August 10, 2005 – 4:19 pm
Thanks to Dan for the link to this interesting article comparing the inner workings of Apple and MS.
Here are some quotes that I thought were interesting:
** Culture ** Very similar, actually. Both companies are filled with smart, fun people who love their work…
Apple is secretive… very secretive. Unless explicitely told otherwise, nothing leaves your group. Everything is on a need-to-know basis - you can’t even tell other Apple employees. If I wanted to find out information about, say, iPod, I would check the rumors sites. Didn’t have any chance of getting information out of my iPod friends. At Microsoft, though, you’re pretty much free to say whatever you want to whoever you want… especially within the company.
Steve Jobs is god (this is a fact at Apple and doesn’t express my own feelings ;-)). You shall not disobey the Steve. Bill Gates is just some guy…
August 10, 2005 – 4:06 pm
Just listened to another interesting story (this time from yesterday’s Democracy Now broadcast) about William Laurence, a correspondent who won a pulitzer prize at the time for his coverage of the atomic bombings, which was considered authoritative at the time. Turns out that at when he was writing these articles, employed by the New York Times, he was simultaneously on the payroll of the US war department, essentially writing propoganda pieces in the NYT.
August 10, 2005 – 4:06 pm
Just listened to another interesting story (this time from yesterday’s Democracy Now broadcast) about William Laurence, a correspondent who won a pulitzer prize at the time for his coverage of the atomic bombings, which was considered authoritative at the time. Turns out that at when he was writing these articles, employed by the New York Times, he was simultaneously on the payroll of the US war department, essentially writing propoganda pieces in the NYT.
August 10, 2005 – 2:33 pm
Quick concept overview: mag stripe reader mounted on top of the card insert slot (to capture the card data for later duplication) and a hidden camera mounted
on the side (usually in a form / brochure holder) to record PINs. *UPDATE - here is a site that explains it in detail, with photos.
I heard about this technique a while ago, but today was the first time I’d actually heard from someone (a friend I work with) who experienced it. (Lost $2000 from his account in one day). For you Venturan readers, the hacked machine was the B of A ATM by Mervyns/Baja Fresh (but possibly others in the area as well), so you may want to check your balances.
August 10, 2005 – 1:41 pm
I was listening to a radio documentary yesterday on the Japanese survivors of these bombings, and how they are culturally reluctant to speak about it.
I came across the fascinating story of George Zabelka, who was a military chaplain in 1945 for the 509th Composite Group on Tinian Island (the atomic bomb crew), and his struggle thereafter to reconcile the principles of the gospel with the way he had been conditioned to think.
One relevant quote to the bombings that stood out for me:
“To fail to speak to the utter moral corruption of the mass destruction of civilians was to fail as a Christian and as a priest. Hiroshima and Nagasaki happened in and to a world and a Christian church that had asked for it - that had prepared the moral consciousness of humanity to do and to justify the unthinkable.”
August 8, 2005 – 10:47 pm
… in the blink of an eye. I just imported Martha’s blog (comments and all) into Wordpress (new URL: martha.freepressblog.org). It was pretty easy; just took a few minutes.
August 2, 2005 – 10:09 pm
Don’t talk to Dan on IM anymore.
August 1, 2005 – 12:04 pm
A great interview from The World’s Tech Podcast (which is a great tech news podcast from the BBC world service) with Reporters Without Borders, regarding an issue I previously mentioned here, specifically American corporations who are enabling (and therefore supporting) China’s oppressive policies of censorship.
Julien Pain makes an excellent point in rebuttal to the common argument made by the corporations that “we are just complying with the local laws”, and points out that if the local laws dictate that you must allow child labor, or other immoral practices, it is your moral obligation to not abide by those laws, even if it means loosing business.
Podcast description excerpt for the show:
We start with some news from London on the latest round of bombings. We look at two questions: what role does the internet play in spreading jihadist propaganda? How can transportation systems be safer and more resilient? Then, we talk with Reporters without Borders about bloggers the world over. And finally, some Danish university students brew up what they say is the world’s first open-source beer recipe…mmm…open-source beeeer…Check out show notes and more at www.worldstechpodcast.blogspot.com
Episode 35 MP3 Download