BotCast #13 Show Notes - Shelter
Botrax
BotCast #13 Des pétards dans le cul, assaisonnements
fusilables, la Calgaria, du Wifi dans l'espace, la bécosse Alqaïda et
nos commentaires sur Jack Thompson. Le cast toujours en surround, visitez
www.mp3surround.com pour
downloader le codec ou le Player surround. Pas grave si vous n'avez pas de
Surround, ça joue pareil sur votre lecteur MP3
standard. 21 avril 2007.
Break: Benoit Campeau, Somewhere in Beat Win, 4:56 www.BenoitCampeau.com
OutTro: Erik Stridell, Shelter, 4:40
Remerciements: www.simple-net.ca , www.TacticalFM.com et les jambons SPAM
-Date 21 avril 2007
-Simple-net.ca
INTRO
FIRST SEGMENT
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BREAK
-Simple-Net promo
-TacticalFM
-Toune de
Benoit Campeau, Somewhere in Beat Win, 4:56
-Barrel
Shroud
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SECOND SEGMENT
--Game Tech Support
requests:
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Site
Web: www.ChickenorFish.com/botcast
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OUTTRO
OUTTRO
Tune: Shelter
Artist: Erik Stridell, Fikonknecke
Group: Cascada
Year: 1994
From demo: Holistic, in Assembly 1994
Duration: 4:40
Type: MOD, ProTracker
Channels: 8
Samples: 31
Size: 596k
Patterns: 73,69 different 5 unused
URL: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
Spotted on 10/19, by an eagle-eyed Wonkette reader: The Mid-Atlantic Shredding Services truck making its way up to the Cheney compound at the Naval Observatory.
URL: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
No Internet Access at United Nations "Internet" Summit After failing to resolve connection issues, a United Nations summit on the Internet goes on without Internet access!
URL: http://digg.com/tech_news/No_Internet_Access_at_United_Nations_Internet_Summit
'Just Push the Yellow Button and Vote as Many Times as You Want' on Sequoia Touch-Screen Voting Machines! It seems there's a little yellow button on the back every touch-screen computer made by Sequoia Voting Systems, that allows any voter, or poll worker, or precinct inspector to set the system into "Manual Mode" allowing them to cast as many votes as they want.
URL: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
Virginia Sheriff, 12 Employees Indicted A sheriff and 12 uniformed employees were charged in a racketeering indictment unsealed Thursday that claims drugs and guns seized from criminals were resold to the community.
URL: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
Federal "automated targetting" database offlimits to public verification The new US "Automated Targeting System" is assigning risk assessments to all Americans who travel in or out of the United States, and despite the fact that plenty of non-government agencies can learn all about you, you can't view the records to even see if they are accurate.
URL: http://digg.com/tech_news/Federal_automated_targetting_database_offlimits_to_public_verification
Japanese researchers build 512-core math coprocessor
Filed under: Desktops
While we're just getting used to dual-cores and have our eyes on those upcoming quad-core chips, Japanese computer scientists at the University of Tokyo have built a 500MHz 512-core math co-processor chip that can perform up to 512 billion floating-point operations per second. The Grape DR chip is designed to fit on a PCI-X card and act as a secondary chip for the main CPU. The project, which has been ongoing since 1989, expects to reach two petaflops (that's two quadrillion, or 2,000,000,000,000,000) floating-point operations per second sometime around 2008. No doubt that Intel, which is planning on an 80-core processor by 2011, is watching this research very very closely.[Via Channel Register]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be
part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
URL: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/46029796/
Shoot Bird with Seasoning Pellets! The Bird you just shot is ready to Cook Season Shot is made of tightly packed seasoning bound by a fully biodegradable food product. The seasoning is actually injected into the bird on impact seasoning the meat from the inside out. When the bird is cooked the seasoning pellets melt into the meat spreading the flavor to the entire bird. Forget worrying about shot breaking your teeth!
URL: http://digg.com/gadgets/Shoot_Bird_with_Seasoning_Pellets_The_Bird_you_just_shot_is_ready_to_Cook
FBI investigates taped LAPD beating The FBI announced it is investigating Los Angeles police after viewing a videotape that shows officers repeatedly beating a suspect in the face while he cries out that he cannot breathe.
URL: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
Briton hurt after lighting firecracker in buttocks A 22-year-old man suffered internal injuries after lighting a small firecracker he had inserted into his buttocks, paramedics said Thursday.
URL: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
Ultrasone Edition 9s headphones will set you back $1,500
Filed under: Portable Audio
URL: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/33227791/
Knowledge should be public good first, private right second A new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research looks at the reasons behind intellectual property rights and suggests a new way forward: thinking about knowledge as a public resource first, and a private asset second. Is this idealistic, anti-business pinko blue-skying? The group says no, and we agree.
URL: http://digg.com/tech_news/Knowledge_should_be_public_good_first_private_right_second
Knowledge should be public good first, private right second A new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research looks at the reasons behind intellectual property rights and suggests a new way forward: thinking about knowledge as a public resource first, and a private asset second. Is this idealistic, anti-business pinko blue-skying? The group says no, and we agree.
URL: http://digg.com/tech_news/Knowledge_should_be_public_good_first_private_right_second
Hate Crime Charges Filed Against Five Jewish Teenagers in Brooklyn Five Jewish teenagers have been charged with hate crimes for attacking a Pakistani-American man with brass knuckles in the Midwood section of Brooklyn and calling him a "terrorist," officials said.
URL: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
War simulation in 1999 pointed out Iraq invasion problems A series of secret U.S. war games in 1999 showed that an invasion and post-war administration of Iraq would require 400,000 troops, nearly three times the number there now.
URL: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
Windows XP to be Phased Out by Year's End Despite Strong Demand
Windows XP to be Phased Out by Year's End Despite Strong Demand.
URL: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
Vista DRM could hide malware A security researcher has released a proof-of-concept program that hackers could use to exploit Windows Vista digital rights management processes to hide malware.
URL: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
BREAKING: White House lost Over FIVE MILLION e-mails in two year period Through two confidential sources, CREW learned that the Executive Office of the President (EOP) has lost over FIVE MILLION emails generated between March 2003 and October 2005. The White House counsel’s office was advised of these problems in 2005 and CREW has been told that the White House was given a plan of action to recover these emails, but to date nothing has been done to rectify this significant loss of records.
URL: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
Texas A&M Fails to Report Stricken Student in Bioweapons Lab for 14 Months
Texas A&M; University failed to report in a timely manner to Federal authorities that a biology student was stricken with the dangerous brucella pathogen in its College Station laboratory for bioweapons agent research on February 9th of 2006. The university made its disclosure this April 10th, 14 months later, and only after insistent prodding by the Sunshine Project, an Austin, Tex.-based arms control watchdog organization.
URL: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
Email to CIA Operative Bill O’Reilly Mr. O’Reilly, do you work for the CIA, or have you ever worked for the CIA? I ask this after reading an entry posted on Wikipedia, the online dictionary. It appears the journalist Carl Bernstein has evidence you worked for Operation Mockingbird, the CIA’s operation to “influence the domestic and foreign media,” as Wikipedia deems it.
URL: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
Americans Win Nobel For Backing Big Bang
Americans John Mather and George Smoot were the winners of the 2006 Nobel prize for physics on Tuesday for guiding a satellite program that suppoted the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe.
URL: http://feeds.ziffdavis.com/~r/ziffdavis/extremetech/~3/31782512/0,1558,2023642,00.asp
Atta's Father Says Video Fake, Credibility of 'Hijackers Tape'
Atta's Father Says Video Fake, Credibility of 'Hijackers Tape' Crumbles Islamic Terror Expert: "Was this a video by al-Qa'ida or by a security agency?" "New"URL: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/infowarsnews/message/1091
Atta's Father Says Video
Fake, Credibility of 'Hijackers Tape' Crumbles
Islamic Terror Expert: "Was this a
video by al-Qa'ida or by a security agency?"
"New"
footage was previously used in a docudrama
Steve Watson & Paul Watson | October 3 2006
Related: Surprise Surprise, It's Another Al Qaeda Blockbuster Release
New revelations about the so-called 'laughing hijackers' tape expose its release as a stage-managed politically timed trick. The father of Mohammed Atta blasts the video as a "fake" while contradictory claims of its origin and nature baffle even mainstream terror experts - while even the media admits that the tape was released not by Al-Qaeda but by the U.S. intelligence apparatus.
Firstly, the father of Mohammed Atta, who has previously stated that his son is still alive, has blasted the video as a total fake. "The video-testament of my son is false and I continue to believe he is innocent" Muhammad al-Amir al-Sayd Atta, 71, told Saudi daily al-Watan. "The Americans tampered with and falsified that video" he alleged, " they want to change the truth in order to achieve their goals in the Middle East."
"There is a big difference between this photo and the images shown by the Americans - that one is not my boy." he went on to say.
In a separate revelation, AP is reporting that an expert on Islamic extremism has deemed the latest Al Qaeda footage as so out of character for al-Qa'ida it could have been taken by a security agency.
Diaa Rashwan, an Egyptian expert on militant groups, said he found it strange that the cameraman focused not only on bin Laden but also on his audience. He said al-Qa'ida videos of bin Laden usually focused on him alone.
"Was this a video by al-Qa'ida or by a security agency?" Dr Rashwan asked. "I have never seen such a video."
Also questioned is the strangely different appearances of Mohammed Atta and Ziad Jarrah : "Both seem younger, are bearded, and the infamously bleak gaze of Atta, the ringleader, is replaced by a somewhat softer expression." reports AP.
Indeed, the two may even be Dopplegangers, especially given the strange case of Ziad Jarrah, photographic evidence of whom confirms that he was not a 9/11 hijacker.
Jarrah #1: Authentic photo of alleged hijacker Ziad Jarrah
taken in 1996. [BBC]
Jarrah
#2: FBI Photo of Jarrah
Jarrah #3: Passport photo of "Ziad Jarrah" found in
the wreckage of Flight 93.
Jarrah #4: Another Passport photo of Jarrah
[CNN]
Jarrah
#5: Student visa photo of "Ziad Jarrah".
These are clearly not the same man, there are up to three different people feature\d here! The passport found in the wreckage does not show the face of the Jarrah in the latest video release who is Jarrah #1.
As I reiterated in yesterday's article, Ziad Jarrah's family provided evidence days after 9/11 that Jarrah, wasn't even onboard Flight 93 and that if he was, it was only as a passenger who was just as much of a victim as the rest of the people on the plane.
Diaa Rashwan is just another in a long list of terror analysts who can smell the stench of fake intelligence agency propaganda from a mile off. In my article yesterday i questioned the contradictions over where this tape originated from, stating "Not questioned also is the fact that although the London Times says it "obtained" the tape, other reports say things like "The video released this weekend was found when the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001. NBC News has obtained an analysis of the tape by U.S. intelligence experts, which scrutinizes every frame."
It also seems that this tape has been seen before, it is not new. The very same footage of the Rally featuring Osama Bin Laden on January 8th 2000 , features in the docudrama Road to Guantanamo (they are not sure whether its 8/1 or 1/8 in the dramatization). At 1hr and 14 mins into the docudrama, an inmate at Guantanamo Bay is shown the same footage.
The dramatization of the experience of three British inmates who were later released and went public, portrays US interrogators forcing Guantanamo Bay prisoners to admit to appearing in fake videos in which their likeness has been doctored to suggest their presence at Al-Qaeda meetings.
It was admitted on Sunday that the US Government has had the footage since 2002. See the news report below for this admission and the confusion as to who released it. The media know that the government has had this video since 2002 but they deny reality and engage in literal doublethink by becoming confused over who released it. Note that the reporters also say that Al Qaeda "forgot to add the sound".They "cannot lip read" the footage and there's no audio, but they know Atta is reading his last will? How? He could be reading the football scores, it is amazingly pathetic journalism.
How to Convince a Client They Don't Need a Splash Page
Many clients love splash pages (especially flash intros), this article provides a list of effective arguments to use when talking a client out of the splash page death knell.URL: http://digg.com/design/How_to_Convince_a_Client_They_Don_t_Need_a_Splash_Page
Search engines will spider the splash page instead of the real
content
Search engines look at the text on a page to determine what
the page is all about. If your page is entirely in flash or some other
kind of multimedia, chances are the search engines won't be able to spider any
text on it. This will result in both you not ranking for the terms you
want and the spidered page having a description next to it in the search results
that says something like "Click to Enter." Examples
include: accuplacer.com
johnellis.com
reachmediatv.com.
A search at Google for "Click
to Enter" or "Skip
Intro" reveals many sites that have non-descriptive text associated with
them due to their use of splash pages. These results aren't likely to get
clicks.
Client: "So use a flash intro but
stuff text in the meta keywords tag"
Search engines
stopped caring about meta keyword tags a long time ago--it's all about what's
actually on the page now.
Client: "So use a flash
intro but hide keywords in the page"
Search engines
can figure this out and you can get banned for it.
From Google's
Webmaster Guidelines:
Make pages for users, not for search engines. Don't deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users, which is commonly referred to as "cloaking."
Search engines won't be able to spider beyond the splash
page
If your splash page is done entirely in flash or with some
other kind of multimedia plugin, the search engines might be unable to spider
your content and your content will be absent from the search
results.
Straight from the horses
mouth
I found a great quote on MarketingSherpa
from Jared Spool of User Interface
Engineering at Macromedia. When
asked, "Flash intros, good or bad?", this was his response:
When we have clients who are thinking about Flash splash pages, we tell them to go to their local supermarket and bring a mime with them. Have the mime stand in front of the supermarket, and, as each customer tries to enter, do a little show that lasts two minutes, welcoming them to the supermarket and trying to explain the bread is on aisle six and milk is on sale today.
Most users immediately click "skip intro"
Pretty much everyone I've spoken to on the subject of splash pages
always admits to immediately clicking "skip intro" before watching the animation
they're presented with. Newfangled
did some digging into their access logs and had this to say about their
findings:
The number one reason for getting rid of our splash page was that it turned away at least 25% of our site visitors, sometimes more. This percentage has actually been researched and it turns out that at least 25% of site visitors will immediately leave a site as soon as they see a message for a Flash splash screen (even if there's a 'skip intro' link). Our access logs confirmed this for us and this over all the other reasons caused us to get rid of it. The opportunity to improve our creativity was not worth the loss of such a high percentage of visitors.
Slower connections will have to wait for the page to
load
Dialup users are basically screwed (SCREWED!),
especially if the skip button isn't readily available.
"Click to
Enter" is redundant
By visiting your site they've already agreed to
enter, why do they have to do it again? It'd be like opening the door to a
store only to find another door that says, "haha, just kidding. Open this
door to enter for reals this time."
Minimizing
steps
You want to minimize the number of steps
involved in reaching your offerings. Having an extra click from a splash page
does not align with this idea.
Content from the splash page can probably work inside
the home page
Most of the time the splash page can be trimmed down
and worked into the homepage of the site. This is an effective compromise
with the client because they get to keep whatever idea they were trying to
promote but aren't necessarily forcing it on the user. It also wraps the
content from the splash page in a uniform navigation (which is good
usability).
A great example of this is Adobe's website.
Uniform navigation - For The Win
Most splash pages don't have the same primary navigation as the rest of
the site; some even drastically change the design when you go from the splash
page to the real site. This is confusing to users who respond best to navigation
that is persistent. Splash pages also enforce the idea that they are visiting
two separate sites.
Software Being Developed to Monitor Opinions of U.S.
A consortium of major universities, using Homeland Security Department money, is developing software that would let the government monitor negative opinions of the United States or its leaders in newspapers and other publications overseas.URL: http://digg.com/tech_news/Software_Being_Developed_to_Monitor_Opinions_of_U_S
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Massive_security_contractor_faces_growing_protest_0403.html
SAN
DIEGO -- Potrero, California boasts a broad swath of meadowland that currently
houses derelict chicken coops.
Surrounded by the Cleveland National Forest, the property boasts a former chicken ranch and includes an environmentally sensitive, protected agricultural preserve southeast of San Diego.
But if private security contractor Blackwater USA gets its way, this 850-strong community will soon host an 824-acre military training base, replacing the erstwhile chicken ranch with fifteen firing ranges and an emergency vehicle operator's course the length of ten football fields.
A RAW STORY investigation has already led to the removal of one lawyer connected to the project. The inquiry has also discovered that California congressman and current presidential candidate Duncan Hunter -- who is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee -- is a client of the firm, Blackwater USA, a massive US security contractor in Iraq.
Minutes of a planning meeting raise questions about whether Hunter was involved in lobbying for the project. At the Feb. 8, 2007 planning meeting, Vice President for Blackwater West Brian Bonfiglio said Hunter was one of the firm's clients.
"We talk with Duncan about many things," Bonfiglio said (emphasis in original).
Blackwater isn't a stranger to controversy. In February 2004, families of four security contractors killed in Fallujah, who are suing the firm for information regarding their deaths, testified before the House Government Reform Committee.
The private security contractor has seen its federal contract revenues swell since Sept. 11. Six years ago, the firm raked in $250,000; today a single Iraq contract is valued at $300 million. Much of its work takes place in Iraq; the company was at one time responsible for the security of interim Iraq consul Paul Bremer. Blackwater now aims to expand operations by establishing several new training camps in addition to its headquarters in North Carolina.
Townspeople and environmentalists are squaring off against the company and public officials. The Potrero Planning Group approved the facility by a 7-0 vote in December – but since then more than half of the town's registered voters have signed a petition opposing the facility. Residents also say they are organizing a recall against members of the Planning Group who voted in favor.
Chairman of the Planning Group Gordon Hammers says he won't reconsider the board's decision.
"I think it's good for the community," he said in a recent interview with the East County Californian. "It provides jobs."
"It will improve the general economy of the community and as a result, improve property values," he added. Hammers contended that arguments against the project "have absolutely no rhyme or reason" and that some opposition is based on misunderstanding of the project's scope.
In a later email to RAW STORY regarding questions about whether noise would disturb nearby residents, Hammers wrote, "If the good science shows that Blackwater's claims are true then I will be a proud supporter of a vital partner with law enforcement and the war on terror," he said in an e-mail. "If good science shows that their claims are not true then they will lose my support."
Internal documents
Internal documents acquired by RAW STORY show that the company had discussions about potential "fatal flaws" in the Potrero project in 2006.
Of most concern to the company seems to be the camp's effect on the local eagle population. On page two of an "Internal Working Draft," the authors identify that the eagle population in the area is a "potential fatal flaw."
This runs in direct opposition to public statements by the company. In the minutes in which Blackwater's Vice President admits the company has a contract with Hunter, he remarks, "Has anybody seen eagles?"
The firm also identifies a public versus private road "reduced potential to be a fatal flaw" and that plans for traffic had also " reduced potential fatal flaw."
The opponents
Jan Hedlun is the lone Potrero planner opposing the project. Elected in November, Hedlun didn't vote at the December meeting because she says she wasn't told she was eligible.
"I'm in the middle of a battle," Hedlun said. "I am a lamb in a lion's den. They're pushing this through quicker than anything I've ever heard in my entire life."
Although the Potrero Planning Group has met monthly for several years, Hammers has refused to convene an April meeting, saying that only quarterly meetings are required and a quorum can't be met.
When Hedlun pressed Hammers to schedule a meeting in order to allow public input, Hammers responded in an email acquired by RAW STORY, "Jan, get over it. There is not going to be a meeting."
The proposed Blackwater West training facility at Potrero would include 15 firing ranges for automatic and semi-automatic weapons and small caliber guns, as well as an emergency vehicle operator's course the length of ten football fields -- 3,280 feet in length and 1,320 feet in width, according to a project description. The facility would also include bunkhouses and commando-type training facilities, ship simulators, and law enforcement and rescue safety training towers with rock-climbing walls and platforms.
Multiple San Diego County records indicate that "hazards" -- including "explosives" – "should" be stored in an "armory" at the site.
Blackwater West's Bonfiglio denied that the project would use explosives.
"No bombs," he said. "No tanks, no heavy artillery."
Residents contend Blackwater's proposal is being fast-tracked through the planning process under streamlined procedures recently adopted by San Diego County to expedite processing of major projects such as housing developments. A public "Notification of Preparation" hearing is scheduled for Apr. 5 at the San Diego Department of Planning and Land Use; citizens have until Apr. 27 to respond.
Some residents have voiced concern that the noise from the firing range will disrupt their lives. In response, Blackwater has proposed anti-skid pads and other measures to lessen noise from the driving course, which would operate for up to an hour and a half after sundown.
According to Bonfiglio, a helicopter pad would only be used for emergency landings and could benefit the community in the event of a medical emergency.
Conflict of interest
Residents also raise concerns over the role of San Diego County officials in expediting the project. An article in the San Diego Reader concluded that Potrero residents are being "ambushed" by "county bureaucrats marching alongside Blackwater USA."
Documents filed with the county indicate Blackwater officials have been meeting privately with Department of Planning and Land Use personnel since at least May of 2006. Members of the public in Potrero did not learn of the proposed project until Oct. 12 at the earliest. One whistleblower contends that failure to notify the public until late in the planning process may violate the California Environmental Quality Act; others allege that County planners may have violated the Brown Act, which mandates open meetings.
Environmentalist Duncan McFetridge questions why residents weren't included in early planning.
"It is as close to collusion as you can get without actually being illegal," McFetridge says. "I am convinced that one of the main reasons that Blackwater came to San Diego is that we are the capital of privatization where lines between private and public sectors is a total blur."
"In San Diego we don't have revolving doors," he added, "we have tunnels between politicians and profiteers."
A spokesperson for San Diego Supervisor Dianne Jacob denied that Blackwater has received special treatment.
"That would be illegal," the employee said, declining to be named. The streamlined procedures, she said, were created after "ample public input," in response to complaints that development projects were taking four years for approval.
Jacob's representative suggested that it would be inappropriate for the supervisor to speak with media regarding the Blackwater project, as she may have to vote on it eventually. Several community members noted, however, that Jacob had no such qualms about speaking out against a proposed high-rise Indian casino near her own ranch in Jamul.
One citizen opposed to the project revealed that Lori Spar—listed with the California Bar Association as an attorney with a law firm representing Blackwater on July 31, 2006 —has since unexpectedly surfaced as a land use/environmental planner for the Department of Planning and Land Use.
"She walked into our Mar. 1, 2007 Save Potrero meeting, representing the County," said former Potrero planner Carl Meyer.
After RAW STORY inquired about her ties to Blackwater, the Department of Planning removed her from the project.
Quality of life concerns
Area residents express alarm about disruption of their quiet, rural lifestyle and are skeptical of reassurances offered by Blackwater and local officials.
Dania Raum purchased property in Potrero three years ago "because it was so beautiful and peaceful."
Asked about the proposed project site, she replied, "It's a secret, hidden valley. There are wetlands up there and all kinds of raptor birds." Golden eagles nest 3,500 feet north of the meadow, she observed.
Blackwater has offered to supply foraging materials for the eagles. But Raum scoffed at the idea of raptors foraging near a firing range.
"Right," she said. "Those eagles are going to be so gone... I believe we are being railroaded into this disaster."
"Can you imagine tire squealing and crash 'em ups?" she added. "They are pushing this as a night time course ... so they will have machine guns going all day and cars going all night."
Raum doesn't believe Blackwater's claims that noise can be muffled. "My son was way across the valley on a horse, and I could hear him coughing," she said. "It echoes for miles up there."
Hammers insists that the planning group is relying on scientific evidence that residents will not hear noise from the proposed facility. A recent noise test was canceled, reportedly due to liability concerns on the part of property owners.
San Diego County is now relying entirely on computer models to assess noise levels.
Safety and environmental concerns
Residents also cite safety issues involving excessive traffic on a winding access road measuring at some points just 20 feet wide. Critics cite high fatality rates on nearby Highway 94 and raise alarm over Blackwater's plan to bus in local trainees and bring additional people from the airport on shuttles. Blackwater says its vehicles would be no larger than trucks that previously serviced the ranch.
Fire safety also concerns locals. Blackwater's Brian Bonfiglio asserted that the company proposed to local fire authorities a plan to not only shelter-in-place its own employees and facilities in the event of wildfire but also make Blackwater's site a "safe haven for the community."
However, a February 2007 report on guidelines for wildland fire and fire protection prepared for the County describes shelter-in-place as a "last resort design concept." Critics warn that the policy could prove a death sentence in the event of a firestorm similar to the nearby 2003 Cedar wildfire, where twelve people died as 300-foot high flames reached temperatures of thousands of degrees.
"This strategy has, to my knowledge, never been put to the test on a large scale during a major wildland fire," Joseph W. Mitchell, Ph.D. of M-bar Technologies and Consulting in Ramona, California wrote in response to the County's proposal. "There are reasons to believe that it could lead to civilian and firefighter deaths and injuries as currently envisioned."
Duncan McFetridge, of Save Our Forests and Ranchlands, has raised additional concerns about the loss of potentially crucial wilderness areas, noting that national forest lands have shrunk from two million to 650,000 acres.
"Meadowlands are the biological heart of our forest," he said at a recent meeting. "We cannot lose our meadows without losing our forest."
Bonfiglio responded to criticisms on environmental grounds with the observation that no studies have been approved by San Diego County.
"There are people concerned about habitat and open space, but they are doing it based on no science, no information," he said.
McFetridge successfully blocked a proposed RV park in neighboring Descanso after citing a study by the University of California, Davis, tracking mountain lion movement. The Potrero valley proposed for Blackwater's project is also frequented by deer and mountain lion, he said.
"This is a contest," McFetridge remarked. "Blackwater USA is very good at what they do -- and Save Our Forests and Ranchlands is very good at what we do. This battle will be won or lost on land use issues."
Citizen activism
To win approval of the project, Blackwater must obtain a change in zoning on the property, which is currently zoned agricultural. McFetridge believes the project can be defeated on land use issues and cites data from radio-tracking of cougars that highlights the sensitive nature of meadowlands on the property.
Other groups have also joined the battle to block Blackwater's camp.
"I will work hard to block this deal," said Raymond Lutz, head of Citizens Oversight Panels, a grassroots organization. "Blackwater is well known as one of the most egregious violators of human rights in the Iraq War ... We don't need a `black-ops' training camp in San Diego."
Bob Davis, a member of the San Diego Peace & Justice Coalition, fears that civil disobedience may be needed to halt the project, stating "We may have to put our bodies on the line."
Citizens are organizing opposition and public protests for the Apr. 5 meeting at the Department of Planning and Land Use.
"You can bet that Blackwater is lobbying the DPLU and its staff," Sierra Club land use committee chair Jeanette Hartman said. "Your only hope is to lobby back. Fight everything. If you don't, they'll just roll right over you here."
Correction: Due to an editing error, Lori Spar's status change was incorrectly identified. She was removed from the Blackwater project, not the planning board.
URL: http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20070409/CPACTUALITES/70409029/1019/CPACTUALITES
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20070410/CPACTUEL/70410016/1015/CPACTUEL
Un prénom pour le meilleur ou pour le pire
Quand vient le temps de choisir un prénom d'enfant, un monde de possibilités s'ouvre aux parents. Les bouquins et les sites Internet abondent sur le sujet. Il doit être à la fois original, significatif, de belle sonorité et être en harmonie avec le nom de famille. Ce choix est donc aussi excitant que difficile.
Parfois, les futurs parents, indécis, jonglent avec deux ou trois idées jusqu'à ce qu'ils voient la frimousse de leur nouveau-né. Un prénom s'impose alors. Une grande importance est accordée au « petit nom ». Et pour cause. Celui-ci définit l'être humain tout au long de sa vie. Pour le meilleur ou pour le pire...
Dans cinq ans, les William et les Léa seront nombreux dans les maternelles
québécoises! Facile à prévoir puisque ces deux prénoms ont été les plus
populaires en 2006, devant Mathis, Alexis, Mégane et Laurie. Chez les bébés
anglophones, Matthew et Emma ont remporté la palme de la popularité.
Alors qu'auparavant, l'histoire d'un prénom inspirait les
parents, le souci d'originalité semble prévaloir aujourd'hui. C'est sûrement
pour cette raison qu'on voit beaucoup de façons différentes d'épeler le même
prénom. Prenons l'exemple de Zacharie, qui peut aussi s'écrire Zakary, Zachary,
Zakari, Zakarie ou Zachari.
Tout est
désormais possible. Ou presque. Vous vous souviendrez sûrement des parents qui
voulaient appeler leur enfant Spatule. Pas de chance pour eux, le prénom avait
été refusé. Depuis novembre 1998, la Direction de l'état civil, qui enregistre
le nom des nouveau-nés, ne peut refuser aucun prénom. Cependant, l'article 54 du
Code civil dit clairement que « lorsque le nom choisi par les père et mère
comporte un nom de famille composé ou des prénoms inusités qui prêtent au
ridicule ou qui sont susceptibles de déconsidérer l'enfant, le directeur de
l'état civil peut inviter les parents à modifier leur choix ».
Ces dernières années, au Québec, des enfants
ont reçu les prénoms de Caresse, d'Ivory et de Julia
C'est-un-ange. En Colombie-Britannique, des parents ont enregistré leurs
quatre premiers enfants sous les prénoms Repent of Your Sins
(Repens-toi de tes péchés), Repent or Burn Forever
(Repens-toi ou brûle pour toujours), Messiah Is Coming (Le Messie
s'en vient) et Mashiah
Hosannah. Le prénom de
leur cinquième bébé, God's Loving Kindness (La bonté de Dieu), a été
refusé !
http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/12/us-military-to-launch-wifi-router-into-space/
US military to launch WiFi router into space
Posted Apr 12th 2007 5:49PM by Darren Murph
The mysterious expanses of space have been seeing quite a lot of action lately, but rather than watching a couple of autonomous crafts tackle tasks for kicks, the US military is hoping to set their next router right beside a constellation. Partnering with Intelsat and Cisco Systems, the US Department of Defense is hoping "to test an internet router in space in hopes of benefiting civilian broadband satellite communications." Additionally, the Internet Routing In Space (IRIS) project aims to assist in all sorts of "military communications," as it routes IP traffic between space-bound sats and cuts down on the time required to divvy out information. As expected, voice, video, and data will all be supported, and once the three-year initiative is complete, "the technology will be available for commercial use" -- you know, in case you're looking to relocated your networking gear to the Black Hole.
Researchers explore scrapping Internet Although it has already taken nearly four decades to get this far in building the Internet, some university researchers with the federal government's blessing want to scrap all that and start over.The idea may seem unthinkable, even absurd, but many believe a "clean slate" approach is the only way to truly address security...
URL: http://digg.com/tech_news/Researchers_explore_scrapping_Internet_5
http://www.lapresseaffaires.com/article/20070418/LAINFORMER/704180714/-1/LAINFORMER01
Grave épidémie de «Calgaria»
18 avril 2007 - 06h10
La Presse
Vincent Brousseau-Pouliot
Vous avez des pertes d'équilibre, des troubles de vision et
des crises d'anxiété? L'heure est grave. Vous êtes atteint de la
Calgaria.
La quoi? La Calgaria, une maladie inventée par le
gouvernement de la Nouvelle-Écosse afin de convaincre ses expatriés partis
profiter du boom économique albertain de revenir à la maison.
«Ou du
moins, qu'ils gardent la Nouvelle-Écosse dans leur plan de carrière», dit Angela
Campbell, porte-parole du ministère des Communications de la
Nouvelle-Écosse.
Pour séduire des travailleurs âgés entre 25 et 35 ans,
il fallait une campagne de publicité qui sorte de l'ordinaire. D'où l'idée de la
Calgaria, une maladie qui affligerait les Néo-Écossais de Calgary.
Les symptômes - développer un intérêt pour les bouchons de circulation,
accepter de payer 350 000 $ pour une maison et le pire de tous, devenir un
partisan des Flames - s'aggravent au fil des mois passés à Calgary.
Heureusement, la Calgaria n'est pas une maladie incurable. Comme
l'alcoolisme, elle se traite d'abord par une intervention de ses proches. Le
gouvernement a d'ailleurs mis en ligne sur son site internet une intervention
(fictive) particulièrement réussie...
La campagne contre la Calgaria a eu
lieu presque exclusivement sur le web. Le gouvernement de la Nouvelle-Écosse a
même créé un site internet spécialement pour l'occasion (www.calgaria.ca). La campagne a pris fin
vendredi dernier.
En un mois, 37 602 personnes ont visité le site
internet de la Calgaria. Environ 46 % des visiteurs provenaient de l'Alberta.
«Nous avons reçu beaucoup de bons commentaires même si certains Albertains (de
souche) sont restés un peu surpris», dit Mme Campbell.
Le gouvernement de
la Nouvelle-Écosse n'a pas inventé la Calgaria pour vexer les Albertains. La
province lutte désespérément contre la migration de ses travailleurs. Selon
Statistique Canada, la Nouvelle-Écosse est l'une des deux seules provinces -
l'autre étant Terre-Neuve - dont la population a diminué entre le 1er octobre et
le 1er janvier dernier.
Le boom économique albertain n'est pas étranger
au déclin démographique de la Nouvelle-Écosse. En 2006, la province a vu 7589 de
ses résidents déménager en Alberta, pour un solde migratoire entre les deux
provinces de 4517 personnes en faveur de l'Alberta.
Par habitant, la
migration vers l'Alberta est un phénomène six fois plus important en
Nouvelle-Écosse qu'au Québec! Des 10 provinces canadiennes, c'est toutefois la
Saskatchewan qui est la plus touchée par la Calgaria: 1,5 % de sa population a
déménagé en Alberta en 2006.
Le Québec atteint lui aussi
Le Québec commence lui aussi à être sur ses gardes. En 2006, le
nombre de Québécois ayant déménagé en Alberta a doublé, passant de 4606 à
9333.
«Ce n'est pas mauvais en soi qu'il y ait des mouvements de
travailleurs en fonction des réalités économiques, dit Michel
Kelly-Gagnon, président du Conseil du patronat du Québec. Mais nous sommes
préoccupés qu'il s'agisse d'une tendance structurelle et non conjoncturelle.
Quand Francesco Bellini (le PDG de Neurochem) décide de déménager en Alberta, ce
n'est sûrement pas pour souder des pipelines! Au-delà du boom pétrolier,
l'Alberta est peut-être en train de se doter d'un avantage structurel à long
terme face au Québec.»
Pour l'instant, le gouvernement du Québec ne songe
pas à conscientiser ses expatriés des dangers de la Calgaria. Il mise plutôt sur
les négociations de l'Accord sur le commerce intérieur relatives à la mobilité
de la main-d'oeuvre.
De toute façon, même si la campagne contre la
Calgaria a fait couler beaucoup d'encre, elle n'a pas eu l'effet escompté, pense
Michel
Kelly-Gagnon.
«Je trouve cette campagne de publicité cute et
attachante, dit-il. Toute personne garde toujours une trace de sa terre natale
dans son coeur. Mais d'autres facteurs influencent davantage nos choix, comme le
type d'emplois disponibles, le salaire et le taux d'imposition.»
Google Again Censors, Stifles 9/11 Film's Growth
Google Again Censors, Stifles 9/11 Film's Growth Video viewership figures for Terror Storm being reset to prevent movie going "Loose Change" viral Paul JosephURL: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/infowarsnews/message/1095
Existence of "Al-Qaeda" Is Crap; Quite Literally
Existence of "Al-Qaeda" Is Crap; Quite Literally Did Osama really choose to name his terror network after potty humor or was it a computer database he used toURL: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/infowarsnews/message/1099
Un col bleu congédié pour avoir asphalté l'entrée de son frère Un col bleu de Laval a été congédié pour avoir asphalté le stationnement de son frère en utilisant les matériaux et l'équipement de la municipalité, le tout avec l'aide de trois collègues pendant leurs heures de travail.
URL: http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20070404/CPACTUALITES/70404018/1019/CPACTUALITES
Fake Craiglist ad leads to home burglary
URL: http://www.tgdaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31517
The Real Reason Cell Phones are not allowed on Airplanes its not because they interfere with the airplane's electronics... its not because they might interfere with cell tower systems on the ground. The airlines fear "crowd control" problems if cell phones are allowed in flights. They believe cell phone calls might promote rude behavior and conflict between passengers.
URL: http://digg.com/gadgets/The_Real_Reason_Cell_Phones_are_not_allowed_on_Airplanes
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20070410/CPACTUALITES/70410267/1019/CPACTUALITES
Un hôpital juif impose des restrictions alimentaires
Presse Canadienne
Montréal
Afin de respecter la Pâque juive, l'Hôpital juif de réadaptation, à Laval, a imposé des restrictions alimentaires à tous ses patients, qu'ils soient de confession juive ou non.
Le réseau TVA a rapporté mardi soir que pour la Pâque juive, tous
les patients de l'établissement avaient dû se soumettre à des règles strictes
concernant la nourriture, et ce, même si 80 pour cent des gens qui y sont
soignés ne sont pas de confession juive.
La règle vise également les
employés. C'est d'ailleurs un médecin qui travaille à cet hôpital qui a contacté
TVA pour dénoncer les restrictions alimentaires décrétées par la direction du
centre hospitalier.
Selon la chaîne, les portions ont été réduites au
minimum et plusieurs aliments ont été retirés du menu de la cafétéria. Les
distributrices ont de plus été recouvertes d'un drap, et on ne peut consommer
les aliments se trouvant à l'intérieur. Enfin, un rabin circule dans les
chambres pour remplacer par de la nourriture cashère la nourriture non cashère
achetée par les patients.
http://www.mondialisation.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=DUF20070409&articleId=5314
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Norman Lester, son livre sur Claude Morin c'est "Enquête sur les services secrets" et non "Livre noir du canada anglais".
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20070412/CPACTUALITES/704120623/1019/CPACTUALITES
Des «terroristes séparatistes québécois» dans 24?
La Presse
Après avoir confronté des «méchants» provenant d'à peu près toutes les régions hostiles du monde, l'agent secret Jack Bauer pourrait en découdre avec des «terroristes séparatistes québécois» dans la prochaine saison de la série 24.
C'est ce qu'a laissé entendre le producteur et réalisateur de la
série, Jon Cassar, dans une entrevue publiée lundi dans le Kansas City
Star.
Élevé à Aylmer, en Outaouais, Cassar a affirmé dans cet article
qu'il se fait souvent reprocher par des fans de n'avoir jamais mis en scène de
méchants d'origine canadienne. «Les (téléspectateurs canadiens) me demandent:
«Hé, pourquoi vous ne nous incluez pas dans la série? Pourquoi ne pouvons nous
pas être les méchants? Je me dis que c'est une bonne idée. Les séparatistes
québécois pourraient incarner les terroristes», peut-on lire à la fin de
l'entrevue.
Jointe à Los Angeles, Tisha Gonda, une des porte-parole de la
20th Century Fox, qui coproduit la série, n'a pas été en mesure de confirmer si
cette idée allait se réaliser dans la septième saison. «Il est beaucoup trop tôt
pour le dire. Le processus de création ne fait que commencer», a-t-elle
indiqué.
La député péquiste Diane Lemieux, elle-même fan inconditionnelle
des aventures de Jack Bauer, est elle aussi mal à l'aise devant cette idée. «Il
faut que les gens de 24 comprennent que nous ne sommes pas obsédés par
les armes, mais plutôt par l'idée de tenir un référendum. Certaines personnes
nous le reprochent d'ailleurs», a-t-elle affirmé.
Par le passé, d'autres
oeuvres de fiction mettant en vedette des terroristes souverainistes ont
provoqué la colère parmi les militants. En 2003, Sony avait notamment dû
modifier une des missions de son jeu Syphon Filter : The Omega Strain,
pour la console PlayStation 2, parce qu'il mettait en scène des terroristes
québécois qui s'emparaient du métro de Toronto. La multinationale avait publié
un communiqué dans lequel elle s'excusait auprès des personnes qui ont « pu être
insultées par cette scène».
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20070417/CPMONDE/70418001/6488/CPACTUALITES
La solution: armer les étudiants, estime le lobby des armes à feu
«Un troupeau de moutons.» C'est l'image qui vient à l'esprit de Philip Van Cleave lorsqu'il pense aux étudiants qui ont été froidement abattus par Cho Seung-hui lundi matin en Virginie.
Des moutons parce qu'ils étaient tous désarmés et donc
«impuissants», explique cet informaticien quinquagénaire, président d'un des
principaux groupes du lobby des armes à feu de cet État, la Virginia Citizens
Defense League.
«Parmi les étudiants enfermés qui ont été exécutés, si un
seul avait eu une arme à feu, le dénouement aurait pu être complètement
différent», soutient M. Van Cleave.
Or, la Virginie a beau être un des
États américains où le contrôle des armes à feu est le moins sévère, les
étudiants armés ne peuvent pas se présenter sur les campus universitaires. Même
s'ils ont un permis de port d'armes.
C'est pourquoi le lobby des armes à feu en Virginie compte
accroître ses pressions pour que les étudiants âgés de 21 ans et plus puissent
porter une arme sur les campus, moyennant l'obtention d'un permis.
Cela
fait d'ailleurs deux ans que ces militants tentent de convaincre les politiciens
de l'État d'adopter un projet de loi à cet effet. Par deux fois, cependant, ce
projet de loi n'a pu franchir le cap du sous-comité parlementaire.
Les
organismes en faveur du contrôle des armes à feu vont donc vraisemblablement
continuer à s'arracher les cheveux en Virginie. Un État conservateur qui a voté
à deux reprises pour le républicain George W. Bush et qui figure bon deuxième –
derrière le Texas – quant au nombre de détenus exécutés ces dernières
années.
Un État où on ne vérifie pas les antécédents des acheteurs
d'armes à feu si la transaction est conclue lors d'un « gun show », par exemple.
Et un État où il y a bien peu de restrictions à l'achat d'armes de poing comme
celles utilisées par Cho Seung-hui. Pas besoin de permis pour en acheter une. Ni
de formation particulière.
Pour ce qui est du pourcentage d'armes
achetées dans un État particulier et utilisées par la suite lors de crimes, la
Virginie se classe d'ailleurs parmi les meneurs, selon une étude citée hier par
le réseau ABC.
Ce laxisme ne serait-il pas plutôt à la source de carnages
comme celui de lundi, comme l'affirment plusieurs tenants du contrôle des armes
à feu ?
Pas du tout, estime M. Van Cleave.
«Si vous avez
l'intention de blesser ou de tuer quelqu'un, vous ne vous préoccupez pas des
lois. Vous allez trouver une arme à feu. Les criminels peuvent en obtenir comme
ils peuvent obtenir du crack ou de la cocaïne n'importe où même si c'est
totalement illégal», dit-il.
«Il va la voler, l'acheter sur le marché
noir ou même la fabriquer, poursuit-il. Vous pouvez en faire une avec un stylo.
Ce n'est pas une bombe atomique, c'est quelque chose de très simple à faire avec
quelques outils. Des criminels le font.»
Sans surprise, M. Van Cleave se
dit «très découragé» par les lois canadiennes sur le contrôle des armes à feu.
«Il y a des fous chez vous aussi ! C'est pourquoi on devrait permettre aux
Canadiens de se protéger, lance-t-il. Le gouvernement devrait vous faire
confiance à ce sujet.»
http://www.gamealmighty.com/story-individual/story/Thompson_Targets_Microsoft_in_Latest_Crusade/
En
parenthèse, quand j'ai eu mon centre de jeux en réseaux pendant deux ans, ont à
fait un reportage a Radio-Canada sur la violence dans les jeux et toutes les
études démontrent que les jeux vidéos sont bénéfiques, contrairement à ce que
disent le mainstream (FOX surtout) et qu'un adolescents n'est pas plus motivé à
se mettre à tirer plein de monde parce qu'il joue a des jeux violents. Au
contraire, ça permet de passer ses frustrations plus facilement et de se
défouler. Absolument aucune étude bien montée n'appuie le point qui lie la
violence dans le monde et la violence dans les jeux vidéos. Il faut que la
personne ait déjà une prédisposition à agir ainsi et le déclancheur peut être
absolument n'importe quoi, incluant les jeux, de se faire bousculer dans la cour
d'école, de perdre sa job, de se faire sacrer la par sa blonde, etc.
My
two cents…
Daniel
P.S. : Fox News décrit Jack
Thompson comme étant un « school shooting expert »… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weG7A4lTGtg
Ce gars la ne connais tellement rien! Il parle qu'un tireur
s'habillait comme son héro dans Counterstrike... Ceux qui ont joué à ça savent
très bien qu'il n'y à pas de héro dans Counterstrike, y'a deux équipes et c'est
tout...
Written by: David Chapman
Attorney and anti-gaming activist Jack Thompson has been hitting the media circuit with a vengeance recently, due to the tragic events that took place earlier this week on the campus of Virginia Tech. Yesterday, Thompson issued a press release predicting that video games would be found to have been a contributing factor in the shootings. The Washington Post stated that the shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, had reportedly been "a fan of violent video games, particularly Counterstrike, a hugely popular online game published by Microsoft, in which players join terrorism or counterterrorism groups and try to shoot each other using all types of guns." Although it seems that the Post has since removed that statement, as well as any references to Counterstrike or any other video game, from its article, it was more than enough to get fuel Thompson's fire.
This afternoon, Game Almighty received an email from Thompson, which included an open letter sent to Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. The letter reads as follows:
April 18, 2007
Bill Gates
Microsoft
1 Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052 Via Fax and e-mail
Dear Mr. Gates:
On Monday, April 16, at 3:10 pm, I was a guest, as I often have been in the past, on the Fox News Channel. News anchor Bill Hemmer asked me to profile the Virginia Tech rampage killer. I did so, noting that until that day the worst school massacre in world history was at the hands of Robert Steinhaeuser, who literally trained on the Microsoft on-line, hyper-violent shooter game, Counterstrike. I mentioned your company's game by name. I explained that the rehearsal for such a massacre is key to being able to pull it off, as efficiently as Cho, whose name we didn't even know at the time. Cho and Steinhaeuser were able to do what they did the first time because it was not the first time. This is why the military uses this same virtual reality simulation to train soldiers to want to kill and how to kill calmly, as the witnesses of Cho said he did.
Sure enough, last night I was doing a west coast radio interview when the host said to me, "Mr. Thompson, you are right. The Washington Post is reporting right now the following:
'Several Korean youths who knew Cho Seung Hui from his high school days said he was a fan of violent video games, particularly Counterstrike, a hugely popular online game published by Microsoft, in which players join terrorism or counterterrorism groups and try to shoot each other using all types of guns.'"
I thus went back on the Fox News Channel, and Bill Hemmer and I explained not only that I was right about your game figuring in the Virginia Tech massacre but also that the Washington Post excised the above excerpt from the story this morning. That is yet another story. The bad news for the Post however is that you can still get the excised excerpt at http://www.washingtonpost.com/...AR2007041700563_3.html?hpid=topnews . Thus, the cat is out of the bag, and his paw prints are still on the bag. Is this a great Internet, or what?
As you know, I similalry [sic] went on NBC's Today Show with the DC Beltway Sniper still unidentified and at-large a few years ago and told Matt Lauer and the nation that the triggerman would most likely be a teen video gamer trained on a sniper video game. The tarot card was a clue, but there were other clues. I was right, as Malvo trained on your Microsoft game, Halo. NBC reported that three months later, and it was part of the criminal trial of Malvo.
Mr. Gates, your company is potentially legally liable the harm done at Virginia Tech. Your game, a killing simulator, according to the news that used to be in the Post, trained him to enjoy killing and how to kill. You knew five years ago that your on-line game, Counterstrike, so clearly figured in the massacre by a student in Erfurt that the event and the game impacted the race for Chancellor in Germany at the time!
Yet, here you are, five years after "Erfurt," still marketing Counterstrike. having done nothing to disable the server(s) for this mass murder simulator, and it looks like "Virginia Tech" is a consequence. There's more going on in the world than Vista. Just ask the bereaved Virginia Tech families.
Mr. Gates, pull the plug on Counterstrike today, or do we need more dead to convince you? "Virginia Tech" was the 9-11 of school shootings, and it appears Microsoft is in the middle of it, in more ways than one.
Regards, Jack Thompson
Unfortunately, there are at least two glaring issues to be found in Thompson's latest letter. First, as mentioned earlier, The Washington Post article referenced by Thompson has since been edited to remove any references to Counterstrike and any other video game. Second, while Microsoft did publish the Xbox version of Counterstrike, the game was originally developed by Valve Software, with Vivendi Universal handling the publication of the game on the PC.
Game Almighty is still trying to convince Thompson to share his views with our readers. While the offer to speak remains open, there has been no further word from Thompson on if he will accept.
