meta-roj

still more leaks in the solid pursuit of truth from the swift vets. this time, they’re not just abusing blogs to promote their message, they’re claiming endorsements from people who, frankly, aren’t endorsing their position.

Columbus swift boat vet angry about letter [billings gazette, september 1, 2004]

Swift boat veteran Bob Anderson of Columbus is ticked.

It bothers him that Sen. John Kerry’s swift boat history has become such a political hot potato. But he’s even more irritated that his name was included – without his permission – on a letter used to discredit Kerry.

…

“After reading the letter,” Anderson said, “it kind of got under my skin. I had never come across a situation where someone used my name without my support or approval. It’s not a very comforting feeling.”

What’s worse, he said, he disagrees with the letter.

“Had they asked me to use my name, I wouldn’t have allowed them to,” he said.

ah, but they didn’t ask. nor did they ask when they decided to co-opt weblogs to draw attention to their own discussion forums. sure, this group of veterans may have served honorably in vietnam, and they may not have participated in any criminal acts or human rights violations while they were on tour, but these days, they don’t serve their stated goal of pursuing truth very honorably, do they?

…and with the field of online music stores expanding recently, apple’s upped the ante with an affiliate program offering a 5% kickback for dropping itunes links all over your corner of the web.

the story from the geek side and the business side. sorta.

don’t forget my own contribution to the field.

in case you’re interested in what is hot in the uk, the bbc is doing official download charts now.

today was the first day of school in the district of columbia, and when the 900-or-so students of eastern high school showed up for class, they were turned away because the school schedule wasn’t ready. preparing a high school master schedule is a hellish adventure. this i know from first-hand experience.

washington dc has an “incoming superintendent of schools” (and the effort to track that guy down is really a whole story unto itself), so the acting superintendent got to do the duty – and, for what may be the first time in history, heads rolled in a public school system after a major screwup.

the principal of the school, the assistant superintendent of the high school division and someone from the it department were all canned within hours. not bad for the first day. by the end of the school year, maybe they can get rid of the rest of the dead weight in the system.

yesterday, maciej posted his audioblogging manifesto, and it’s gotten some pretty good traction around the echo chamber of the blogosphere.

i, on the other hand, have to be different. i’m not going to mash it or quote it or transcribe it. no, i’m going to get all scientific on you instead.

Study: Writing Better Than the Phone to Contact ET [reuters, september 1, 2004]

Writing, rather than phoning, is probably the best way to contact extraterrestrials, American scientists said on Wednesday.

(more from national geographic here).

of course, professor rose is talking about an entirely different issue [with free comic!]. it vaguely reminds me of a consulting gig long ago where i recommended fedex and backup tapes over a terribly expensive data link option, and the “netflix moves more data every day than the whole internet” story. anyway, back to the original point:

audioblogging for aliens is silly.

and it’s all scientifical and stuff.

First They Caged the Terrorists

First they caged the Terrorists
and I did speak out
because I was an American.
Then they caged the Iraqis
and I did speak out
because I was an American.
Then they caged the Protesters
and I did speak out
because I was an American.
When they cage me
i hope there is an American left
to speak out for me.

Nous sommes tous Américains

social software, gaming technology and the power of groups for political comment…

Video games find their political voice [bbc news, august 30, 2004]

Many of them are media professionals for whom the net has become an essential tool for political organisation.

“It’s because it’s a many-to-many medium, whereas traditional politics is done one-to-many – from Gates to many, from Murdoch to many, from Berlusconi to many and so on,” said Alex Foti, from political activist group ChainWorkers.

“It is a way of harnessing the wisdom and vitality of the crowds,” he explained to BBC’s Click Online programme.

chainworkers and molleindustria.

newsgaming‘s september 12th and madrid.

i’m not sure how you hand-recount a touch-screen machine, but it seems that someone might have to figure out how to do it.

Fla. judge rules that ban on touchscreen hand recounts violates state law [ap via usa today, august 27, 2004]

A state rule barring the 15 Florida counties with touchscreen voting from conducting manual recounts is at odds with state law, which requires hand recounts in some close elections, a judge ruled Friday.

i’m ok with the voting on paper and counting by hand approach to elections. i don’t think we need the results in minutes. i think we need the right results.

airman