And so it begins. UCC is rather nice though.
Month: September 2005
Today FM mention
I heard since I got back from the US that this blog was mentioned on the Ray D’Arcy show a Friday or two ago. Jenny Kelly was looking up stuff related to Eminem for Fix it Friday and came across all Isabelle’s entries on this blog. All of Isa’s stuff has since been moved over to the Eminem Blog, but it was nice to get the plug on Irish radio, and congrats to Isabelle.
Sony moves
Speculation abounds about Sony’s intentions over the next 24 hours. I have heard that the restructing will be on a scale bigger than the market expects.
Word has it that all those over 50 in Sony will be given voluntary redundancy. 3000 people will be made redundant worldwide. The TV arm may be sold off.
And perhaps most surprisingly, I have heard that the Playstation arm will be sold off completely.
We will have to wait and see.
Update: Scratch the 3000, that was just for Europe. Turns out it’s 10,000 worldwide.
GoogleNet: All your Internet are belong to us
John Paczkowski and Andrew Orlowski speculate about Google’s supposed Wifi plans, with some interestinf developments today.
Update again: Seems I didn’t need to do some stuff. Try this. Wired have a good piece too.
Update: Following Bernard’s tip I downloaded Google’s new Secure Access program, (that they ‘took off’ their site today) which connected on my wired connection to vpn.google.com. It is a small and curious little program, that directed me to the google.com page rather than google.ie. It also showed an ad for Gmail that I haven’t seen on a Google page before, but maybe that’s only meant for US users.
The official Google link to the software is here.
I share concerns expressed by other bloggers, as Bernard points out. Act of Dog notes:
Well, by using Google as a VPN, every single little bit of data that passes from me to the Internet and back is going through Google’s servers. Some speculate that Google is using this data to learn even more about people’s browsing habits. Still, I’d rather take the miniscule risk with Google VPN than the bigger risk of sending bits over the wire unprotected.
Then again I guess it’s never really safe using an openWifi access point, you don’t really know who is looking at the logs. Which is somewhat similar to concerns expressed by Orlowski in the article linked below:
Five months after announcing its first Google-branded hot spots, covering San Francisco’s Union Square and main public library, Google is enhancing the service. The ad giant briefly made a beta of a proxy server, Google Secure Access, available for limited download today before withdrawing the link.
Which leaves us in little doubt that Google deadly serious about network infrastructure, and is thinking not only beyond search but even beyond the web, too.
And Paczkowski:
The company is said to be reviewing bids for the development of a national DWDM fiber network and while it’s conceivable that it intends to use that network to cost-effectively manage its ever-growing traffic loads, vendors who’ve reviewed Google’s demands say its far more likely that the company is looking to become a competitive communications network provider. Now comes news that the search juggernaut is preparing to roll out a WiFi network along with a Virtual Private Network client to access it. According to documents prematurely posted to Google’s Web site – an FAQ and privacy policy – the service is a beta available only at certain locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Whether the company plans to further extend the service remains to be seen. Certainly, it’s a daunting task. “Becoming a service provider would be quite a stretch for Google, but considering the billions of dollars Google could throw at the problem it could become a reality,” Ovum analyst Roger Entner wrote a few months back when rumors of such a service first began to circulate. “Depending on how Google can adapt to these challenging areas and how committed it is to the space, it could become a home run or could break the bank.” Still, a move into the communications space would be in keeping with Google’s mission to promote universal access to the Internet for users. And it would do much to keep Google at the center of our Internet experience and in prime position to do what it does best: Serve us targeted advertising, in this case geographically targeted advertising.
Kuchma 'behind reporter's kidnap'
Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma was one of the organisers of the abduction of a prominent reporter, a parliamentary commission believes.
Georgiy Gongadze disappeared in September 2000 and his headless body was found in a wood two months later.
The head of the commission probing the murder, Grygoriy Omelchenko, told MPs his colleagues “unanimously identified” Mr Kuchma as the kidnap’s organiser.
Mr Kuchma – who was Ukraine’s president until 2004 – denies any involvement.
Bush a disaster
[via Steve]
Washington Post guest bloggers
So the Washington Post has started putting guest bloggers on their editorial/op-ed page. WAPO notes:
Blogosphere pioneer brings his observations and commentary to the Opinions Section this week as washingtonpost.com’s first Guest Blogger.
And their first guest blogger? Andrew Sullivan.
They don’t actually publish the content, they just provide links all weeks to Sullivan’s latest posts. Interesting idea.
Iran 'may refuse nuclear checks'
Iran seems determined. Even with the recent agreements with North Korea, Iran seems set on a collision course with the US and Britain. Where sanctions could lead is anyone’s guess. Referring Iran to the Security Council is the first step into dangerous territory.
Iran may stop allowing snap inspections of its nuclear facilities if it is referred to the UN Security Council, says the country’s top negotiator.
Ali Larijani said Tehran would also consider pulling out of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) if the “language of force” continues.
The UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, is discussing Tehran’s activities, which Iran insists are for peaceful purposes.
The US and the EU are calling for Iran to be referred to the Security Council.
And Russia and China have given some support to Iran:
Moscow and Beijing may block the plan, with Russia saying the current situation was “not irreversible”.
Cut the pork
Maybe we should have a cut the pork site for Ireland. I could think of a view things the government have wasted money on – Martin Cullen for one.
Flu vaccine stockpile faces delay
Why does this not surprise me. I suppose I should be grateful they are doing something.
The Department of Health is expected to tell the Government’s Working Group on Emergency Planning tomorrow that it will be next year before it has the one million packs of anti-viral drugs which international trends suggest would be best practice for preparing to deal with the emergence of any flu pandemic.
Separately, Department of Health officials are expected to warn that planning for a global flu pandemic, while aiming to reduce the rates of death and illness, can only mitigate the effects of the outbreak and that the consequences were still likely to be serious.
The Department of Health is expected to tell the working group that in the event of a pandemic, anti-viral drugs could be used to prevent influenza in the early stages, alleviate symptoms or shorten the duration of the condition, but that the production of a vaccine tailored to a specific strain could take six to nine months.
The department is also expected to tell the working group that it is also set to procure around 200,000 doses of the H5N1 vaccine against the avian influenza strain implicated in the recent outbreak in Asia.
The working group, chaired by Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea, is to deal with official preparations for a major international flu pandemic at its meeting tomorrow.
Willie O’Dea? Is that not like putting Michael Brown in charge of FEMA, or worse?