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February 6, 2008 11:14 AM PST
Buzz Out Loud 655: Who cut the cables?
Now, we hear that a fifth Internet cable has been severed in the Middle East. One cable is fine. Even two is not that unusual. But five? Let the conspiracy theories begin! We also review some goings-on with Wikipedia editors, and unveil Sprint's totally-unlimited-everything cell phone plan.
--Tom
Listen now: Download today's podcast
--Tom
Listen now: Download today's podcast
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EPISODE 655 |
TODAY'S LINKS:
TODAY'S VOICE MAIL:
Tammi from South Carolina
Hello, ladies.
Hello, ladies.
Norman from South West Virginia
IPv6 would make NAT unnecessary.
IPv6 would make NAT unnecessary.
Anonymous
Stop talking about Apple.
Stop talking about Apple.
Anonymous 2
eBay procedure.
eBay procedure.
FORUMS:
TODAY'S E-MAIL:
U.S. and India sign Space Exploration Cooperation agreement...
Excerpt:
Actually, there are some "homegrown" technologies that the Indian Space Research Organization has developed is rather impressive in its cost- effectiveness. I could benefit both parties to use the technologies on U.S. design/built vehicles.
Best,
Shalin
Excerpt:
According to the framework agreement, the two agencies will identify areas of mutual interest and seek to develop cooperative programs or projects in Earth and space science, exploration, human space flight and other activities. The agreement replaces a soon-to-expire agreement signed on Dec. 16, 1997, which fostered bilateral cooperation in the areas of Earth and atmospheric sciences.Now, making Indian cuisine "space rated" will likely be quite a challenge ;)
Actually, there are some "homegrown" technologies that the Indian Space Research Organization has developed is rather impressive in its cost- effectiveness. I could benefit both parties to use the technologies on U.S. design/built vehicles.
Best,
Shalin
Justice for eBay!
Howdy Buzz crew, Mike the graphic designer from College Station here.
You mentioned yesterday that eBay was considering removing the ability of sellers to leave negative buyer feedback. Tom said he thought it was a bad idea--and I have to tell you, Tom, you're wrong. Dead wrong. Dum, dum, dum!
Seriously, I've been waiting for something like this for years. Under the current system, 1,000-item sellers hold feedback over the heads of regular buyers like a piece of digital blackmail. First of all, they will not grant feedback until they get it--a subtle but unmistakable message that it better be positive. And If Joe user is dissatisfied and does give the seller negative feedback, what does a mega-seller really lose? .02 percent of his rating? While a buyer who's bought fifty or less items in years loses major credibility. Just a few months ago I bought battery covers for my phone, using an instant payment. They were blemished on arrival and clearly photoshopped in the ad, so I left negative feedback. The seller then left me negative feedback, after I gave him an instant paypal payment, literally granting him instant gratification. His note only said "bad buyer", proving that his feedback was a pure act of spite.
I applaud eBay for its move empowering buyers. Perhaps a softer system might agree with Tom--forcing sellers to leave feedback first would give buyers the freedom to fairly judge while still keeping feedback levels even--but I for one will be happy to judge fairly and without fear. Justice comes to the Streets of eBay!
Thanks all,
Mike
Fightin' Texas Aggie, class of 2010
Howdy Buzz crew, Mike the graphic designer from College Station here.
You mentioned yesterday that eBay was considering removing the ability of sellers to leave negative buyer feedback. Tom said he thought it was a bad idea--and I have to tell you, Tom, you're wrong. Dead wrong. Dum, dum, dum!
Seriously, I've been waiting for something like this for years. Under the current system, 1,000-item sellers hold feedback over the heads of regular buyers like a piece of digital blackmail. First of all, they will not grant feedback until they get it--a subtle but unmistakable message that it better be positive. And If Joe user is dissatisfied and does give the seller negative feedback, what does a mega-seller really lose? .02 percent of his rating? While a buyer who's bought fifty or less items in years loses major credibility. Just a few months ago I bought battery covers for my phone, using an instant payment. They were blemished on arrival and clearly photoshopped in the ad, so I left negative feedback. The seller then left me negative feedback, after I gave him an instant paypal payment, literally granting him instant gratification. His note only said "bad buyer", proving that his feedback was a pure act of spite.
I applaud eBay for its move empowering buyers. Perhaps a softer system might agree with Tom--forcing sellers to leave feedback first would give buyers the freedom to fairly judge while still keeping feedback levels even--but I for one will be happy to judge fairly and without fear. Justice comes to the Streets of eBay!
Thanks all,
Mike
Fightin' Texas Aggie, class of 2010
Tom Merritt appears on
CNET TV, specializing in help and how-to and the ever popular Top 5
lists. He also co-hosts CNET's The Real Deal podcast. 
Jason Howell can
often be found producing Buzz Out Loud from the audio studios at CNET,
updating XML feeds from the comfort of his cubicle, and saying "uh-oh"
from time to time. 
The router could provide the same security, however, by just not allowing unsolicited connections to any of the IPv6 devices on the private network.
Just wanted to bring to your attention that the proper word to refer to people of Islamic faith is "Muslim" and not "Islamic" or "islamics"
Being a Muslim myself, here I was basking in the warm glow that our 15 seconds of fame has at least enlightened the world on how to properly address us.
And this coming from people living in California and New York, two of the most densely populated Muslim areas in North America.
Now, there's this whole issue with the naming of cultures, what they enjoy being called and what they don't. There are derogatory names that are *meant* to be insulting, and then there are other terms coined by "community A" that describe "community B" that are not meant to be insulting but also not really welcomed by "community B" either, right?
I always enjoy understanding the basic, native terms for a community - Muslim, Desi, Latino, Dutch, etc. (correct me if I'm mistaken on these, please). There are surely more specific terms for "sub-communities", but the higher level terms are generally respected by the communities the term describes. Again, ultimately it's an issue of respect and an issue of clearly communicating what the terms mean and how they are received.
For further consideration, eventually, a word (any word) gets used enough an seeps into the mainstream tongue and is accepted. Ask anyone who writes dictionaries - check out this entertaining video:
http://www.podnova.com/channel/11359/episode/207/
http://www.ted.com/speakers/view/id/143
Best,
Shalin
Just in reference. That group that Natelie mentioned about Muslim group on facebook. (in which is merely against the "F*** Islam" etc, groups since that clearly violates Facebook's TOS:
"Note: groups that attack a specific person or group of people (e.g. racist, sexist, or other hate groups) will not be tolerated. Creating such a group will result in immediate termination of your Facebook account."
http://ucsc.facebook.com/editgroup.php?new
At the bottom! Cheers
Btw DeBeep, I googled 'islamist' and it came back with over 6 million hits, so I think (some of us) we can safely use the word. There is a clear differentation between both words and in the context they are used. No one would ever say that Kareem from the Lakers is an islamist. And you never say a 'muslim terrorist group' either.
You can call Al Quaeda terrorist Ayman Al-Zawahiri (In 1993 he toured the California mosques speaker circuit as "Dr. Abdul Mu'iz," says Wiki.) who operated terrorist training camps throughout Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey and Bosnia an islamist. I dont think he would be offended. Of course, some words offend some people by their very existence, like 'dhimmi'.
Let's not start a polemic on PC speech. Her errors are in elocution/delivery, not vocabulary.
Thanks for the input. Indeed, in the current socio-political lingo the term "islamist" has heavily been used to represent a specific and ( hardliner/fanatic ) group of muslims. This is evident from the many websites and speaches of extreme right wingers.
As per wikipedia, islamism is a term that denotes a set of political ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Thus by this definition majority of muslims can be considered islamists. I accept that not a lot of people (including muslims ) actually understand the correct meaning of this term.
My outburst was mainly due to the seemingly apparent ignorance about Islam and muslims by intelligent people living in very culturally diverse regions. Thinking back, this may have been merely a slip of tongue or an attempt to use some politically correct term.
Just to add, i do not want this to turn into a political discussion thread. I replied to clarify some terms and what I was thinking.
That's a crazy way to determine anything, I mean, seriously, a google fight to determine truth/accuracy? And just because knuckle-heads say "Islamics" doesn't mean it is correct---they are called Muslims, this isn't really controversial. What is even more troubling, however, is Natalie's lack of intelligence regarding the issue (or most things, but that is another story). Muslims do not believe that anything with a soul ("which includes animals") cannot be depicted---I think she is getting Islam mixed up with her latest hot yoga session. I'll point you to the Wikipedia to offer some insight (hey, it's better than googling to see which has more!): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depictions_of_Muhammad
It's only tech journalism, but it's journalism nonetheless, and spreading falsehoods to a wide audience is a journalistic sin.
Just because a lot of people use it, doesn't mean it's right.
A word about Windows 7. According to Leo and Paul on the TWiT Windows Weekly podcast, when new Windows versions are in development, they always look like the previous versions of Windows in the early stages as the graphical interface is one of the last things they do. So, while it looks like Vista now, it may or may not look like Vista when it's finally released. Also, they said the release date is currently set for 2010 or late 2009.
Keep up the good work guys!
As a muslim, I just don't see why some of us peeps keep bashing our own beliefs onto the rest of the world (that worshipping in front of images is prohibited)... nonetheless I can envision some 6th grader having to write a paper on Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) and just right clicking the image into the paper ... fast forward a few years and the general population embeds a jpeg as the true representation of our prophet (p.b.u.h.). and/or religion.
Case in point the comment from Papa Chango, just because 'islamist' googled 6M times shouldn't make it a de facto standard for accurate discourse.
Great show, love the well traveled panel (Dubai, Turkey, etc) to give it a global internet perspective.
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by keylargodave
February 7, 2008 2:09 PM PST
- To the guy who is tired of hearing about Apple stories. I personally am tired of listening to stories about Windows, Xbox and Playstation. While we're at it, I don't want to hear any more stories about DRM or Network Neutrality.
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(13 Comments)Apple is in the news and they talk about it.