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published by Thom Holwerda on 2009-12-28 10:56:10 in the "Politics" category
Right now, there is only one person in this country whom I’d accept as prime-minister.
Neelie Kroes. She’s the kind of iron lady we could really use - immense body of experience, stately, intelligent, charming (in a weird way), and she’s dealt with a world far harsher than politics: business. Most of all, however: I don’t think she’d give a rat’s ass about someone’s religion. If you’ve broken the law, she’ll deal with you - Muslim or no. And that’s really the attitude we need over here, because we’re getting ever closer to a new Kristallnacht.
If the VVD announced that they would put her forward as candidate, the VVD would score votes big time. I’ve heard even the most die-hard leftists speak out their preference for Kroes. It’s really too bad that she accepted a new post in the EC. She should be preparing for the PM post now.
Coincidentally, it would be our first woman as PM.
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/17/10 23:29 UTC
"Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have released research detailing how molecules in chips can self-assemble, potentially reducing manufacturing costs. The researchers have developed a technique in which polymers automatically fall into place to create an integrated circuit." Uhm people, have we learned nothing?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/17/10 23:23 UTC, submitted by aargh
"In this article, the authors investigate the impact of DRM restrictions on the demand for music downloads. [A new model] estimates the impact of DRM on consumers' willingness to pay for songs (both favorites and nonfavorites) and on the producer revenues and profits. Based on two studies of more 2000 college students, the results suggest that despite the potential advantages offered by some DRM restrictions, on balance the elimination of DRM has a net positive impact on producer revenue, profit, and consumer welfare."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/17/10 23:19 UTC
"By encouraging more people to post videos in Wikipedia articles, we can bring theora video played in html5 to a very large audience. Currently, there are very few wikipedia articles that have videos. We hope that this campaign will bring thousands more to the site and show people how great theora can be. HTML 5 video, which plays without Flash, is a wonderful step towards a more open web - but if it depends on proprietary codecs like h.264, we will still be stuck with a gatekeeper for online video."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/16/10 16:10 UTC
"Google is changing the way it handles the unique identifier that accompanies each installation of its Chrome browser. As noticed by H-Online, a Google white paper says the company will now delete the unique ID after the browser updates itself for the first time. Google has confirmed with The Reg that the change will be made with the upcoming Chrome 4.1."
Linked by tessmonsta on 03/16/10 8:55 UTC
Today's mobile space is owned by the likes of Nokia, RIM, Apple, and Google. While some of these corporations have embraced some open source components, a full FLOSS solution has yet to gain traction. Why? Blogger Bradley M. Kuhn posts thoughtful analysis of the current state of Open Source in the mobile space.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/16/10 0:08 UTC, submitted by kragil
Jim Bray, who played a major role in the XML standardisation effort, has joined Google to work on Android, and his words for the iPhone are pretty harsh. "The iPhone vision of the mobile Internet's future omits controversy, sex, and freedom, but includes strict limits on who can know what and who can say what. Itâs a sterile Disney-fied walled garden surrounded by sharp-toothed lawyers. The people who create the apps serve at the landlord's pleasure and fear his anger. I hate it."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/15/10 23:50 UTC
"Following two unsuccessful attempts at forcing ISP Telenor to block The Pirate Bay in Norway, the IFPI and performing rights outfit TONO have abandoned their legal action. The case will not now head to the Supreme Court but instead the entertainment groups will pin their hopes on new legislation."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/15/10 19:08 UTC, submitted by poundsmack
"A number of humorous yet undocumented features are hiding beneath the surface of some of the most popular open source software applications. Although easter eggs are generally easy to spot when you can look at an application's source code, there are a few that aren't widely known."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/15/10 11:00 UTC, submitted by n4cer
"In March 2008, Microsoft and Nokia announced their commitment to make Silverlight available for certain Nokia phones running the Symbian operating system. Microsoft is finally ready to make a beta of that code available. Microsoft briefly posted, then pulled, the download of the beta of the Silverlight for Symbiancode on March 11, as well as the associated developer tools for that release. I grabbed the description of the downloads before they were zapped."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/12/10 15:30 UTC
New Zealand's internet filtering system went live last month - but the government forgot to mention this to its electorate until its hand was forced by online freedom campaign, Tech Liberty. Thomas Beagle, a spokesman for the group, said he was "very disappointed that the filter is now running" and that its launch had been conducted in such a "stealthy mode". He added: "It's a sad day for the New Zealand internet." It's sad indeed, that things like this are possible in modern democracies.