del.icio.us

If you haven't heard yet, you have now. del.icio.us is a cool site that holds your bookmarks, and is also a great way to share them with friends. Just sign up, and start adding the sites that you think are interesting, or would like to share. Firefox extensions make it even easier to use. (Flock is a browser in the making that will encorporate its entire bookmarking system into del.icio.us). Just a couple cool things I wanted to share, call it an early Christmas present.

look me up, I am adairnic on del.icio.us.

Fall, too bad its gone

IMG_1538.JPG
Originally uploaded by adairnic.

On a lighter note, MSU's campus is beautiful for a couple months of the year. An example.

Is this True?

“I don’t give a goddamn,” Bush retorted. “I’m the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way.”

“Mr. President,” one aide in the meeting said. “There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution.”“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,” Bush screamed back. “It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!”

I’ve talked to three people present for the meeting that day and they all confirm that the President of the United States called the Constitution “a goddamned piece of paper.”

Capitol Hill Blue: Bush on the Constitution: 'It's just a goddamned piece of paper'

If this is true, no wonder Bush has been getting so frustrated lately. (Just google "bush frustrated" for an idea). I guess I can see where the guy is coming from, I mean, its a real pain in the neck when things get in your way. Usually what I do when I don't get my way is throw a tantrum and yell about it to try to illegitimize the obstacle that is keeping me from what I want, just like a little boy. Hmm, looks like Bushie and I have a lot more in common than I thought...

I forgot, stupid me

Cheney called Democrats “opportunists” who were peddling “cynical and pernicious falsehoods” to gain political advantage while U.S. soldiers died in Iraq.“Some of the most irresponsible comments have, of course, come from politicians who actually voted in favor of authorizing force against Saddam Hussein,” Cheney told the Frontiers of Freedom Institute, a conservative policy group.

Cheney calls war critics 'opportunists' - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com

I forgot, Cheney beleives that other people want to make hideous amounts of money on a false war too. Maybe even just get in his way. Isn't that what he means by "opportunists"?

Now they made a mistake?

Condoleezza Rice began her tour of Europe yesterday with a rare public admission that the US had made "mistakes" in the war on terror.Speaking after a meeting with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, Ms Rice again insisted that the US did not "condone" torture. "It is against US law," she said. But she appeared to concede for the first time that the Bush administration's uncompromising policy of "rendition" against terrorist suspects had sometimes gone wrong.



"We recognise that any policy will sometimes result in errors," the US secretary of state said. She added: "When this happens we will do everything we can to rectify it."

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Rice admits US mistakes in war on terror after wave of criticism across Europe

So, NOW is a good time to admit errors? Keep it to yourself. I really don't think thats going to win Europes trust. I thought that we were keeping troops in Iraq because they were right to be there in the first place. Hmm, guess its a different reason.

Sony DRM uses MORE Open Source Code without permission?

With what started as a really bad decision of installing hidden software with audio cds, Sony decided they needed to rip off some files from the open source LAME encoder too. It looks like they are just plain greedy now. They have also included a hack which disables Apple's FairPlay DRM, only so that they could use it? Unfortunately, that code is also open source, and they are again in violation of the GPL. Go figure.

"Among the strangest revelations was that XCP itself infringes on the copyrights to several open source software projects. In one case, Sam Hocevar found conclusive evidence that part of XCP’s code was copied from a program called DRMS, which he co-authored with DVD Jon and released under the terms of the GPL open source license. What made this finding particularly curious is that the purpose of DRMS is to break the copy protection on songs sold in Apple’s iTunes Music Store. Why would XCP rip off code intended to defeat another vendor’s DRM?

It looks like the people at First4Internet wanted to create their own iPod compatibility system, but rather than take the time to reverse engineer FairPlay themselves, they copied critical pieces of code from DRMS in violation of the GPL license."

Freedom to Tinker » Blog Archive » Hidden Feature in Sony DRM Uses Open Source Code to Add Apple DRM

Depressing...I kinda wanted to buy a PS3 whenever they are supposed to launch...oh well, things change. I was also going to recommend a Sony digital camera to my dad, probably not.

Missing the Mountains

With the daily blowing snow and perpetual cloudcover of East Lansing as of late, I am becoming depressed. Memories of beautiful scenery and happy times in the mountains of NC are merely fleeting memories lately. Looking back into my photos from this past year, these really stuck out as the reason I am missing North Carolina.