If you’re a company that wants to do business in China then you have to play by the Chinese Government’s rules. If you provide search results, that means you have to adhere to their strict censorship rules.

I think that sucks, but China is a BIG market and when your competitors are there, it’s got to be tough to resist the temptation. Google, MSN and Yahoo! are all there and playing by the rules. Personally, I don’t think American companies should be doing business someplace where they have to act in a manner that is diametrically opposed to very core American values, such as the freedom of speech. The high road isn’t littered with big piles of cash however, so I don’t actually expect major corporations to take it.

Unfortunately, things are getting a little more alarming than just blocking certain search results. Yahoo! in particular has been involved with the jailing of at least three Chinese dissidents. In the most recent case, Jiang Lijun was jailed after Yahoo! handed over a draft email that had not yet been sent. I’d like to think that Yahoo! was just complying with some form of a subpoena-like demand and not pro-actively policing their users’ communications.

The draft e-mail, titled Declaration, was similar to manuscripts called Freedom and Democracy Party Program and Declaration of Establishment, recovered from a computer and a floppy disk owned by two other Internet activists, the verdict said.

The information proved that Jiang and the other activists were planning to “make preparations for organizing a party and to use violence to overthrow the Communist Party,” the verdict said.

Dissident isn’t an inaccurate label for Jiang, but I’m sure, depending on your point of view, any of several labels might apply. Activist. Terrorist. Revolutionary. I don’t claim to know every facet of the story, but by American standards, perhaps he should be considered a Hero.

That, of course, would make Yahoo! a villain.

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I’ve voted for Senator Feinstein several times now. That may be ending soon.

Via Boing Boing:

Diane Feinstein constituents - say no to banning MP3 streaming!: Cory Doctorow:
A Pledgebank campaign is looking for constituents of California Senator Diane Feinstein to sign on to vote against her if she keeps on supporting the PERFORM act, which will ban MP3 streaming and mandate DRM for Internet audio.

Link

(Thanks, Bri!)

I encourage you to go read what the EFF has to say about this. I’ve also read what Senator Feinstein has said on her own page. After doing a little more research, I can say with the utmost confidence that I am definitely against the PERFORM act and I think it’s a bad idea. I’ve signed the pledge publicly stating so, even though I don’t expect the pledge to do much directly. What I do hope, however, is that it generates more awareness regarding the issue.

Get comfy, kids. I learned something astonishing recently and I want to tell you all about it.

The banana is proof of Intelligent Design, and therefore, by logical extension, proof of the existence of God.

Kirk Cameron and his evangelist friend Ray Comfort have a series of materials to help the Saved convert their friends and family. The ministry they’ve put together is called The Way of The Master. (I can’t tell if that sounds more like a Chow Yun Fat movie or an ancient text by Sun Tzu.)

Anyways, they have these videos. One of the videos is about Atheists. (Hey! That’s me! Well, at least until I heard about the bananas!) In this video, Ray Comfort (isn’t that the most warm and inviting name ever?) explains how because someone made a soda can, so must all things have a maker. He explains this to establish the playing field so that we know what kind of brilliant thinker he is. Then, he explains how the banana is the atheist’s nightmare.

Allow me to repeat that last part in case you were skimming: The banana is the atheist’s nightmare.

He explains this by pointing out that the ridges on the banana, three on top and two below, match the “grooves” of your hand as you hold it. This proves that “the banana and hand are perfectly made, one for the other.” Some other features are that it has a non-slip surface, a pull tab to open it, a biodegradable wrapper that is “perforated” and folds down gracefully over your hand, a top which is just the right shape for the human mouth and it’s curved towards the face.

All of that is simply irrefutable proof that it must have been made by God. Right? See for yourself. The full episode is on Google Video here (28:37). Or, you can check out just the banana segment of the episode here (02:07).

Well, some skeptics have replied with one word: Pineapple.

Pretty clever, but I’m so convinced by the banana argument, what do I do? It’s too early to have my faith shaken so severely… OH! I know! The pineapple is obviously the fruit of the devil! Right? What? No?

That’s the last time I let Kirk Cameron be my spiritual guide.

I do think Ray’s partially right about the atheist’s nightmare bit… personally, I think it’s Ray Comfort in a banana suit.

Did you ever wonder if those asshole jocks who bullied kids in high school ever became real, worthwile human beings out in the real world? No, not if they become professional atheletes, apparently. Thanks for the newsflash, Ricky Manning Jr. Good to know you’re still the same troglodyte your probably were in high school.

From the article:

According to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times, Los Angeles Police Department detective Robert Lewis said a group of people — including Manning — attacked a man in a Denny’s restaurant after teasing him for working on a laptop computer.

“The group began by making comments that the victim looked like a geek or a nerd,” Lewis said, according to the Sun-Times.

The newspaper quoted Lewis saying the victim complained to a Denny’s manager. He was then punched in the face, then punched and kicked by multiple attackers until losing consciousness.

One can only hope that the law comes down on the right side of this, and that then the victim takes it to civil court and scores big. Oh, I suppose I could also hope that Ricky Manning Jr is hit by a bus… after being dumped by the NFL and his fiancé.

Hrm, I also wouldn’t be too broken up if his website ( I think it’s <dickheadfootballjock.com> ) got hacked and his email ( mailto:fanmail@manning24.com) spammed to the point of no return. Of course, I wouldn’t condone that sort of thing.

At any rate, there had better be serious repercussions to acting like an immature high-school bully out in the real world.

(And you thought getting robbed was the only danger in using a laptop in public.)

04-22-06_1659, originally uploaded by r3v||cls.

The Maker Faire is this weekend in San Mateo. Annette and I drove up to take a look around and visit with Toast and Jillian.

The pic shown here is them showing off a shopbot robot and their wooden wares. They use the shopbot along with 3d and plotting software to do some pretty cool stuff. See their kickass products at BecauseWeCan.org.

The faire has a great vibe. Very casual and friendly with an awesome blend of freaks and geeks of all walks. Where else do you get to see everything from robots, to knitting, to legos, to art cars, to Woz on a Segway? If you can make it there tomorrow, I suggest you do. If not, plan to go next year and we will see ya there.

Warner Brothers is FINALLY releasing Animaniacs on DVD. I’ll be pre-ordering shortly.

Thanks to #!/usr/bin/girl for the heads up!

Boo is home., originally uploaded by r3v||cls.
New look for Boo?

So, I brought Boo home today. He’s still shaved in several places and so I thought it was time to take an unflattering picture. (He actually looks a little better than the picture when he’s walking around or eating… but I waited for the more unflattering shot possible. heh.)

The last 48 hours have been a real rollercoaster. Two nights ago the prognosis was a bad as it could be with out being 100% negative. The next morning, it was almost completely reversed and he’s been on the upswing since.

So, he’s home and doing a lot better. He started grooming himself once I got him home, which is a good sign. He’s on a regimen of pills, and I expect that to be really fun over the next few days.

It’s been a tough week. He’s a fairly small animal, but it’s amazing how much space he takes up in my home. My apartment has been very empty without him.

So, on that note… thanks for all the well wishes and inquiries to his well-being. I hope this concludes my series of entries on Boo. :)

The Post-Rapture Post bills themselves as the postal service of the Saved. You see, when the rapture comes and all the whackjobs goody-goody faithful are swept into heaven, they will have many friends and family left behind. (Remember, being a good and moral person doesn’t actually secure your spot in Heaven.) So, the Post-Rapture Post is a service that will, for a small fee, deliver messages from the Saved to those left behind.

So, if you’re pretty sure about your place in heaven and want to send a message to your friends and family that just didn’t believe hard enough, head on over to the site. Or, maybe you want to send a “told you so” postcard to that silly Jew next door or the stubborn atheist down the street. Yes, they really have “told you so” cards. Most of their messages are less spiteful, however.

The great thing about the service is that you can be sure it will still be up and running after the rapture because it’s run by atheists.

PS: Hey, here’s a thought. Maybe the Rapture already happened and everyone who believes in it who is still here just didn’t believe enough. Maybe it happened in 1937 and Amelia Earhart was the only true believer. Hmm.

More information than you ever wanted to know about the health of my cat, but I feel the need to type it out, so deal. Besides, it let’s me update several interested parties at once. If yer not one of them, stop reading now. Read more »