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I agree with you in general regarding China's pollution problem, but the racist overtones (Egg Foo Young?) are unnecessary.

That said, maybe if you look back at the industrial revolution in "cleaner" countries, we were just as bad. Read accounts of Liverpool in the 18th, 19th and early 20th century. Or how about chemical pollution in the US until the 1970s?

China's position on pollution is no different than what other countries went through... the difference is just one of scale.

This does not mean that China's attitude towards pollution is any more tenable, but it helps if we consider the processes by which other countries cleaned up their acts. Of note, grassroots support for a cleaner environment is problematic in China, given their political system, and the ease by which laws can be overlooked.

But it doesn't reflect well on Americans (or other Westerners) to chastise China while ignoring our own sordid past.

dominux writes "Rumors are already circulating that Microsoft's OOXML has been voted in by the standards board. The Open Sourcerer claims to have results of the ballot on dis29500. According to the site Microsoft managed to flip enough countries to make it stick. 75% of the P members who didn't abstain voted for Microsoft (That is 58% of all the P members). 14% of all the P and O members voted to disapprove it, this includes all the new O members that joined just in time to cast their vote. Norway has asked that their vote be suspended due to voting irregularities, but it would take more than that to make a difference to the result. ZDNet is still playing it cautious, noting that an announcement either way is set to be made on Wednesday."

Two and a half years ago, we wrote about a teenager who sued MySpace following a sexual assault, saying that it was the site's fault that she was assaulted. This despite the fact that she had signed up for the site, lied about her age and the actual assault (obviously) happened outside of MySpace. That's not to say that a crime didn't happen, but it's quite difficult to see how it could possibly be MySpace's fault. In fact, a judge made exactly that point in dismissing the lawsuit last year, noting that MySpace was protected under section 230 safe harbors, and even if it wasn't, it would "cripple" 3rd party communication systems if you could attach liability to them for every crime committed that touched on those services. The judge also pointed out that this seemed like a clear case of a parent trying to blame a big company for her own failings: "If anyone had a duty to protect Julie Doe, it was her parents, not MySpace."

Of course, that's not good enough for the girl and her mother, who have now appealed the case, still claiming that MySpace somehow is responsible. The girl's lawyers claim that MySpace still had a responsibility to protect the girl, even though he doesn't explain how it can protect a girl who lied about her age and then went off to meet with a much older guy in real life. It's difficult to see how that can possibly be MySpace's fault -- but the rule of thumb these days is always sue the big company that has the most money. As for the older guy accused of the sexual assault, he's been indicted, but last we heard, his lawyers were also thinking about blaming MySpace. After all, if the girl is blaming MySpace, then how could it be the guy's fault?

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http://techdirt.com/articles/20080331/172442708.shtml

Google has told the world to expect the first phones with its operating system in the second half of this year, but they might be out sooner rather than later.
http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9901954-37.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Heart damage due to blocked arteries remains the leading cause of disease and death in the Western world, but a Florida State University College of Medicine researcher is helping to open new pathways toward treating the problem.

http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/257204333/080324142708.htm

http://mymindshift.com/blog/what-are-binaural-beats-2/11/

Telvin_3d writes "As a trial project, the CBC has released an episode of "Canada's Next Great Prime Minister" on bittorrent. There are full resolution and mobile versions, both without any form of DRM. As the first North American broadcaster to experiment with bittorrent, they need to see that this is a viable delivery medium. Anyone interested in DRM free media or alternative delivery channels should give this a look to show your support."
http://www.cbc.ca/nextprimeminister/blog/2008/03/download_canadas_next_great_pr.html

http://www.elenanellson.com/business/the-first-and-most-important-thing-you-need-to/

Other Web publishers will likely follow the sports network's lead. But there's a long symbiotic relationship built up over years that will be hard to overturn.
http://www.news.com/8301-10787_3-9901863-60.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Customer service people are informing customers that something occurred during a routine maintenance that brought down site. They have no idea when site will be back up.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9901944-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

The music video game, created by MTV's Harmonix and distributed through Electronic Arts, will be taking the stage on Nintendo Wii consoles this summer.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9901930-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Physicians have demonstrated that children with bilateral Wilms tumor, a cancer of the kidneys, can retain normal function in both kidneys by undergoing a procedure called bilateral nephron-sparing surgery, even when preoperative scans suggest that the tumors are inoperable.

http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/257177101/080324135241.htm

Chris Blanc writes "There's two competing paradigms that are going to define the market for the future: web-based Software as a Service (SaaS), and its nemesis, old software industry styled computing as a service (CaaS).

We're seeing a consolidation of the market now because everyone now owns a computer, and they're all powerful enough to not need upgrading. Instead, the software battle becomes a fight waged from the position of dominance. Now that we've standardized, we need to find out which software works well and repulses viruses the best. Software companies are scrambling to respond, and these two paradigms are the general theories they're using to wage such warfare.

http://www.chrisblanc.org/blog/information-technology/2008/03/24/computing-as-a-service/"
http://www.chrisblanc.org/blog/information-technology/2008/03/24/computing-as-a-service/

BiloxiGeek writes "CNet is reporting the NetFlix site has been down for over 4 hours and there's no estimated restoration time coming from customer service. I've tried it off and on for at least the last four hours and keep getting:
The Netflix web site is temporarily unavailable. Our site is temporarily down. We're working hard to get the site up as soon as possible. Sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience. You can contact Netflix Customer Service at 1-888-638-3549. — Your friends at Netflix"
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9901944-7.html

deepcleanfun writes "Japanese uniform manufacturer Nihon Uni reduced the thickness and density of the ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene fiber (often referred to by DuPont's brand name, "Kevlar") used in military body armor so that it could be flexible enough to serve as everyday clothing. The resulting T-shirts are about three times as strong as those made from cotton fibers, yet are still light enough to be comfortable and machine washable. Guns and gun crime are extremely rare in Japan but knives are often used by robbers — the new protective T-shirts will resist a slashing knife stroke but can still be punctured by a direct thrust."
http://inventorspot.com/articles/new_knife_proof_tshirt_provides_lightweight_protection_11955