Journal Journal: Call for blogging code of conduct
The BBC has picked up on a recent incident and related developments in the blogosphere.
Submission + - Former MPAA Chief Valenti Suffers Stroke
clonehappy writes: Broadcsting & Cable is reporting that former MPAA boss Jack Valenti has suffered a stroke, and is recovering in a Maryland hospital. He is expected to make a full recovery, but it makes you wonder if his related organizations will look at suing stroke victims any differently nowadays?
Submission + - Intel cheap laptop exposed
Jorge Freitas writes: "Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo publish on a blog a full featured photo gallery of the Intel Classmate PC, a copy-cat project of MIT's "$100 Laptop". The pics. shows interesting things, like the writing recognition system, the flash-memory based hardware and a anti-thief software. See more at www.folhasp.com.br/circuitointegrado"
Submission + - Jack Valenti suffers stroke
OTDR writes: OK, maybe this is not purely technical in nature but CNN just posted this news story that long-time MPAA mouth Jack Valenti has been hospitalized following a stroke. Too bad this has happened to the person and not the organization.
Submission + - Jack Valenti has a stroke
An anonymous reader writes: According to CNN , Jack Valenti, the former head of the MPAA and the driving force behind most of the MPAA's current lawsuit friendly policy has suffered a stroke.
Submission + - Tips for avoiding RIAA detection
JeremyDuffy writes: "The RIAA has proven to be merciless and prosecute old people, young children, dead people, and even people without computers. They're full of dirty tricks and aren't afraid to use them. Fight back with some good tips to avoid being detected by the RIAA and their cronies."
Submission + - HP: Load Linux, Lose Waranty
darkonc writes: "Currently highlighted on Groklaw's newsbytes is an article on linux.com about a woman who bought a Compaq laptop and loaded Ubuntu on it. When, some time later, the keyboard started acting up she called the Compaq for warranty repairs..
"Sorry, we do not honor our hardware warranty when you run Linux." she was told. Even an HP PR rep was unable to "do the right thing" when given a couple of weeks to work on it. It looks like HP could be an especially bad vendor for people hoping to avoid Microsoft's Monopoly Tax on arbitrary machines."
"Sorry, we do not honor our hardware warranty when you run Linux." she was told. Even an HP PR rep was unable to "do the right thing" when given a couple of weeks to work on it. It looks like HP could be an especially bad vendor for people hoping to avoid Microsoft's Monopoly Tax on arbitrary machines."
Feed Why the Human Brain Is a Poor Judge of Risk (wired.com)
Submission + - Milwaukee says NO to RIAA
neuron2neuron writes: "Recently, the University of Wisconsin (based in Madison, WI) announced that it would not forward on threatening letters from the RIAA to its students. Now, some of the other schools in the system are going along with it in what can only be seen as a setback to the recording industrys thuggish policies. More at http://torrentfreak.com/milwaukee-says-no-to-riaa/ "
Submission + - There's not much C in Ribena
Bugbear1973 writes: "Global drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline faces a court case today for misleading advertising after two 14-year-olds from New Zealand found its popular blackcurrant drink Ribena contained almost no vitamin C.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/schoolgirls-fi nd-theres-no-c-in-ribena/2007/03/27/1174761419393. html
OK, so it's a bit off topic but don't you just love seeing the 'man' get stung..."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/schoolgirls-f
OK, so it's a bit off topic but don't you just love seeing the 'man' get stung..."
Submission + - Vista copying bug
Submission + - BusinessWeek names top young techies for 2007
An anonymous reader writes: Every year BusinessWeek names the top young tech entreprenuers — this year includes some that plug open source:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/special_rep orts/20070326techsbesty.htm
Submission + - Legal problems for Wikipedia
ToiletDuck writes: "The Wikimedia Foundation has been named in a lawsuit filed by literary agent Barbara Bauer, apparently over her less-than-complimentary Wikipedia biography (mirror). The lawsuit comes in the wake of the resignation of Brad Patrick, Wikimedia's General Counsel and Executive Director. When questioned about Wikipedia's liability in an interview with GC South last year, Patrick stated 'Our belief is that since every post is attributed to an individual, is time-stamped and is retained in the database, the foundation itself is not publishing that content. We view individual editors as responsible and have prominently displayed on every edit page that individuals are responsible for their own contributions. We take the position that we are a service provider and are protected under section 230 [of the Communications Decency Act].'
Should Wikipedia be liable for defamatory information added by its volunteer editors?"
Submission + - Is someone selling 5 Star book reviews?
An anonymous reader writes: Is someone selling 5 Star book reviews?
I noticed a book reviewer named "Midwest Book Review" had several 5 Star book reviews, each of which looked liked book blurbs, not reviews. I then checked out the reviewer at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A14OJS0VWMOSW O/ref=cm_cr_auth/102-4466102-9848954
I wrote Amazon.com the following:
Comments:Dear Amazon,
>
> I love the customer review feature of Amazon.com.
>
> I think a reviewer named "Midwest Book Review" may be abusing the
review process.
>
> It appears they have 31,106 book reviews on your site. The first
200 reviews I looked at all had Five Star ratings. (I only looked
at the first 200 book reviews.)
>
> I have no idea what's going on here, but the sample of reviews I
read seem more like book promotion blurbs than reviews. I'm
wondering if they are selling Five Star reviews to authors.
>
> See http://www.midwestbookreview.com/get_rev.htm
>
> Any abuse of the Amazon.com review process severly weakens my
faith in the review process, which I rely on to make good choices.
>
> I hope you will investigate this matter and find out if the review
process is being abused.
>
> Thanks.
>
Amazon responded:
Thank you for contacting Amazon.com.
We appreciate that you took the time to write to us about this
issue. I have looked into this situation and found that the reviews
posted by Midwest Book Reviewer do not fall outside of our review
guidelines. While we do not condone selling positive book reviews,
we have no way of showing that this is what is happening in this
case and cannot take any action.
We thank you for your interest in our customer reviews. Comments
such as yours help us improve our service and are always
appreciated. Let us know if you have any other concerns.
Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:
************************************************
I am not claiming Midwest Book Review (http://www.midwestbookreview.com/bw/index.htm)
is doing anything wrong. I could not look through all 31,000+ reviews to see if they are all 5 star reviews. The reviews may be honest appraisals. It does, however, look suspicious to me.
I noticed a book reviewer named "Midwest Book Review" had several 5 Star book reviews, each of which looked liked book blurbs, not reviews. I then checked out the reviewer at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A14OJS0VWMOS
I wrote Amazon.com the following:
Comments:Dear Amazon,
>
> I love the customer review feature of Amazon.com.
>
> I think a reviewer named "Midwest Book Review" may be abusing the
review process.
>
> It appears they have 31,106 book reviews on your site. The first
200 reviews I looked at all had Five Star ratings. (I only looked
at the first 200 book reviews.)
>
> I have no idea what's going on here, but the sample of reviews I
read seem more like book promotion blurbs than reviews. I'm
wondering if they are selling Five Star reviews to authors.
>
> See http://www.midwestbookreview.com/get_rev.htm
>
> Any abuse of the Amazon.com review process severly weakens my
faith in the review process, which I rely on to make good choices.
>
> I hope you will investigate this matter and find out if the review
process is being abused.
>
> Thanks.
>
Amazon responded:
Thank you for contacting Amazon.com.
We appreciate that you took the time to write to us about this
issue. I have looked into this situation and found that the reviews
posted by Midwest Book Reviewer do not fall outside of our review
guidelines. While we do not condone selling positive book reviews,
we have no way of showing that this is what is happening in this
case and cannot take any action.
We thank you for your interest in our customer reviews. Comments
such as yours help us improve our service and are always
appreciated. Let us know if you have any other concerns.
Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:
************************************************
I am not claiming Midwest Book Review (http://www.midwestbookreview.com/bw/index.htm)
is doing anything wrong. I could not look through all 31,000+ reviews to see if they are all 5 star reviews. The reviews may be honest appraisals. It does, however, look suspicious to me.
Submission + - Get Vista/Works refunded from Dell with 2 emails!
look@thealternative.ch writes: "Although some people asked for Linux pre-installs and Dell seems to listen (Google cache, survey off since Friday), some still think it will be hard to get at least a naked PC. But what about stripping it naked after you bought it? I managed to get Windows Vista (and a bit more) refunded from Dell Germany last week. The process was surprisingly simple:
- After delivery, ask Dell Support for refund by email
- ???
- Refund!!! (aka "Less profit!!!" for other "personas")
