links for 2009-07-14

"Two ethnic Uighurs have been shot dead by police in Urumqi, capital of China's Xinjiang province, officials have said. A government statement announced that a third "lawbreaker" had been injured in the incident. The police were trying to prevent the three men attacking another Uighur, the government officials said." Of course they were, I trust the Chinese.

"That’s the plan of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the organization that administers the domain name system. Icann already allowed some expansion like .travel and .mobi. Now it is throwing the space after the period wide open. Already there are proposals like .nyc and .eco." No.

"Burma is preparing to release political prisoners to allow them to take part in national elections next year. The move comes at the request of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who visited the country last week. It was announced at the Security Council by Burma's UN envoy Than Swe. He did not say how many of the estimated 2,100 inmates would go free." I wonder why?

"The US budget deficit has moved above $1 trillion (£616bn) for the first time – with three months of the financial year remaining, official data show. The figure compares with $455bn for the whole 2007/8 financial year, but the 2008/9 deficit was expected to soar."

"The US 1st Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Massachusetts law on Friday, allowing a 35-foot safety buffer zone between protestors and abortion clinic entrances. The law, established in 2007, protects clinic patients and staff from harassment. Five anti-choice protesters originally filed the lawsuit on the grounds that the safety zones violate their right to free speech. In 2008, US District Judge Joseph Tauro rejected their request and they filed the most recent appeal."

"The gap between Facebook and MySpace is growing wider in the U.S. In May, Facebook finally caught up to MySpace in unique U.S. visitors and surpassed its rival social network by a smidgeon. Last month, Facebook left MySpace in the dust, according to June data from comScore. Facebook reached 77 million unique visitors for the month of June, rising from 70.28 million unique visitors in May. MySpace had 68.4 million unique visitors in June, dropping from 70.25 million unique visitors in May." Good riddance Facebook.

"HBO and Cinemax will join Comcast’s OnDemand Online trial this summer, giving the cable company’s authentication scheme a high-profile partner. As part of the agreement, 750 hours of content from the two networks will be made available through Comcast.net and Fancast.com." If you have HBO and/or Cinemax through Comcast know get it online.

"Calling renewable energy a strategic industry, China is trying hard to make sure that its companies dominate globally. Just as Japan and South Korea made it hard for Detroit automakers to compete in those countries — giving their own automakers time to amass economies of scale in sheltered domestic markets — China is shielding its clean energy sector while it grows to a point where it can take on the world."

Language in North Korea, very Brave New World.

"Microsoft has launched its latest salvo at Google with a free web-based version of its dominant Office software. Office 2010 will include lightweight versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote when it ships next year." Took you long enough Microsoft.

"With two ocean crashes in one month and no recorders found, Airbus is under considerable pressure. Thomas O. Enders, the company’s chief executive, said two department heads would be assigned to investigate live data transmission, external black boxes and one low-tech but highly relevant response to the loss of Flight 447 — extending the life of the black box pinger."

"The Feds have been examining exclusive wireless carrier deals with handset makers—think AT&T and Apple—but the effort is a bit of a farce. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett says it’s laughable that the wireless industry is anticompetitive and the Feds don’t have to worry about wrecking the wireless industry—Apple already has. The biggest one comes when Moffett argues that the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice are wasting its time reviewing the wireless market—especially AT&T. Why? Apple has taken any power that AT&T has. Sure, AT&T has an exclusive deal with Apple, but the iPhone maker owns the customer relationship and holds all the cards."

Someone got bitch slapped.

"As a U.S. Attorney in Alabama, Sessions' most notable effort was prosecuting three civil rights workers, including a former aide to Martin Luther King Jr., on trumped up charges of voter fraud." Oh calling people prejudiced when you yourself are or were.

"We are close, but have not yet signed off on Windows 7. When we RTM you will most certainly hear it here. As we’ve said all along, we will RTM Windows 7 when it’s ready. As previously stated, we expect Windows 7 to RTM in the 2nd half of July." Not quite RTM'ed.

Overall Bing had a good first month.

"Stephen Fry, a highly respected actor, comedian, writer, presenter and author yesterday admitted to downloading TV shows for free using BitTorrent. Speaking at the iTunes Festival in London last night, Fry told the audience that he’s grabbed episodes of 24 and the series finale of House, starring his former comedy partner Hugh Laurie."

Love in your older years.

"Earlier today, conservative pundit Pat Buchanan suggested that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s husband should murder his daughter’s ex-fiance, Levi Johnston, for saying Palin’s decision to resign came down to “money.”" WTF???

"Most members of the committee followed pattern. Democrats were supportive, while most Republicans — led by Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions — repeated anti-Sotomayor talking points. Graham broke the pattern. His comments were the most significant of the opening session of the confirmation hearing, as they seemed to lay the groundwork for mainstream Republicans to vote to make Sotomayor the first Latina justice to sit on the Supreme Court."

Good news.