[E.O.M.S.]

Monday, 17 May 2010

Hypochondria and Google - such a great combination...

Self diagnosis

AAAAGH!

Berliner Peter Lardong makes chocolate records

As Facebook Takes a Beating, a Brutal Movie Is Set to Make Things Much Worse

A passage from Sorkin's The Social Network screenplay.

Ever since its launch in 2004, Facebook has rolled along like a juggernaut. Users occasionally protest its policies and privacy changes, but the social network shrugs them off and just gets bigger and bigger.

Something different is afoot now. There was no immediate, intense reaction to what CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled at the f8 conference on April 21: systems that insinuated Facebook across the entire Internet. The earliest responses, in fact, showed something like awe. "Google had better watch out. There may be a new sheriff in web town," TechCrunch wrote.

But over the next few weeks, sparked by a series of security flaws, serious unrest began to percolate—seemingly from all corners. That includes:

a letter of concern from four U.S. senators,
a filing with the Federal Trade Commission by 15 privacy groups,
grave op-eds from the influential people at TechPresident, Wired, Thomas Baekdal, GigaOM, and elsewhere,
helpful information to make sense of Facebook's evolution, including a timeline from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and a clever infographic from an IBM researcher,
and the launch of an idealistic NYU startup, Diaspora, to cheers—and a surprising groundswell of donations.

Later today, Facebook is reportedly holding an all-staff meeting to address escalating concerns about the company's approach to privacy. This comes on the heels of a less-than-successful Q&A session between a Facebook VP and readers at nytimes.com, which came off as insincere at best and Orwellian at worst.

Nick Summers @'Newsweek'
Read the script
HERE

Israel denies US academic Chomsky West Bank entry

Israel denies US academic Chomsky West Bank entry Noam Chomsky Israel says the denial may be a misunderstanding Renowned US scholar Noam Chomsky has been denied entry to the West Bank by Israeli immigration officials. Prof Chomsky, renowned for his work on linguistics and philosophy, was planning to deliver a lecture at Birzeit University. Prof Chomsky, 82, had been trying to enter from Jordan. An Israeli interior ministry spokeswoman said it was to trying to clear the matter up and allow Prof Chomsky to enter. Prof Chomsky said the officials were very polite but he was denied entry because "the government did not like the kinds of things I say and they did not like that I was only talking at Birzeit and not at an Israeli university too." He added: "I asked them if they could find any government in the world that likes the things I say." Prof Chomsky's Palestinian host for the visit, Mustafa al-Barghouti, told Reuters: "This decision is a fascist action, amounting to suppression of freedom of expression." The interior ministry spokeswoman, Sabine Hadad, said: "We are trying to contact the military to clear things up and if they have no objection we see no reason why he should not be allowed in." Prof Chomsky has frequently spoken out against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

@'BBC'

Wendy Dio's statement

Wendy Dio, wife/manager of legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio (DIO, HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW), has released the following statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET:

"Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45 a.m. [on Sunday] 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away.

"Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all.

"We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us.

"Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss.

"Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever."

It was only a month ago that Dio, 67, spoke about his battle with cancer with the Artisan News Service on the "black carpet" of the Revolver Golden Gods Awards, which took place on April 8 at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles. When asked about how he had been feeling since he was diagnosed with the disease late last year, Dio said, "Well, I feel good and bad at times. It's a long process. Chemotherapy is a... I never realized what a difficult thing it was to go through. It's a real cumulative effect — the more you have, the more it piles up on top and it takes longer and longer to get over it. I find it very difficult to eat. I don't like to eat anyway, so I guess that's OK. But I know I have to. But this makes it very, very hard. But if you're determined to beat it, then you have to go with what you believe is going to beat it for you, and in this case it's that. I go to a great hospital in Houston called M.D. Anderson, which I think is the best hospital in the world, I have the best doctor in the world, Dr. Ajani, who I really trust and I really believe in, so I think I've done all the right things. It makes me feel positive about my life and positive that there is a lot more of it to live."

Earlier this month, HEAVEN & HELL canceled its summer tour plans in Europe due to Dio's treatment for stomach cancer. The band said in a statement that Dio wasn't "well enough to tour this summer. We hope that everyone understands and want to thank fans and industry colleagues for their continuing support at this time."

Ronnie James Dio had performed with ELF, RAINBOW, BLACK SABBATH, and his own band DIO. Other musical projects included the collective fundraiser "Hear 'n Aid". He is widely hailed as one of the most powerful singers in heavy metal, renowned for his consistently powerful voice and for popularizing the "devil's horns" hand gesture in metal culture. He was most recently involved with HEAVEN & HELL, a project which also included former BLACK SABBATH bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice. Their first and only studio album, "The Devil You Know", was released on April 28, 2009.

via 'roadrunnerrecords'

67 years of rock'n roll could never be enough...

RIP Ronnie James Dio.

The man was pure legend in his own right, From Rainbow to Black Sabbath to his own solo career, with many other bands in between. Also made a lasting impression with his hands... Even Obama could only be respectful of this rock icon.

More @'The Guardian'

Sunday, 16 May 2010

Normal service resumed ASAP...

Wanker(s) Alert!

Tony Hayward, BP CEO: Gulf Oil Spill 'Relatively Tiny'

Money quote: It's "relatively tiny" compared to the "very big ocean."

Meanwhile:

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) told the Associated Press his state is ready for tourism dollars -- just don't get too close to the water while waterskiing. "We don't wash our face in it, but it doesn't stop us from jumping off the boat to ski," Barbour said