Virtual, but permanent.
I still use Safari and Omniweb as my primary browsers, but Firefox is far too cool a browser to be forgotten. After all, it is the most feature rich browser on the planet by virtue of its add-ons.
So, strike a blow against inferior browsers and help to set a new internet record for the most software downloads in one day. Download Firefox 3 on Download Day. The Guinness Book of World Records awaits.
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The diametrically opposed directions that the European Community and the United States are taking ought to be extremely disconcerting to those who reside in the United States. The United States, the country that invented the internet and the addressing protocol that identifies computers on the internet (known as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or TCP/IP), is moving rapidly to relegate TCP/IP to a means of spying on its citizens. The awful–perhaps nonexistent–regulatory regime in the US allows providers of network services to monitor what users do, to track their habits, and to share that information with just about any entity that requires. That entity could be marketers or the watchful eyes of the government.
Meanwhile, the EU is conducting the most rational debate on the status of the IP address of computers users. As the computer becomes a significant means of communication–through applications like Skype, Gizmo, Yahoo! MSN AIM and other instant messaging clients–the IP address will become as unique and as important as a telephone number. Hence, it ought to receive as much protection as a telephone number. Global governing bodies are beginning to realize this, but the different ways in which the US and the EU governing bodies are approaching the IP address’s significance is alarming.
The American government is actively extending and abusing the regulatory vacuum surrounding the IP address to let American companies and government bodies to gather information on every citizen. In contrast, the EU is actively discussing a regulatory regime that recognizes the importance of the IP address. While the US government is diminishing privacy, the EU bodies are seeking to protect and to expand privacy. Hence, the liberties in which Americans take excessive pride are being, in effect, exported to the European Union, where people can surf comfortably now and perhaps with even greater privacy in the future.
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Bloomberg.com: Warren Buffett Sees More Opportunities in Europe
Perhaps only Warren Buffett can declare the American economy dead, stick a fork in it and pronounce it dead. All the Americans who still consider Europe “socialistic” ought to heed the great oracle’s declaration that Europe is his prime target for business acquisitions.
Note that he is looking for business acquisitions in Europe, not the acquisition of communes or other socialistic constructs and some such.
And, yes, the oracle of Omaha does declare that Europe has a terrific economy, one considerably better than the American one.
Perhaps the United States ought to consider becoming “socialistic” like Europe. It seems to be good for business.Â
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Pentagon announces Iraq, Afghanistan troop deployments | Yahoo! News
The animosity between George W Bush and John McCain is insufficient to moderate the latter’s desire for power. Consequently, the former is conveniently building up troops in Iraq in order to aid McCain’s already lackluster campaign. The strategy is quite clear, and it will most likely become apparent when the troops who are slated to be relieved will be retained. It is an escalation of the military conflict that will create a circus of fear and greed come September, and there is little doubt that McCain will gladly oblige W by continuing the fear mongering that has thus far guaranteed reelection for every Republican who is utterly bereft of creativity, desire for serving the nation and scruples.
Never before could it be said that the success of one man will guarantee failure for everyone else.
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nicworks :: downloads :: Â brokeback mountain icons set
Customized, clean, artistic and professionally rendered icons are one of the many nice things that the Macintosh developer community offers the Macintosh user community. An icon set based on Brokeback Mountain, however, is a mystifying contribution from this incredibly generous developer community. The offering of the icon set begs a lot of questions.
Is the gay Macintosh user base so large that catering to it is useful? Or is the heterosexual base small enough that it can be ignored? Does the gay user base want gay icons? Does my writing on the subject qualify me as a member of the gay user base, or merely as a curious metrosexual? Why would anyone be so obsessed with this movie so many years after the fact?
Will the fundamentalist Christian community condemn the users of this icon set?
Most fortunately, however, no one will ever bother answering these questions.
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The only thing more puzzling about the rapid decline of Los Angeles as a functional, livable city is the bold transparency with which the destruction of the city is undertaken by its elected officials and the contractors who have successfully corrupted them. The above link cites but the most recent instance of the grotesque cronyism and lack of accountability that has 
made Los Angeles the most unlivable and unmanageable city in the United States. Even though Los Angeles has the most unsafe airport in the country and the worst traffic in the country, no leader in this city can sustain moral fortitude long enough to address problems that imiserate millions of people daily.
One would surmise that after hosting the most embarrassing public works project in human history (one in which the Federal Government calls the Los Angeles Government corrupt!), the processes of improving the city’s infrastructure would improve. As the above articles shows, quite the contrary is true. The city’s airports, roads and public transit system are destined to wither and perish under unrelenting corruption before the eyes of a citizenry apparently too sleepy to care for its own well being.
As nature has demonstrated time and again, evolution is more likely to eliminate the weak than to promote the strong. Evolutionary data from the primordial soup that is Los Angeles strongly suggest that evolution on occasion favors the stupid and the weak over the judicious and prudent. Whatever organism emerges from the primordial soup, I am ecstatic that, for now, I have managed to extricate myself from the unbearably ugly evolutionary process that is shaping the primordial soup.
You should be too, if you don’t live in Los Angeles.
Photo by VirtualErn.
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Does this mean that Floridians now view Barrack Obama differently? Does it mean that they intend to end the disenfranchisement of minorities?
It is somewhat comforting to note that people change over time.Â
What else can be said of Mike Luckovich other that he is a comic genius. Â
 
Signe Wilkinson seems to be following in his footsteps. 
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The cause of the difference between the pathetic infrastructure in the United States and the excellent infrastructure in Europe lies in the fact that the European parliaments are deliberative bodies, whereas the United States Congress is merely a body.
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Many theories exist regarding the cadre or cabal of people who rule the USA. Why We Fight makes no attempt to make any controversial arguments regarding conspiracies to rule the world, but it does make a very convincing case for why the incredible influence of the military-industrial complex is unhealthy for the nation.Â
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It also shows what a remarkably prudent, prescient and wise President Dwight Eisenhower was. His predictions regarding the excesses of the military-industrial complex have proven prophetic. Had he been a betting man, he would have become awfully wealthy. Of course, the nation owes a considerable debt of gratitude to Eisenhower for the calculated risks that he took as Supreme Allied Commander in World War II.
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The most poignant aspects of the movie came across in the juxtaposition of neoconservatives like Bill Kirstol and Richard Perle against Eisnhower. Compared with Eisenhower, these men seem like naive strategists on the ultimate ego trip.Â
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Why We Fight is a strong reminder of what greatness is, it is a respectful tribute to the greatness that brought the USA to greatness, and it provides an apt warning about the dangerous combination of influence and pettiness that threatens to bring us down. This is a worthwhile documentary to watch.