via Guardian Unlimited World Latest]

Here's hoping Moulitsas isn't just seeing what he wants to see.

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Just seeing a tiny clip of Clinton in action today illustrated how poor the current candidates look by comparison.

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Travel can help mend a fractured world (USA Today, 17 October 2004)

For many Americans, the critical question in this election season is, "How can we make America safer in the world?"

Call me a girly man, but I think -- given the fact that Americans are outnumbered 20 to 1 on this planet -- we'd be safer by better understanding our world. A great first step is to travel -- thoughtfully.

If Americans traveled more, we'd better understand our place on this complex planet and fit in more comfortably. And eventually, perhaps, we wouldn't need to spend as much as the rest of the world combined on our military to feel safe....

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A milestone? This might be the first officially sanctioned RSS feed from the CBC, something many of us have been asking for for some time. Oh wait, there is a genuine milestone: the CBC's' first podcast.

< 11:23:10 PM >

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Canada and Mexico as trading partners under the North American free-trade agreement. Within NAFTA, Canada has become Mexico's second largest export market and Mexico has become Canada's sixth largest, a statement from the two leaders said.

[snip]

The two countries, meanwhile, will also create new programs for university academics in the two countries. Currently, nearly 10,000 Mexicans are studying in Canada every year and there are more than 400 agreements between Canadian and Mexico academic and research organizations.

.< 1:00:54 PM >
Skype Long Distance Rates to Wired Phones
Before we get to the money-part, please remember, Skype to Skype calls are free and will always be. Only calls to old-fashioned phone numbers cost money, so help your friends, family and business contacts to use Skype, so you don't have to pay at all for talking to them.

It does not matter where you’re calling from, only where you’re calling to. Sitting in London and calling your friend next door costs the same as sitting in Beijing, New York or Moscow and calling your friend in London.

Canada €0.017 (€0.020)
Canada (Mobile) €0.017 (€0.020)

Mexico €0.080 (€0.092)
Mexico (Mexico City, Monterrey) €0.017 (€0.020)

If I'm reading the chart correctly the first rate is for all of Mexico and includes cell phones where as the second rate is for the Ciudad and is land lines only.

< 12:13:50 PM >

Finally. Here's hoping they can deliver soon. Other info on other projects. Looks like there's a Philips partnership in the works and that SACD will play an increasingly important roll.

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< 11:37:15 AM >

"See what you can do with poetry?" Morton says. "That was my first random act."

Morton, a 64-year-old poet with incredible chutzpah, had already convinced the folks at WestJet Airlines to sponsor her as their "poet of the skies.""

.< 10:22:26 AM >
Sony Ericsson P910i smart phone

Reg review The perfect phone and PDA?
[Via The Register]

.< 10:11:00 AM >
PalmOne updates the Treo smart phone

PalmOne Inc.'s long-awaited update to the Treo 600 will come with a new processor, sharper display and flash memory, as the company continues to improve its flagship product. The company is set to unveil the device, called the Treo 650, Monday at the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association's (CTIA's) Wireless IT and Entertainment conference.
[Via MacCentral]

.< 10:06:05 AM >
Mac OS X rootkit surfaces

Unpleasant Opener
[Via The Register]
One of the first pieces of malicious code targeting Apple's Mac OS X operating system has been discovered. The Mac OS X malware, dubbed Opener, is a rootkit for Mac OS X machines that contains a variety of destructive functionality including a keylogger and backdoor components.

Opener (AKA Renepo-A) is a shell script that can't be installed without admin privileges. It isn't spreading.

.< 9:44:18 AM >
U.N.: Explosives Missing from Former Iraq Atomic Site

VIENNA (Reuters) - Nearly 380 tons of explosives are missing from a site near Baghdad that was part of Saddam Hussein's dismantled atom bomb program but was never secured by the U.S. military, the United Nations said Monday.
[Via Reuters: World]

Forgot about the WMD Saddam had dismantled. More incompetence.

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To tell you the truth, I bought into that as well - and boy were we wrong. That educated middle class was everywhere around the world, but not in Iraq. What it decided to do was to shut its mouth or turn religious.
[Via Daypop Top 40]

.< 1:24:18 AM >
netmuswire: scheduled mp3 aggregator

randomchaos: “today i’m releasing netmuswire, an applescript that combines netnewswire, ical, and itunes into a scheduled mp3 aggregator. netnewswire does the aggregating, ical does the download scheduling, and itunes does the playing. there’s an installer that sets everything up to run automatically, but it’s easy to adjust if you don’t like the default schedule—just change the ical event times.”
[Via Ranchero.com]

.< 1:22:12 AM >
Podder.pl, the superior Podcatching script

Clint Ecker posted a new script that “uses AppleScript to interface with NetNewsWire 2.0 and extract RSS enclosures, downloads them to disk, and then uses AppleScript to add the PodCasts into a playlist in iTunes.”
[Via Ranchero.com]

.< 1:12:47 AM >
podcast recording

Yippee! I finally have a way to record skype calls on the mac. I'm still testing and hope to do a Trade Secrets with Dave today for the final stress test.

It looks like I finally have an app that records all audio output on the mac and uses some native quicktime encoding that utilizes almost no cpu power. In the past this would always affect the quality of the skype connection. Once I'm happy with the setup I'll post details and pointers.

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These failings have a common source in Mr. Bush's cocksureness, his failure to seek advice from anyone outside a narrow circle and his unwillingness to expect the unexpected or adapt to new facts. These are dangerous traits in any president but especially in a wartime leader. They are matched by his failure to admit his errors or to hold senior officials accountable for theirs.
[Via washingtonpost.com - Editorials]

The emphasis is mine. The endorsement of Kerry for president comes from The Washington Post.

< 12:42:29 AM >

The treaty prohibits the "individual or mass forcible transfers", the newspaper notes.

The Justice Department memo allegedly permits the CIA to take Iraqis out of the country for questioning for a "brief but not indefinite period".

It also says intelligence officers can permanently remove persons deemed to be "illegal aliens" under "local immigration law".

The Bush administration continues with it's arrogance and disrespect for international treaties. These guys should be up for war crimes.

< 12:38:04 AM >

Cheney's license to print money.

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George brings democracy and freedom to the Iraqis.

< 12:24:15 AM >

American media organisations, he adds, "have been cowed, because they didn't want to be unpatriotic. There has been a lack of inquisitive journalism. In fact, it's hard to think of a major medium in the United States that has been objective and fair and balanced, and critical when criticism was deserved".



  Sunday, 24 October 2004

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Toshiba SD-4960 DVD/SACD/DVD-Audio Player - Product Of The Week

The Toshiba SD4960 DVD Player is one of the latest in the current trend of moderately-priced DVD players that also play SACDs and DVD-Audio discs.
[Via About Home Theater]

.< 1:51:37 AM >
Errol Morris "Switcher" ads with former Bush supporters who will vote for Kerry

Mark Frauenfelder: Academy Award documentarian Errol Morris (who directed Apple's switcher ads) has created about 50 "switcher" ads for Kerry that are now on his website. A couple ran on MoveOn but most of them never appeared on the Web or TV. Now you can see them all on Morris' site. They're amazing. Link
[Via Boing Boing]

.< 1:51:01 AM >
RollingStone.com: Politics- Fear and Loathing, Campaign 2004
Did you see Bush on TV, trying to debate? Jesus, he talked like a donkey with no brains at all. The tide turned early, in Coral Gables, when Bush went belly up less than halfway through his first bout with Kerry, who hammered poor George into jelly. It was pitiful. . . . I almost felt sorry for him, until I heard someone call him "Mister President," and then I felt ashamed.

.< 1:47:29 AM >
"Bush Relatives for Kerry"

We invite you to read our stories, and please, don't vote for our cousin!
[Via Daypop Top 40]

.< 1:45:40 AM >
"Bush Supporters Still Believe Iraq Had WMD...

"Bush Supporters Still Believe Iraq Had WMD or Major Program, Supported al Qaeda"
[Via Daypop Top 40]

Bush learned from Goebbels: "If you repeat a lie often enough . . ." Idiots.

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Coming to a screen near you on Nov. 5 will be "The Incredibles," a melding of superhero action and PG-rated comedy. If it follows the pattern established by its predecessors, it will take in $519 million in worldwide box office. (Hey, no pressure!)'

.< 1:15:16 AM >
Modigliani: Beyond the Myth...

I'll be checking out this show with my baby sometime soon.

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< 11:50:17 PM >

Podcasting has burst into the net consciousness with a pace that has stunned even the most seasoned Internet veterans. Dozens of new podcasts and tools are being released daily. But when technology moves at this pace, it tends to scatter its focus. What I propose below are the key next steps in the evolution -- a five-point road map to the future of podcasting.
[Via I Love Radio .org]

If Tod keeps this up he's going to be a real leader in this movement.

< 11:49:51 PM >

< 11:49:16 PM >

Here's hoping there's a similar movement in the US this fall.

< 2:18:23 PM >

An anonymous reader points us to two links for listening to Eminem's "Mosh" in its entirety. Real Audio Link, ASX link.

BoingBoing reader David Stein sends a transcript of the song's lyrics: Link
[Via Boing Boing]

Eminem finally focuses his rage on something worthwhile:
"Strap him with an MK47, let him fight his own war, let him impress daddy that way
[snip]look in his eyes, it's all lies
[snip] as we set aside our differences and assemble our own army to disarm this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president . . . for the present".

< 1:58:12 PM >

Let's get these assholes out of our whitehouse.
[Via Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]

Removing the lies so that they can tell some more.

< 7:32:41 PM >

Sorry, we're too busy rationalizing the invasion of Iraq and looking for WMD. Good thing they got rid of that bad man Hussein.

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Good God. Read on. It gets worse. WAKE UP!!

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Lots of cool stuff in this little tip.

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Far out!

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News from headquarters

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ugh

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Third world? Send in the election observers.

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Bush delivers freedom and democracy.

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Good.

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Sometimes when I'm talking to people about the stuff I do they seem stunned that I have my fingers in so many pies. One way to get lots done is to avoid watching tv.

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< 3:03:56 PM >

by Kevin Bazzana

Oxford University Press, 528 pp., $35.00

.< 3:01:14 PM >
LSM Reviews and web articles...
LSM Reviews and web articles
Recent reviews: The Rubies, Renée Fleming in Toronto, COC Altamira Concerts, Salvatore Licitra in Montreal
[Via LaScena-Features]

.< 2:59:43 PM >
Doug Bennett, 53

< 2:55:53 PM >

A hockey great, several politicians and an environmentalist are among the top 10 candidates vying for the title of the Greatest Canadian, as revealed Sunday night on the debut of the CBC-TV series of the same name. FULL STORY
[Via CBC Arts News]

.< 1:17:52 PM >
Early problems hit Florida voting

Technical glitches and queues tarnish Florida's new early voting system, brought in after the 2000 election fiasco.
[Via BBC News | World | UK Edition]

.< 1:16:15 PM >
Team Bush declares war on the New York Times

US elections: The Bush White House's attacks on one of America's grandest newspapers mark a clear break with Republican tradition, writes Eric Boehlert. (From salon.com.)
[Via Guardian Unlimited]
'That confrontation, and the Bush campaign's harsh accusation that respected journalist Suskind and the editors of the Times are liars, come on the heels of a series of denigrations by the White House: the Times reporter was recently banned from Cheney's campaign plane; and in his acceptance speech before the Republican Convention Bush mocked the paper by distorting, out of context, one of its columnist's writings of almost 60 years ago.'

Another example of the extreme arrogance of an out of control administration for whom the truth means nothing.

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Warning that the burgeoning internet pharmacy trade threatens Canada's supply of medications, a group called the Best Medicines Coalition appealed to the federal government on Monday to stop it. FULL STORY
[Via CBC News]

.< 2:38:58 AM >
Official: Border Terror Fears Overblown (AP)

AP - The new head of Mexico's federal police force said Monday he doesn't see the U.S.-Mexico border as a terror target and that while terrorists may try to use this country to sneak into America, there's no evidence they have yet done so.
[Via Yahoo! News - World]

.< 2:36:13 AM >
Online Travel: The Race Is On!

Booking trips on the Web will only get easier, thanks to the ambitions of two business titans
[Via TIME's Top Stories]

.< 2:28:51 AM >
Metacorder turns 'Book into field audio recorder

Audio production software developer Gallery UK said on Monday that its latest application, Metacorder 1.0, is now available. Metacorder allows users to connect existing Core Audio hardware and connect it to a PowerBook or iBook to create a fully functional audio recorder for deployment in the field. The software features a 1- to 30-second pre-record buffer, the ability to write a recording to two drives simultaneously, the option to automatically copy files onto optical media as soon as the recording stops and more.
[Via MacCentral]

.< 2:22:10 AM >
Sense & Sensors in Digital Photography

In sum, with the range of sensors used in cameras today, there is no point to worrying about a few megapixels more or less. Shrinking cells to fit more of them in the sensor can lose more information than it gains. The size of the cells is likely to be more important than their number. For the same money, I would rather buy a larger sensor with fewer pixels than a smaller sensor with more pixels. If nothing else, the larger sensor is likely to be sharper because it will be less sensitive to movement of the camera.
[Via TidBITS]

Lots of myth debunking here. Good reference.

< 2:08:11 AM >

The 34-year-old slight, wiry man, who shivered for warmth in his red athletic suit, said he could have done even better if it had not been so windy.

"It was a very up-and-down course and it was far too cold," Mr. Franco said through a friend, who translated his comments into English.

.< 1:09:22 AM >
25 Tutorials Offered At 117th AES Convention

The diverse series of programs coordinated by 117th AES Convention Tutorial Chair Bob Moses epitomizes the broad sphere of interests held by the organization’s 12,000 + members. Among the twenty-five sessions are subjects geared to appeal to virtually every branch of the industry. ...Read More »
[Via Digital Pro Sound News]

.< 1:07:28 AM >
Quebecers kind of sluggish, says survey

Quebecers sleep more, work less, also watch more TV and exercise less than other Canadians. Nous les Bougons?
[Via montreal city weblog]



  Monday, 18 October 2004

.< 2:44:17 PM >
Last 100 Podcasts

Dave just completed an important piece to our iPodder infrastructure. audio.weblogs.com now represents the last 100 podcasts available. The list updates when a fresh podcast is found in the directory or if it receives a ping.
[Via Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]

.< 2:41:48 PM >
Special Apple music event planned for Oct. 26

Select members of the press on Monday received an invitation to to a special Apple event taking place at the California Theatre in San Jose, Calif. The theme of the event would appear to be musically-related and is capitalizing on Apple's recently unveiled iPod and iTunes Music Store promotion with legendary rock band U2, judging from the invitation received by MacCentral. "Steve Jobs, Bono and The Edge invite you to attend a special event," reads the top of the invitation. The invitation-only event is scheduled to take place at 10AM Pacific Time on October 26, 2004.
[Via MacCentral]

.< 8:40:02 AM >
Mac Takes Honors as Best Unix Desktop
Somewhere along the line, we over in the Linux/Unix/AIX/Solaris world seem to have forgotten that Macs are now Unix workstations.

Under every bright, shiny Mac desktop beats a Unix heart named Darwin. Darwin, in turn, is built on top of Mach 3.0 operating-system services, which run on top of the 4.4 BSD Unix operating system.

KDE and GNOME have both gotten much better, but let's get real. They're not even in the same ballpark.

.< 12:55:01 AM >
Tips a-Plenty on Podcasting!

I've just posted about 30 essays that will hopefully help podcasters -- all on the topic of broadcasting for beginners... from microphones to how to interview people. You can find them at http://radio.blogware.com/blog/Podcasting101

[Via I Love Radio .org]

.< 12:52:46 AM >
US Commander in Iraq Complained of Shortages -Report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The former top U.S. commander in Iraq complained last winter to the Pentagon that a poor supply situation was threatening the Army's ability to fight, The Washington Post reported on its Web site on Sunday.
[Via Reuters: World]

.< 12:51:56 AM >
Thousands of Anti-War Protesters March in London

LONDON (Reuters) - Thousands of anti-war campaigners took to the streets of London Sunday calling for an end to the "illegal occupation" of Iraq by U.S-led coalition troops.
[Via Reuters: World]

.< 12:47:27 AM >
Blast in Mexico Subway Station Kills One (AP)

AP - A gas leak triggered an explosion in the control room of a subway station in the northern city of Monterrey, killing one person and injuring 13 others, authorities said Sunday.
[Via Yahoo! News - World]

.< 12:31:30 AM >
UN Urged to Ignore Bush Plea for Human Cloning Ban (Reuters)

Reuters - Britain's national academy of science urged the United Nations on Monday to ignore a call by President Bush to ban all forms of human cloning.
[Via Yahoo! News - World]

.< 12:26:52 AM >
Ex-Guantánamo workers claim abuse was widespread

New report says abusive treatment of inmates at Guantánamo Bay is far more widespread than the Pentagon has admitted.
[Via Guardian Unlimited World Latest]

'One "regular procedure" was making prisoners strip to their underwear, sit on a chair while their hands and feet were shackled to a bolt on the ground, while they were subjected to strobe lights, loud music (reportedly by Limp Bizkit, Rage Against The Machine and Eminem) and cold. Such sessions could go on for up to 14 hours, with a few breaks.

"It fried them," one official was quoted as saying. Another said: "They were very wobbly. They came back to their cells and were completely out of it."'

These people are being held illegally and have yet to divulge any useful information because they are innocent or so far down the foodchain that they have nothing to offer.

< 12:10:35 AM >

< 11:39:33 PM >

I'm beginning to resent Moore.

< 11:28:30 PM >

Watching this now. This quote is from a page on the site of the company which made the film. You can watch a trailer for the film at this site. This is devestating stuff.

< 2:28:03 PM >

"We cannot simply suspend or restrict civil liberties until the War of Terror is over, because the War on Terror is unlikely ever to be truly over," Judge Gerald Tjoflat wrote for the three-member court. "September 11, 2001, already a day of immeasurable tragedy, cannot be the day liberty perished in this country."

Link

(Thanks, Light!)
[Via Boing Boing]

The US is finally waking up from it's deep sleep.

< 4:01:44 AM >

Unofficial results show that 55 per cent voted against Sunday shopping while 45 percent were in favour.

.< 3:14:07 AM >
Canada shuts out vaccine seekers

In a televised U.S. presidential debate on Wednesday, George W. Bush suggested that a Vancouver-based flu vaccine manufacturer, ID Biomedical, might assist with the U.S. shortage. U.S. Secretary of Health Tommy Thompson quickly played down the idea, saying that a manufacturer without a licence in the United States probably would not be allowed to ship its stockpiles south. [snip] "We don't normally get calls like this," Ms. Binette said. "We just say, look, the vaccine is for our citizens. I'm sorry."
[Via GAM-National]

Speak to your incompetent president.

< 2:33:35 AM >

Right on. The New York Times endorses Kerry. Let's get this mess over with an move back into the real world, one where extremists don't run the planet.

< 1:26:48 AM >

I recommend it.



  Saturday, 16 October 2004

.< 11:29:54 PM >
The Guardian | The making of the terror myth
Since September 11 Britain has been warned of the 'inevitability' of catastrophic terrorist attack. But has the danger been exaggerated? A major new TV documentary claims that the perceived threat is a politically driven fantasy - and al-Qaida a dark illusion.

.< 11:28:00 PM >
Foreign Policy In Focus Policy Report: A Failed
A Failed 'Transition' is the most comprehensive accounting of the mounting costs of the Iraq war on the United States, Iraq, and the world. Among its major findings are stark figures about the escalation of costs in these most recent three months of "transition" to Iraqi rule, a period that the Bush administration claimed would be characterized by falling human and economic costs.

.< 11:26:26 PM >
Calendar of 1,125 US Military Dead in Iraqi War

October 16, 2004
[Via Cryptome]

.< 10:27:08 PM >
High-stakes banking in Mexico - Scotiabank is pursuing the country's young and affluent
But it's Mexican demographics that really make bankers giddy. The median age of the country's 104-million people is just 24; some 60 per cent of the population is under 30. Young people, as everyone knows, like to consume [~] toasters, then cars, then homes, as Scotiabank chief executive officer Rick Waugh is fond of repeating. And consumption requires banking services and credit. Moreover, Mexico is chronically "under-banked," which means that millions of Mexicans don't have credit cards or even bank accounts.

But while the numbers are big, they may not be as big as they seem. Inverlat is focused on more upscale, middle-class customers, a group representing only about 25-million people. And the reason so few Mexicans put money in banks, aside from a residual distrust of the banking system, is that many have no money to put in them.

The minimum wage is roughly $120 (U.S.) a month, and 10 per cent of the population lives on less than $1 day, according to the World Bank. The looming question, then, is whether the benefits of Mexico's economic resurgence will accrue mainly to the privileged, or also to young people struggling to rise out of poverty and into the mainstream. On that unknown rests Scotiabank's billion-dollar gamble.

.< 9:40:10 PM >
The Weather Network - Fall Colour - Ontario
The Fall Colour Progression report is produced each Monday and Thursday during the beautiful fall colour season in the province of Ontario.

This is the report for Thursday, October 14, 2004

Cool! I was hoping we'd have colour into November so that mi Luz could take it in.

< 6:14:14 PM >

< 5:51:08 PM >

< 3:48:58 AM >

< 3:41:59 AM >

There's no such thing as a free lunch. And soon, there may be no such thing as an ad-free RSS feed, either, as publishers add advertisements to their feeds in hopes of making money through the popular content-aggregating technology. By Cyrus Farivar.

[Via Wired News]

.< 3:22:31 AM >
Bittorrent Firewall Port Forwarding for Apple Airport Extreme
The fastest possible Bittorrent speeds are obtained when NO users are firewalled. Conversely, if EVERY Bittorrent user were firewalled, downloads for everyone would slow to a crawl and Bittorrent would be pointless. Today, we are somewhere in between.

I'll probably need to refer to this soon. Getting ready to check out Bittorrent now that I have a bit of disc space.

< 2:34:27 AM >

[Via Scott Young's Radio Weblog]

Coincidentally I needed to do a clean install of Radio today on my new laptop and was surprised to see 8.1 available. There was no mention on the discussion site at that point and in fact half of the download page referred to it as 8.0.8 and half as 8.1.

< 2:31:04 AM >

"Xeni Jardin: BoingBoing reader bryan says, "Jon Stewart blasted the hosts on CNN's Crossfire for hurting the democratic process instead of helping. He also calls Tucker Carlson a dick. Bittorrent: Link, and transcript here.

BoingBoing reader Hal points us to Salon's coverage (Link), and describes the interview/buttkicking alternately: "Tucker Carlson gets his ass handed to him on a platter -- without falafel to sweeten the taste."

Here's an alternate BitTorrent link: Link. (Thanks, yatta)"

[Via Boing Boing]

Stewart was genuinely pissed. This is not the sort of thing you usually see on television. I'm impressed.

< 12:17:44 AM >

(Via Guardian Unlimited.)

< 6:40:13 PM >

(Via Guardian Unlimited.)

< 6:38:53 PM >

Harper floats proposal to make Canadian federation more like Belgium's (Canadian Press): "Canadian Press - QUEBEC (CP) - Conservative Leader Stephen Harper is proposing to make Canada more like Belgium, saying he would like to split some federal authority between Canada's two main language groups."

(Via Yahoo! News - World.)

< 6:37:35 PM >

A Look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq (AP): "AP - As of Friday, Oct. 15, 2004, 1,086 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to the Defense Department. Of those, 830 died as a result of hostile action and 256 died of non-hostile causes. The figures include three military civilians."

(Via Yahoo! News - World.)

< 6:36:25 PM >

'70,000 Darfur dead' since March: "About 70,000 people are thought to have died since March in Sudan's conflict-torn Darfur region, the UN says."

(Via BBC News | World | UK Edition.)

US too busy looking for WMD where there are none. How many people did Saddam kill in 6 months? Too bad the US has no oil interests in the Sudan.

< 6:32:57 PM >

.Mac members get 300 GarageBand loops: "Apple announced on Thursday that .Mac subscribers can check the Members Only folder inside their iDisk's Software folder and download a sampling of 300 loops from the three GarageBand Jam Packs currently available.

(Via MacCentral.)

< 6:32:07 PM >

Aireo 2 combines Wi-Fi, MP3, FM transmitter: "SoniqCast's Aireo 2 is a 20GB MP3 player that, on outward appearances, looks indistinguishable from a number of iPod clones that have flooded the market in recent months. But Aireo 2 sets itself apart by combining portable music storage and playback with 802.11b-based wireless networking as well. Users can download music over the Wi-Fi connection and access audio content including news, weather, finance and sports through content service providers. A hot spot locator lets users find Wi-Fi connections as they move. And a full-band FM transmitter lets users play their Aireo 2 songs from their car stereo."

(Via MacCentral.)

< 1:49:54 PM >

William Gibson reblogging: "Cory Doctorow: William Gibson is blogging again:

Because the United States currently has, as Jack Womack so succintly puts it, a president who makes Richard Nixon look like Abraham Lincoln.

And because, as the Spanish philospher Unamuno said, "At times, to be silent is to lie."

Link

(Thanks, Dan!)"

(Via Boing Boing.)

< 1:49:24 PM >

ipodder inside: "Wow, this puppy is a podcatchers dream! Needs ipodder inside."

(Via Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog.)

MiniDisc replacement?

< 1:48:38 PM >

Install and use Apple's free dual-screen VNC server: "Apple has recently released their Remote Desktop Client 2.1 as a free download. You can install this without buying Apple Remote Desktop 2.1, as the client is bundled free in all copies of Panther. The surprise here is that t..."

(Via macosxhints.)

< 1:48:20 PM >

(Via macosxhints.)

< 1:18:43 PM >

Mac OS X: Best Unix Desktop: "Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols writes for eWeek, “GNOME is nice, KDE is fine and the forthcoming Looking Glass may be wonderful, but the best Unix desktop is the one in the Macintosh.” [Oct 14]"

(Via Apple Hot News.)

< 12:38:57 PM >

< 12:35:43 PM >

If you want use the new .mac email aliases feature in Apple's Mail, here is an easy way to do it:Delete your current .mac account from the Preferences Pane. Recreate the account, but choose IMAP instead of .Mac for the accoun... [macosxhints]

< 12:35:14 PM >

Yamaha 01X
Digidesign Digi 002
Tascam FW-1884 [MacCentral]

< 12:25:28 PM >

Ten or more years of mobile phone use can dramatically increase the risk of developing a benign tumor on the auditory nerve, according to a study conducted by the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. [MacCentral]

The auditory nerve. Benign.

< 12:22:03 PM >

Summary: Bing! Bing! Bing! Bing! Bing! [Scripting News] Dave digs the new Google Desktop. I dig the idea, but it won't run on my Mac.

< 1:26:09 AM >

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - More than 250 world figures -- but not the Bush administration -- have urged the United Nations to promote a population agenda that seeks women's education, health care and family planning. [Reuters: World] 'The United States refused to support a statement from presidents, prime ministers and Nobel Prize winners, released on Wednesday, because it included the concept of "sexual rights," which had no "agreed definition," a State Department letter said.'

What a bunch of backwards creatures. God help us.

< 1:20:37 AM >

Saudis have expressed anger at the U.S. for its invasion of Iraq, which they say touched off terror attacks inside the kingdom. [New York Times: International] 'Seventeen months into a shadowy terror campaign that has killed more than 100 people, numerous Saudis express less anger at the insurgents than at the United States for its invasion of Iraq, the signal event that they say touched off the attacks inside the kingdom.

In interviews over the last week, the Saudis condemned the terror attacks, aimed primarily at foreigners, but called them a small inconvenience that has not forced them to make significant changes in their daily lives. By contrast, they expressed unremitting disdain for the United States.'

< 1:17:36 AM >

Canadian Press - TORONTO (CP) - More than two dozen U.S. seniors and patients rolled into Toronto Wednesday night aboard the "Rx Express," a chartered train on a whistle-stop tour to buy lower-cost Canadian prescription drugs. [Yahoo! News - World]

< 1:17:04 AM >

AP - Leftist Zapatista rebels announced Wednesday they will voluntarily withdraw seven squatter settlements from an endangered jungle nature reserve, a move that may mark the end a decade-long standoff with authorities. [Yahoo! News - World]

< 1:14:04 AM >

AP - As of Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2004, 1,081 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to the Defense Department. Of those, 825 died as a result of hostile action and 256 died of non-hostile causes. The figures include three military civilians. [Yahoo! News - World]

< 12:29:58 AM >

Online Journalism Review: "...Convergence, ubiquity and connectivity are going to change society as we know it. Podcasting is only at the very tip of this." [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]

< 12:16:59 AM >

Dave Winer posts: "Seriously, if you vote for Bush and he wins, we're going to blame you for what happens in the next four years." That sounds like a seriously flawed perspective in any democracy. This shouldn't be an "us against them" discussion. Regardless of who wins the election, we are all still citizens of the USA living under, and supporting (I hope) a common belief in our constitution. Differences are going to exist. Differences in interpretation of the constitution, differences in our beliefs about what is wrong in our country and the world, differences in whom we think can best lead our country. That is OK. Hey, it sure beats a one party system. Let us talk like reasonable men and women and put ridicule behind us. Let us agree to reasonably disagree without smirking, winking, and suggesting the opposition might have less brainpower than we do. [On The Mark]

Ooph. 1+3=zebra.

< 12:05:51 AM >

Xeni Jardin: Smoking Gun says:

Hours after Bill O'Reilly accused her of a multimillion dollar shakedown attempt, a female Fox News producer fired back at the TV star today, filing a lawsuit claiming that he subjected her to repeated instances of sexual harassment and spoke often, and explicitly, to her about phone sex, vibrators, threesomes, masturbation, the loss of his virginity, and sexual fantasies. Below you'll find a copy of Andrea Mackris's complaint, an incredible page-turner that quotes O'Reilly, 55, on all sorts of lewd matters. Based on the extensive quotations cited in the complaint, it appears a safe bet that Mackris, 33, recorded some of O'Reilly's more steamy soliloquies. For example, we direct you to his Caribbean shower fantasies. While we suggest reading the entire document, TSG will point you to interesting sections on a Thailand sex show, Al Franken, and the climax of one August 2004 phone conversation. (22 pages)

I hope this brings the freak down.

< 11:55:47 PM >

The recent release of U2's Vertigo video/iPod ad has got some people wondering how to download it and save it. Try Josh Rafofsky's Save Current Music Video AppleScript. Just wait for the movie to completely download, fire the script, and you got it. [Doug's AppleScripts for iTunes]

Nice. Was wanting to do this last night.

< 11:55:07 PM >

Release Date: October 12, 2004
Total Songs: 12
Genre: Classical
Price: $109.89
Copyright 2004 DG [iTunes 10 New Releases]

Impressive, I guess. But I'm trying to imagine spending US $110 on compressed, downloaded music files. That's a lot of downloading! You can sample 30 seconds of each of the 95 tracks. Too bad the piano concerto features 30 seconds of the orchestra playing the theme . . . with no Richter to be heard!

< 10:56:55 PM >

On Wednesday, Apple not only reached a major milestone with its highest fourth quarter earnings in nine years, according to CEO Steve Jobs, but it also shattered its previous record with more than 2 million iPods shipped during the fourth quarter of its 2004 fiscal year -- an incredible 500 percent increase over the fourth quarter of 2003 and 134 percent more than the previous quarter. That number not only helped the company reach a commanding 92.1 percent share of the market for hard drive-based MP3 players, according to a recent report released by The NPD Group, but it also brought in $537 million in revenue -- more than any other product segment during the quarter and almost 23 percent of the $2.35 billion revenue Apple reported. iPod revenue was up 344 percent and 116 percent year-over-year and sequentially, respectively. [MacCentral]

iPod. Number 1 with a bullet.

< 10:53:09 PM >

Wouldn't it be nice if you could use a consumer-level Mac with an external monitor...in extended desktop mode? [Editors' Notes Weblog]

A software hack makes it possible.

< 7:00:06 PM >

Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday reported a $106 million profit or $.26 per diluted share for the company's fiscal fourth quarter. Revenue for the quarter was $2.35 billion, up 37 percent from the year-ago quarter led by the shipment of over 2 million iPods. [MacCentral]

< 6:59:28 PM >

Engadget: 92% of new hard drive-based MP3 players sold are iPods. [Scripting News]

Wow

< 6:58:56 PM >

Operation Truth is a "nonprofit, non-partisan organization whose goal is simple and straightforward: to support our troops and spread the truth about what conditions are like in Afghanistan and Iraq." [Scripting News]

< 6:58:25 PM >

The Public Radio Exchange is experimenting with podcasts. [Scripting News]

'This is all still pretty new, and still pretty much Mac-based. Watch this space for updates; we're learning too.'

Cool

< 1:04:06 PM >

< 12:56:21 PM >

Ann Petigrew: "Secretary Rumsfeld and President Bush, you are responsible for the inaccurate intelligence assessments, inadequate troop strength, Iraqi prisoner abuses, inadequate logistical support for U.S. forces, and fraudulent contracting billing for the Iraq reconstruction." [Scripting News]

< 12:50:07 PM >

I have searched a long time for a way to send long SMS (more than a 160 characters) from the Address Book and my SonyEricsson T68. This is something that should have been possible from start in Address Book, I believe. There ... [macosxhints]

< 12:49:35 PM >

I opened a PDF form with GraphicConverter and found that by using the text tool, I could fill in the blank form spaces as needed. On a multi-page PDF file, only the page actually open would be saved.

After filling in and sav... [macosxhints]

< 12:48:37 PM >

The iTunes Encoders 1.1 includes two script-applications. These two programs help you to convert Audio-files or Audio-CDs more simply with iTunes.

With the included program "iTunes Playlist Encoder 1.1", are you able to convert the selected Audio-files in the opened iTunes-playlist. You only have to select your files and to start the script. It will coonvert your files with the active encoder in iTunes.

The "iTunes Drag&Drop Encoder 1.1" works like that: You have to drag and drop one or more files from an Audio-CD or your hard-disc on the application. The "iTunes Drag&Drop Encoder 1.1" will convert the draged files with the active encoder in iTunes.

Try it! [scriptbuilders @ macscripter.net]

< 12:45:32 PM >

First introduced in September, Adobe Systems Inc. on Wednesday announced that Photoshop Elements 3.0 is now shipping. The update adds several new features and enhancements that allow the amateur and pro alike to edit photos with a few mouse clicks. [MacCentral]

< 12:55:11 AM >

As Apple's iPod moves fast into the mainstream, many users shun the telltale white earbuds. Behold the closet iPod lover, some of whom are not too keen on the growing hordes of plebes with new iPods. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News] "The phenomenon in question is 'desired marginality,'" he said. O'Guinn said for some Mac users, for example, Apple's marginal status and low market share is a "source of pride." And as the iPod goes mainstream, some early adopters are affronted by its lack of exclusivity.

< 12:49:29 AM >

Cheaper than 411. So who cuts the cake? [The Register]

< 12:42:21 AM >

RSS is one of the hottest technologies on the Web today. Most blogging and content management systems have RSS file creation capability built in, but if you're not using one of those programs, it can be a bit tedious. Enter the ListGarden RSS Feed Generator. By Lee Underwood. 1012 [WebReference News]

< 12:40:04 AM >

AP - Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Tuesday said British spy masters have formally withdrawn the intelligence that Iraqi troops could deploy some chemical and biological weapons on 45 minutes notice, information used as a rationale for joining the U.S.-led war in Iraq. [Yahoo! News - World]

Lies.

< 12:37:32 AM >

Comparing the Administration's war rationale to the facts on the ground [TIME's Top World Stories]

Myth? It was all lies. Lies!

< 12:30:57 AM >

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez celebrated Columbus Day on Tuesday by toppling a statue in Caracas of the explorer whom Chavez blames for ushering in a "genocide" of native Indians. [Reuters: World]

< 12:30:13 AM >

Comment: It is extremely dangerous for humanity that the US president publicly says that he acts on behalf of God, writes Aleida Guevara. [Guardian Unlimited World Latest] 'I also refer to the very wise Asian culture that is part and parcel of our own culture. I feel able to do this because I was educated to respect and accept other cultures even if I do not understand them in their totality. Since I was young, I have understood how right Benito Juárez, the outstanding Mexican patriot, was when he said: "Respecting others' rights is the way to peace."'

< 12:25:26 AM >

The federal Liberals are on the verge of announcing a huge budget surplus of more than $8 billion, federal government sources told CBC News Tuesday night. FULL STORY [CBC News]

This is getting silly. Can't those guys count?

< 12:24:17 AM >

Britain leads the world in delayed action in bed. [Guardian Unlimited World Latest] 'Women are keener on porn than men, and are more likely to reach for the blindfolds and cuffs.'

< 12:17:14 AM >

What you can do to beat Bush - with a little help from the folks in Ohio. [Guardian Unlimited] 'The result of the US election will affect the lives of millions around the world but those of us outside the 50 states have had no say in it - until now. In a unique experiment, G2 has assembled a democratic toolkit to enable people from Basildon to Botswana to campaign in the presidential race. And with a little help from the folks in Clark County, Ohio, you might help decide who takes up residence in the White House next month. Oliver Burkeman explains how'

< 12:13:20 AM >

Consortium plans to cash in as Baker asks countries to end £200bn burden. [Guardian Unlimited] 'President Bush's special envoy, James Baker, who has been trying to persuade the world to forgive Iraq's crushing debts, is simultaneously working for a commercial concern that is trying to recover money from Iraq, according to confidential documents.

[snip]

One international lawyer described the consortium's scheme as "influence peddling of the crassest kind".'

< 12:07:24 AM >

The US is to urge Nato to take overall responsibility for peacekeeping and reconstruction in Afghanistan. [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

You can clean up after the disaster of your own making. We told you so!

< 11:50:48 PM >

It's because when you buy our products, and three months later you get stuck on something, you quickly figure out [how to get past it]. And you think, "Wow, someone over there at Apple actually thought of this!" And then three months later you try to do something you hadn't tried before, and it works, and you think "Hey, they thought of that, too." And then six months later it happens again. There's almost no product in the world that you have that experience with, but you have it with a Mac. And you have it with an iPod.

Steve Jobs interview in Business Week.

< 11:37:03 PM >

Microsoft Corp.'s Virtual PC software has been lauded by critics as a convenient way for Mac users to run Windows applications on their Macs, but what if you need to do the opposite? Maui, Hawaii-based MXS announced Tuesday the release of Cherry OS, an emulator that does the exact opposite -- its developer says Cherry OS lets PCs run Mac OS X instead. [MacCentral]

< 11:22:19 PM >

San Jose, Calif.-based Miraizon has updated Cinematize, its tool for extracting audio and video from a DVD. With the release of version 2.0, users can now select video clips as short as a single frame, decode video to any QuickTime-supported codec, save multiple clips in a single file and control such output options as frame rate and decoding mode. In addition, Cinematize 2 automatically synchronizes audio and video as it captures a clip and features performance enhancements for Macs with G4 or G5 processors. [MacCentral]

< 11:14:46 PM >

Sometimes one access point just isn't enough for our wireless networks, even at home. Wei Meng Lee shows you how to extend your network with AirPort Express, and explains what's going on under the hood. [Meerkat: An Open Wire Service: MacDevCenter.com]

< 11:09:05 PM >

Universal Music continues to be a major player in the Super Audio CD market, announcing today that it plans to issue 100 to 150 new SACD titles in 2005. It also announced that has added Super Audio CD releases to its DVD team's ...[DVD-Audio and SACD News]

< 11:05:52 PM >

Though he's now officially an American citizen, actor Jim Carrey is insisting he is not renouncing his Canadian roots. FULL STORY [CBC Arts News]

In time to vote.

< 5:15:01 PM >

Radio is getting more improvements: comment and trackback moderation, upstreaming changes and comment count speed increases.

< 12:46:39 PM >

Apple has stepped up its marketing campaign for the dimunitive iPod MP3 player by featuring lendendary rockers U2 in the latest "silhouette" ad. Apple's popular silhouette ads usually feature music from up-and-coming bands like Jet playing as a someone dances on a multi-colored background. [MacCentral]

< 12:38:18 PM >

No longer is the Bush campaign happy to use 'angry' as a term of abuse, writes Markos Moulitsas. [Guardian Unlimited] 'Entire media networks, such as Fox News and Sinclair Broadcasting, prop up Bush in a way that would make their fellow propagandists in North Korea and Cuba proud. [snip] Given the force of Republican efforts to deify Bush, his debate performances came as a big shock to many Americans. They showed a Bush quick to anger, indecisiveness, pettiness and petulance. The sheltered Bush was clearly unprepared for the debate and unprepared to face criticism. In fact, it seemed to take him by surprise. No one seemed to have told him he had critics. [snip] Bush acted like the proverbial ugly American trying to be understood in a foreign land, cranking up the volume and shrillness to make his points while Kerry sat by serenely. The contrast was impossible to miss as Bush became increasingly unhinged. Even on the road, Bush's desperation is palpable as the rhetoric soars to angrier heights.'

< 12:32:41 PM >

Politics: Foreign secretary reveals that intelligence services have withdrawn the controversial WMD claim. [Guardian Unlimited]

< 12:31:09 PM >

At least 11 al-Qaida suspects have "disappeared" in US custody, according to a Human Rights Watch report. [Guardian Unlimited World Latest] "Those guilty of serious crimes must be brought to justice before fair trials," said Reed Brody, special counsel with Human Rights Watch. "If the United States embraces the torture and 'disappearance' of its opponents, it abandons its ideals and international obligations and becomes a lesser nation."

That time has long passed. This is just another illustration.

< 12:26:57 PM >

Prime Minister Paul Martin and Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged Tuesday that they would co-operate further to fight terrorism while respecting human rights.

FULL STORY [CBC News]

Martin should try taking this line to Washington.

< 12:23:11 PM >

Because there is no 'freedom of the press' in the US

< 12:18:29 PM >

On the plane last night I lucked out and got the middle seat between a couple from Canada, and they wanted to sit together, so I got the aisle seat and this morning my back feels just fine.

We talked about US politics and eventually it turned to Bush-bashing, and they wondered if there were any Republicans on the plane because we were talking really loud.

A white-haired woman in the seat in front turned around and passed back a political cartoon which seemed to say Bush was the right choice. I said I don't understand, does this mean you're voting for Bush? She just wanted us to know there are "other points of view." I handed it back and said I know, half the people are voting for Bush. Then I turned to my Canadian friends and said "But I have no respect for them."

Seriously, if you vote for Bush and he wins, we're going to blame you for what happens in the next four years.

< 12:15:18 PM >

Royal Concertgebouw launches own label
Dutch orchestra follows LSO Live blueprint
[Gramophone - News]

< 1:51:23 AM >

The Israeli army has begun investigating the death of a 13-year-old Palestinian girl said to have been shot dead by soldiers then riddled with bullets by their commander. [Guardian Unlimited World Latest]

< 1:50:40 AM >

French government has legalised the use of mobile phone jamming devices in cinemas, theatres and concert halls. [Guardian Unlimited World Latest]

A fine idea.

< 1:49:06 AM >

Film to be shown before election that portrays Democratic candidate as betraying fellow soldiers in Vietnam. [Guardian Unlimited]

Sinclair is a huge supporter of Bush. This company refused to air Ted Koppel reading the names of the war dead from Iraq. They are interrupting prime time programming to air this smear and are pretending that it is a news story. The concept of democracy in the US has become a joke.

< 1:43:43 AM >

A human rights group accuses the US of holding al-Qaeda suspects at secret locations in violation of legal norms. [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

< 10:42:44 PM >

Mindful of the spin game, the President angles for a favorable comparison with himself [TIME's Top Stories] 'In this uneven fight, second-debate Bush defeated first-debate Bush. This, of course, is the way Bush and his handlers want the media to spin this debate—"Bush improved, therefore Bush won" —since, after all, it was a fight the President was bound to win. All he had to do was avoid kicking over his stool, shouting "No fair!" and storming off stage.'

< 10:39:45 PM >

Anita Hill argues that the language candidates use to reach Security Moms often ailienates them instead [TIME's Top Stories]

< 10:38:46 PM >

Republican and Democratic strategists look to the third and last TV debate to score a convincing victory. [Guardian Unlimited World Latest]

< 10:35:31 PM >

UK: Canada's defence minister said today he could not rule out suing UK government as inquiry began into the fire that crippled HMCS Chicoutimi and claimed life of one its crew. [Guardian Unlimited]

< 10:31:48 PM >

The commander of HMCS Chicoutimi gave the first eyewitness account Monday of a fire that broke out aboard the sub and chaos that followed, including the rescue of Lieut. Chris Saunders, who later died. FULL STORY [CBC News]

< 10:17:18 PM >

Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod was already the most popular digital music player on the market, but the device's share of the U.S. retail market for digital music players has grown considerably over the past twelve months, according to data collected by market research firm NPD Group Inc. NPD's research is mentioned in a recent Bloomberg.com report that discusses Apple's success with the iPod and how it has affected Apple's stock performance. [MacCentral]

< 4:05:29 PM >

iPodder reached a milestone today with the launch of Public Radio's first Podcast.

Only three short weeks ago, when we were just starting out, public radio veteran Tony Kahn sent me an email about a short feature he directs and produces for WBGH in Boston called Morning Stories. The idea, basically, is to find people who've never worked on radio before and get them to talk about something that happened to them, funny or sad, that anyone can connect to. It's obvious why Tony connected to podcasting.

Although I don't have the details, Tony went to bat with the 'powers that be' within NPR to create a podcast feed of his program. He describes them as "Short, five minute personal stories to freshen up your morning pod-fast."

Thanks to Tony's pioneering work and technical assistance from Rick Wezowicz, I predict it will only a matter of weeks before we see a cavalcade of NPR programming available as podcasts.

Subscribe to Morning Stories here

< 4:02:44 PM >

Xeni Jardin:

On his weblog today, NBC News combat correspondent Kevin Sites interviews Iraq Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

Link, and link to related discussion forum. [Boing Boing]

.< 4:01:18 PM >
America's largest broadcast group to air anti-Kerry primetime smear

Xeni Jardin: Your airwaves at work: Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns the largest chain of television stations in the USA, plans to broadcast a documentary accusing John Kerry of having betrayed American POWs in Vietnam.

According to WashingtonPost.com, Hunt Valley, Md.-based Sinclair has ordered its 62 stations, some of which are in the swing states of Ohio, Florida, Iowa and Wisconsin, to show "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" during prime-time hours next week. The Sinclair station group extends to 24 percent of U.S. television households.

Link, and more on why this is such a total douchebag stunt so unusual on Romanesko: Link (Thanks, Siege) [Boing Boing]

.< 3:45:45 PM >
SJ Mercury: New service to give...

SJ Mercury: New service to give remote access to digital media anywhere. In a move sure to raise the eyebrows of Hollywood and its partners, a California startup unveiled a new service Monday that allows subscribers to remotely access their digital media files -- even watch live television -- from any gadget with an Internet connection. [Tomalak's Realm]

.< 3:38:23 PM >
Use iMovie like a VCR with UI scripting

I have my cable TV running through an old VCR, which is connected to my Mac using my mini DV camera as a bridge. I wanted to record some of my favorite shows onto DVD without commercials. After trying GCam and QuickTime Broad... [macosxhints]

.< 3:37:48 PM >
DiskWarrior - A very useful disk repair tool

The macosxhints Rating:[Score: 10 out of 10] Developer: Alsoft / [Product Page] Price: $79.95

This Pick is long overdue; I've owned and used various versions of DiskWarrior for a number of years. It's one of those progr... [macosxhints]

.< 3:33:16 PM >
What R.A.D.I.O. Can Teach Podcasting

by Tod Maffin

Having already opined on what podcasting can teach radio, I thought it’s only fair to acknowledge that radio can play an instructive role in shaping the podcasting wave. Here are the five key areas I believe podcasters will need to focus on to be successful. [I Love Radio .org]

A must read for podcasters.

.< 3:29:58 PM >
117th AES Convention Offers Expansive Student Program

In keeping with it’s long-term commitment to supporting education, the Audio Engineering Society’s 117th Convention Student Program will offer a wealth of stimulating and informative events. Designed to inform and inspire the next generation of audio industry professionals, the panels, competitions and mentoring sessions will take place Oct. 28 - 31 in the Moscone Convention Center. ...Read More » [Digital Pro Sound News]

  Saturday, 9 October 2004

.< 8:57:32 PM >
WGBH using podcasts

In a sign of things to come, I suspect, radio station WGBH today became the first public radio station to distribute some of its content via podcast. Subscribe to their feed and get individual stories from their Morning Stories series. I particularly recommend the story about one man's dinner with Stephen Hawking [MP3 file here]. (hint: make sure you listen in stereo for a nice little surprise)
[I Love Radio .org]

.< 8:56:45 PM >
Historical Events Highlight 117th AES Convention

At AES a series of special presentations will provide looks into some of the history of the audio industry. Presentations will cover topics such as the birth of radio, vintage microphones, the origins of digital music, and more. ...Read More » [Digital Pro Sound News]

  Friday, 8 October 2004

.< 6:53:34 PM >
Build your own radio station

On October 28, dozens of radio stations will launch on 97.7 FM in Minneapolis. Yes, dozens. All using the same frequency. The Walker Art Center is giving workshops this month to people interested in building their own mini-transmitters out of supplied kits (and encased, oddly, in household objects). The transmitters are milliwatt, meaning they can only go a city block or so. And on October 28, about 30 people will broadcast from parked cars along Lake Street, a major thoroughfare in Minneapolis. If all goes as planned, drivers tuning their radios to 97.7 FM will be able to hear independent talk radio and music stations fading in and out as they travel along the 6-mile stretch of road. It's part of the Radio Re-Volt project and coincides with a community radio conference the following day.

Related: The Prometheus Radio Project
[I Love Radio .org]

.< 1:39:45 PM >
Satradio, podcasting, and digital radio

News.com has a good summary article online called Building a 21st Century Radio that covers all the emerging radio trends: satellite radio, new distribution models like podcasting and AudioFeast, and the state of digital radio. Worth a read if you want to glimpse into the future of radio.
[I Love Radio .org]

.< 1:31:36 PM >
PreFab UI Browser 1.3

PreFab Software: PreFab UI Browser helps you “explore, control and monitor the user interface of most Mac OS X applications. It lets you navigate the user interface hierarchy then generate useful AppleScript statements with a single click.” [Ranchero.com]

.< 1:29:29 PM >
How to move Radio to another computer

Sometimes, when you are having difficulty with Radio, you need to resort to a fresh install. Or, you may have purchased a new computer and want to move Radio over. How to move Radio to another computer steps you through the process so you have a positive experience.

[Donovan Watts: Radio: The Missing Manual]

Flagging this again as I will soon (next week?) be moving to a new machine.

.< 1:20:42 PM >
Indie label rejects DRM

Cory Doctorow: David sez, "A European indie music label [!K7] is taking an unusual approach to the issue of CD copy protection - it is branding all its releases with a sticker proclaiming the absence of any such control measure.... 'Copy protection kills customer relationships,' the label says on its website. 'That's why, from now on, !K7 releases will carry a new logo: 'NO copy protection - respect the music.'... The company believes it's all a matter of trust. 'Only those to whom respect is given show respect themselves,' it notes. In other words, treat your customers as potential pirates and they'll soon tell you to f**k off and not buy your product.'"

Link

(Thanks, David!) [Boing Boing]

.< 1:18:11 PM >
Engadget : "Besides playing MP3s, Auvi's new...

Engadget: "Besides playing MP3s, Auvi's new 256MB USB-style flash memory has an FM tuner, a built-in voice recorder, and can record MP3s from radio broadcasts." [Scripting News]

.< 1:10:49 PM >
Loonie hits 80 cents US

The Canadian dollar broke through the 80-cent US level on Friday for the first time in more than 11 years, fuelled by solid job creation numbers in Canada and weaker numbers in the United States. FULL STORY [CBC News]

.< 1:09:24 PM >
Hostage Bigley murdered in Iraq

Hostage Kenneth Bigley's brother confirms he is killed in Iraq a video claiming to show his death is released. [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

.< 12:32:07 PM >
Deal means Liberal minority survives, for now

A last-minute deal has ended speculation that the new Liberal government might fall. FULL STORY [CBC News]

.< 12:30:17 PM >
Poor jobs data a blow for Bush

Business: The US government has released worse-than-expected unemployment figures, piling pressure on George Bush ahead of tonight's presidential debate. [Guardian Unlimited]

Perfect

.< 11:08:15 AM >
2004 Gramophone Awards announced October...

2004 Gramophone Awards announced
Classical music’s top honours presented at central London ceremony