04/07

On-page link, opens in this window 04/07/25 Links, novel progress #36
On-page link, opens in this window 04/07/11 Current events, links, novel progress #35
On-page link, opens in this window 04/07/04 Current events, links, novel progress #34

04/07/25

My apologies for the lack of webloggage last week, I've been busy. Here's an extra-large helping of links to make it up to you.

Links

News from Iraq. The daily attack, Saddam before the court, kidnapped soldiers, every new report covers up the previous one. The scandal about the torture prison Abu Ghraib, ah yes, there was something there. REPORT has remained on the topic and in the course of this has come upon a quite incredible suspicion. In Abu Ghraib and elsewhere, children and young people were being taken into custody and maltreated.
Off-site link, opens in new window Report Mainz: the fall from grace in Iraq, reports on maltreated children in the torture prison
Off-site link, opens in new window (Via This Modern World)
Off-site link, opens in new window (Via Metafilter)

How do we nurture the healing side of religion over the killing side? How do we protect the soul of democracy against bad theology in service of an imperial state?
Off-site link, opens in new window Sojourners: democracy in the balance (why Bill Moyers thinks our democracy is in peril)
Off-site link, opens in new window (Via Metafilter)

Not really recent anymore, but still relevant. The European Court of Justice has annulled a decision by EU finance ministers to suspend action against Germany and France over budget deficits. Giving its verdict on a case brought by the European Commission, the court said the ministers' decision was not compatible with EU law.
Off-site link, opens in new window BBC: court overturns finance ministers

These unexpected little treats charmed me on my first visit to India in January 2003. I was struck that such creativity and whimsy would be applied to the dull, if necessary, task of solid waste management.
Off-site link, opens in new window Pretty witty: the trash cans of India
Off-site link, opens in new window Sporkopolis: the trash cans of India (with less text and more photos)
Off-site link, opens in new window (Via Memepool)

When I first embarked on my quest for the lost nude "posture photos," I could not decide whether to think of the phenomenon as a scandal or as an extreme example of academic folly -- of what happens when well-intentioned institutions allow their reverence for the reigning conjectures of scientific orthodoxy to persuade them to do things that seem silly or scandalous in retrospect. And now that I've found them, I'm still not sure whether outrage or laughter is the more appropriate reaction.
Off-site link, opens in new window Collegiate: ivy league nude photos
Off-site link, opens in new window (Via Metafilter)

Computer networks across the University lie wide open to hackers, due to serious failings in IT security provision. An investigation by The Oxford Student has learnt that CCTV cameras, email passwords and MSN Messenger conversations can be compromised with ease by members of the University with only a modicum of technical knowledge, jeapardising the privacy and safety of students and dons alike.
Off-site link, opens in new window Oxford Student: university IT network wide open to hackers
Off-site link, opens in new window BBC: Oxford hackers face punishment
Off-site link, opens in new window Guardian: Oxford students in trouble over IT exposé
Off-site link, opens in new window (Via Slashdot)

Novel progress #36

One new episode in the past two weeks, 683 new words, 55,958 words total.
On-site link, opens in this window Introduction
On-site link, opens in this window Introduction and start of part 3
On-site link, opens in this window After the war (83)

04/07/11

Trustees of bankrupt network provider KPNQwest have accused its main owner Qwest of using the joint venture as a source of "revenue opportunities" to prop up its own results and shares, legal filings showed on Wednesday. In documents from a lawsuit against Qwest Communications and three former executives, the trustees say the Netherlands-based company played a starring role in an elaborate plan to boost revenue through network capacity swaps that in the end left KPNQwest broke and at creditors' mercy. The 125-page lawsuit filed in a U.S. District Court in New Jersey seeks as much as $3 billion in damages and provides one of the most complete pictures of the sudden collapse of KPNQwest, which had carried a large part of Europe's Internet traffic before its May 2002 bankruptcy.
Off-site link, opens in new window Reuters: Qwest accused of using European JV to boost results
Off-site link, opens in new window Computer business review: Qwest faces 3bn dollar action over KPNQwest bankruptcy
Off-site link, opens in new window Netkwesties: 'massale fraude bij KPNQwest'

Links

Klezmer in Germany is a strange place. It's very popular music, played primarily by non-Jews in a country that killed virtually all of its Jews in the middle of the last century.
Off-site link, opens in new window Klezmershack: non-Jews, Klezmer, and anti-semitism in Germany

Scenes from the underground.
Off-site link, opens in new window Four foot eight

B-films, black Americans in early Hollywood, and more.
Off-site link, opens in new window Modern times

The sixties aren't dead.
Off-site link, opens in new window Eroplay

Fading ads are metaphors for survival.
Off-site link, opens in new window Frank Jump

Novel progress #35

One new episode in the past week, 696 new words, 55,275 words total. Also, I did edits and rewrites on episodes 1 through 6.
On-site link, opens in this window Introduction
On-site link, opens in this window Introduction and start of part 3
On-site link, opens in this window After the war (82)

04/07/04

The next thing up: the European constitution.

The constitution brings together for the first time the many treaties and agreements on which the EU is based. It defines the powers of the EU, stating where it can and act and where the member states retain their right of veto. It also defines the role of the EU institutions. A good introduction to what the constitution says and what it means.
Off-site link, opens in new window BBC: what the EU constitution says

Another look at the constitution and what it all means.
Off-site link, opens in new window BBC: EU myths and realities

Now that the EU constitution has been agreed, it needs to be signed then ratified within two years by all 25 member states. A number of countries have said they will hold referendums - which may or may not be binding - others have yet to make a final decision.
Off-site link, opens in new window BBC: EU constitution - next steps

Links

A site dedicated to pinhole photography, kallitype prints, Etretat and to everyone who believes that photography may be a kind of philosophy.
Off-site link, opens in new window La porte d'Aval - kallitype prints and pinhole photography

Stanislavsky, the great Russian director, had realized, in observing actors - that some of them were better than others at seeming like they were having real experiences on stage. (This goes back to Hamlet's advice to the players. "What's Hecuba to him or he to Hecuba, That he should weep for her?" Hamlet here is pondering the essential mystery of acting. It is a complete fiction - and yet - actors since theatre has began have been crying real tears on stage, etc. One of the best definitions for acting I have ever heard is: "to come to life truthfully under imaginary circumstances". I think "truthfully" may be the key there.) Stanislavsky wanted to come up with a "system" that would help perhaps lesser actors to achieve what others did naturally, or with greater ease.
Off-site link, opens in new window Sheila A-Stray: obsession central - Cary Grant
Off-site link, opens in new window (Via Metafilter)

Every one of Stalin's houses had its own private cinema, and in his last years, the cinema became not only his favourite entertainment but also a source of political inspiration. It was one of the venues from which he ruled the Soviet Empire: this was cinematocracy - rule by cinema.
Off-site link, opens in new window Telegraph: why Stalin loved Tarzan and wanted John Wayne shot

The designer edition of Star Wars, lunch box haiku, and much more.
Off-site link, opens in new window Justinspace.com

Starting spammer S. Pammer had sent spam for almost exactly five months; his last run was already some time ago. In a rather agreeable conversation in the middle of the night, S. Pammer relayed his side of the story. The conversation covers nearly all aspects of his spamming activities: his motivation, how the spam was sent and his web site hosted, the quality of his address files and his actual profits.
Off-site link, opens in new window Rejo: confession for two - a spammer spills it all
Off-site link, opens in new window (Via Slashdot)

Novel progress #34

One new episode in the past week, 691 new words, 54,579 words total.
On-site link, opens in this window Introduction
On-site link, opens in this window Introduction and start of part 3
On-site link, opens in this window After the war (81)



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