18311810
submission
frontwave writes:
I can’t believe that in a free society we can no longer use our money to support an organization that promotes free speech and abhors secrecy.
I’m really concerned with the public complacency about the recent blocking of donations to Wikileaks by the biggest bank in the US: Bank of America, one of the leading credit card companies: Mastercard and the largest online payment provider: PayPal.
I don’t completely agree with Wikileaks' actions but, as of today, no lawsuit has been filed against the organization in any court of law, it has not been declared by any country or international organization as a terrorist group, and there is no court order anywhere in the world to freeze their bank accounts. But if I try to go to BoA with my money, and I ask them to make a wire transfer to Wikileaks account in Switzerland, they will refuse to do it.
Their PayPal account has been suspended, and Mr. Osama Bedier, a PayPal Vice President, explaining his company’s decision, said, “on Nov. 27, the State Department — the U.S. government, basically — wrote a letter saying the WikiLeaks activities were deemed illegal in the United States.” However that letter from the State Department did not argue that publication of the documents by WikiLeaks, or any media organization, would be illegal. Instead, it says that the documents “were provided in violation of U.S. law” to WikiLeaks, which means that the State Department considered the original leak of the documents to Mr. Assange’s organization to have been a criminal act.
"We must know all the facts and hear all the alternatives and listen to all the criticisms. Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors. For the Bill of Rights is the guardian of our security as well as our liberty." — John F. Kennedy
18308336
submission
frontwave writes:
The New Year, 2011, is just around the corner and, now that Christmas is over, a lot of people are beginning to contemplate a New Year’s resolution.
Success happens when large, not clearly defined goals, are broken into small enough steps, like a marathon training plan—with daily goals and weekly goals. And probably most importantly, I always make room for failure, as long as I stay the course 90% of the time, the occasional failure doesn’t matter and maybe it’s critical to a goal’s success to realize that.
18195632
submission
frontwave writes:
Reading to me is a warm experience—paperback or hard cover book in my lap, a cup of tea or coffee on a side table, and an opportunity to unplug from the glare of electronic devices. If a novel is enthralling, I can imagine reading it for hours on paper. Electronic screens are irritating to me.
18081306
submission
frontwave writes:
This shift in habits is very good in the long run for all of us. In our consumer culture of the past decades, we have consumed new products at an embarrassing rate, leaving mountains of cast-off items in landfills and junkyards and, regrettably, basements and closets filled with discarded junk.
Pickier consumers, I hope, will also equal better quality goods in the long run. Too many products hit the market at an attractive price but with disappointing long-term performance. How many times have you had to replace appliances in the last 10 years—the kind of items that used to last for decades? Vacuum cleaners are a good example.
18029188
submission
frontwave writes:
Is the US government going to shut down the New York Time’s website, freeze their accounts, and prosecute their editors? By the same token they have collaborated with Wikileaks in disclosing confidential information. Are the European governments going after The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, El Pais?
In a recent editorial, The Nation’s editors say “By and large WikiLeaks has come to embrace the ethics that guide traditional news organizations' disclosure of secrets, and it should be afforded the same protections.”, and add “Critics characterize WikiLeaks' actions as indiscriminate document dumps, but at press time WikiLeaks had released only 1,095 cables, almost all vetted and redacted by its partner news organizations. WikiLeaks even asked the State Department to help redact the cables before they were released. It refused.” In the same editorial they point out “Over the past decade, our leaders have come to see secrecy as a casual right instead of a rare privilege.”
17988700
submission
frontwave writes:
The human brain seems to have a limitless capacity to imagine new tools and devices to create and destroy. But the power to shut down information systems or hijack data, thereby impacting millions of people, wreaking havoc without spilling a drop of blood, makes even modern warfare with state-of-the-art weapons systems and “smart” bombs look archaic and ridiculously crude and ineffective.
17925106
submission
frontwave writes:
they have sold your PC to the highest bidder long before you take it out of the box. Instead of having Windows defaults or your own preferences, the system is set up to maximize the profits of the computer maker and its business partners at the expense of your convenience
17853362
submission
frontwave writes:
I am sure a good number of people are as bothered as I am by the over-commercialization of Christmas that there seems to be no escape from. This Apple iPhone ad for example, lights up my 11 year-old daughter’s face
17823028
submission
frontwave writes:
Even though economics and moral science employs each its own principles in its own sphere, it is, nevertheless, an error to say that the economic and moral orders are so distinct from and alien to each other that the former depends in no way on the latter... "Our Economy is not efficient because it produces a lot of stuff. It's efficient because it satisfies our needs"
17793762
submission
frontwave writes:
How many of you are there screaming at your system performance? Toolbars, Anti-Virus, Internet files, etc. slow your system performance.. check the latest tools and tips to clean up your system and recover the speed...
17689536
submission
frontwave writes:
May your belly always be full and the belly of your enemies a little fuller.
I already have a visual layout of my plate, strategically plotted out to try, yes, try to do some pre-emptive damage control before the fork hits my mouth.
17668094
submission
frontwave writes:
Transforming your enterprise applications into mobile apps isn't easy, especially when there are so many mobile platforms to work with — here are two tools that can make the job easier
17610704
submission
frontwave writes:
Though obviously technology is not the cause for behaviors that existed in society before mobile phones and social networking sites, studies are making the connection and assumptions about what the link might mean. But it seems there is a simpler reason behind the hyper-texting connection: hyper-texters are attention cravers. Having the ability to constantly connect with peers and receive feedback and affirmation is addictive.
17588030
submission
frontwave writes:
3D simulation is making its way into the enterprise and on to the corporate desktop with games and exercises that allow users to explore, experiment, and make decisions
17585016
submission
frontwave writes:
The European Union Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, Kristalina Georgieva, launched yesterday an Urgent Appeal to all Member States for Help to Haiti to alleviate the effects of the Cholera Epidemic affecting the country.
As of Nov. 14th the number of deaths is estimated at 1034 and 17,000 people are hospitalized.
