David Merrick

Tuesday, February 9

Wednesday, December 2

Orwell and Afghanistan

Take a gander at this piece: http://kingsofwar.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/shooting-an-elephant/

Nice parallel, there.

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Monday, November 30

Get Three Amazon MP3 Downloads... For Free

Do you buy digital music? If so, do you iTunes to do so? You really shouldn't.

I own an iPod (actually, there are three in the household) and I think they are pretty amazing lumps of consumer technology, particularly my Touch. However, iTunes is mediocre at best, and I tolerate it only because it works for me - barely.

My biggest issue with iTunes from the start has been the iTunes Music Store. Sure, they own a huge library of music for me to buy, and they do thier level best to make the process simple. However, hidden behind that slick interface is the one thing that I hate in our digital world - Digital Rights Management. I can only use the music I've paid for in ways that Apple approves. I can only share it among five computers (I own and use more than that). I cannot play it on any portable device besides an iPod. That iPod can only associate with one iTunes Library, etcetera, etcetera.

Bah!

However, for a long time, there was no option... until your friendly virtual bookstore threw thier hat in the ring. Did you know that Amazon sells digital music? They do, and their catalog is growing all the time. Did you know that Amazon has a nifty utility (the Amazon Music Downloader) that makes downloading your purchases simple and easy? Yup. Did you know that the Amazon utility will automatically put your new music into iTunes for you? Yup, it's virtually seamless. And here is the real reason you should buy from Amazon... Did you know that Amazon downloads are DRM free MP3 files? Yupper. You can use that music wheverever you want - on you iPod, in iTunes, on your Sansa MP3 player, on your Tivo, etc.

So now you have an opportunity to try Amazon's MP3 service for free. No excuses.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=dm_tw_3forfree?ie=UTF8&docId=1000455181#

Give it a spin, and see what you think. I suspect you will find that it works well and is easy to use. And you will be taking a step to show that you support a business that believes you should use your music the way you want to.

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Thursday, November 5

The Ecological Impact of Pets vs. SUV's

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427311.600-how-green-is-your-pet.html?full=true#

Interesting read, even if I'm not solid on the facts. It sure
*sounds* interesting.

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Google Dashboard... Cool

Exactly what you think it is.

https://www.google.com/dashboard/

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Wednesday, November 4

BlackBerry PhoneSnoop Application

CERT is talking about this proof-of-concept application that turns a
BlackBerry into a listening device.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2009/10/dhs_warns_of_blackberry_snoopi.html?hpid=sec-tech

This may be an... interesting... app to have on your phone.

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Monday, November 2

US Still Developing Counter-terrorism plan for Pakistan

Pakistan Counter-Terror Plan via Dawn.com

The US is still working on a counter-terrorism plan for dealing with Pakistani insurgents and others based in the frontier region. I cannot state this enough... Pakistan is the key to the region, and a solid, workable strategy is going to be the difference between success and failure in the worldwide US 'war on terror'.

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