| |
|
24. september 2007
|
|
Great news for mobile phone users (and aren't we all?)
Delivering a great bitch slap of common sense today is the Open Mobile Terminal Platform - a consortium comprised of manufacturers like LG, Nokia, Samsung and prominent rebadgers such as Vodafone, Orange, 3 and T-Mobile - which declared a consensus on a universal mobile phone charging standard: the humble micro USB.
Also given backing by the USB Implementers' Forum, the choice of micro USB (above right) is an interesting one since while most handsets opt for mini USB (above left), micro's reduced size has greater future proofing for ultra thin handsets and is still capable of supplying both power and data. On top of this there are the environmental benefits of single cable solutions and even financial rewards since money can be consolidated not having to regularly come up with new connectors (or even bundle one?), a saving which could be passed onto the consumer.
There's hardly a day in the office without seeing some desperate soul with a flat mobile asking around if anybody has a charger for Nokia, Sony Ericsson or whatever. One charger to rule them all. Neat.
9:00:20 PM 
|
|
Charles Lane:
I have obtained new documentary evidence regarding Dan Rather's relationship with his former bosses at CBS News.
Obviously, I cannot identify my source. But he told me during a collect call from Sofia, Bulgaria, that he has access to Rather's "personal files" and that his typewriter was built after 1966. To authenticate the document, I showed it to some of my kids' friends, and they said it was awesome.
Here, then, the letter -- written by Dan Rather and dated Nov. 31, 2006:
Read on for a good laugh.
Yes, there is another document making the rounds that suggests that Dan Rather is actually bitter at his former employers. I am referring to the 32-page "lawsuit" in which Rather purportedly accuses various chieftains at CBS of "coercing" him into a false apology for the National Guard broadcast and then muzzling him and starving him of airtime to please the White House.
Clearly, this "lawsuit" is a forgery -- and a pretty crude one at that.
No man in Rather's position would admit that he could be made to apologize for a story he believed was true. A straight-shooting newsman like Dan Rather would have resigned rather than obey an order to lie to the public.
That's a good one.
Dan Rather is out of his mind. Sad.
Links: Dan Rather and the forged memo.
8:06:29 PM
|
|
One of the most exciting, and potentially dangerous, developments in the world right now is the anti-junta demonstrations in Burma lead by Buddhist monks. Now the military rulers threaten a crackdown.
Burma's ruling military junta has warned it is ready to "take action" against Buddhist monks leading mounting protests, state media have reported.
Brig Gen Thura Myint Maung, the minister for religion, issued the warning as Rangoon saw the largest march yet.
He warned monks not to go against Buddhist "rules and regulations".
Monks are highly revered in Burma and any move by the junta to crush their demonstrations would spark an outcry.
Hopefully this will help bring down the junta. The alternative may be a bloodbath.
5:11:55 PM
|
|
In Pakistan, urban men are ignoring the threats from the extremists and rush to the beauty salons.
The trend may be confined to the upper and middle classes, estimated at 20-30 million people, but it illustrates how Western-style media, marketing and celebrity culture are changing Pakistani society. Five years ago most Pakistani men wore only the traditional salwar kameez - a loose-fitting cotton pyjama suit. The standard hairstyle was a short back and sides. Deodorant was considered unmanly. Moisturiser? Forget it.
The same is still largely the case in rural Pakistan. The country’s population of 165 million is 97 per cent Muslim and tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan have become even more conservative as the Taleban force men to grow beards and reject Western fashions.
However, in the big cities of Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar, where dozens of television channels are now available, men are becoming ever more conscious about their clothes, coiffures and complexions – so much so that a recent talk show on Dawn News, a new English-language television channel, asked whether Pakistan was going through a “metro-sexual” revolution.
“It has definitely come up in the past five years – and not just in the upper classes,” Tahir Mohammed, a leading cosmetic surgeon, said. “Society is much more competitive because of the media and other things, so executives, politicians and professionals want to look smart.”
The soft strategy in the war on terrorism works, probably because nobody thought about it as a strategy.
5:09:03 PM
|
|
|
© Copyright 2007 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.10.2007; 17:26:40.
|
|
|
