I’ve had a Slingbox Pro since a couple of years – waste of money and space. It does have three inputs – but they are dedicated to one single function each: a tuner, a composite input and some sort of HDMI input for the HD signal. It’s not really HDMI: you connect your HDMI cable to a large dongle, which separates the signal into YUV, if I recall correctly. Huge mess of cables behind the unit, of course. Continue reading
The financial industry is like a parasite
From the moment the financial industry is not used to gather capitals to finance productive activities, it is just a totally sterile activity. Its only purpose being the manipulation of money and payment of profits to the manipulators, without actually creating any real wealth. Finance is like a parasite and, like many parasites, it has penetrated so profoundly every cell of our society, that you can’t remove it, without killing the whole economy at the same time. I am all in favour of people and companies making a healthy profit. Continue reading
Telecommuting
The story summarizes well the advantages and pitfalls of telecommuting. I would just add, on the downside, the feeling of isolation a worker can experience, an “us v. them” rivalry which can creep into relations between office bound workers and telecommuters. Also, when personal contacts become too rare, personal relations deteriorate quickly. On the upside, think of the savings in petrol and reduction of pollution brought by a percentage of the workers not commuting every day, less congestion on the roads, etc. In case of epidemics or even more, pandemics, teleworkers can save the day, thanks to the fact that there is no personal contact between lots of people, therefore reducing the risk of infection and re-infection.
Gad Lerner: L’ombra nazista sulla Grecia
Gad Lerner: L’ombra nazista sulla Grecia
Si é sempre colpa di qualcun altro. Che sia l’Europa, gli stranieri, il capitale – sempre lo stesso discorso. Il fatto che i greci – ricchi e poveri – non pagavano le tasse non ha niente a che vedere con la crisi. Il fatto che la burocrazia é totale ed inefficace, neppure. Il fatto che non ci sia neanche un cadastro é tutta colpa dell’Europa. La solita malattia mediterranea: corruzione, lavoro solo per la famiglia e gli amici, mancanza di prospettive per i giovani, mancanza d’investimento nelle infrastrutture, tutta colpa dell’Europa. Viaggiando in Grecia, si vedono dappertutto cartelli sui progetti europei: dalla scarica per la spazzatura, alle strade, porti, ecc. Progetti che hanno dato lavoro e portato soldi nel paese. Se poi sono rubati, é sempre colpa dell’Europa, dell’altro? La Grecia era un paese poverissimo, che ha creduto di essere diventato agiato, tutto d’un colpo, entrando nell’Unione Europea – sempre colpa degli altri? Ma dai, smettiamola di lanciare slogan e cominciamo a pensare ed agire intelligentemente, é l’unico modo di uscire dalla crisi e chiudere il passo agli estremisti.
BBC Countryfile on wind turbines and editorial standards
Today’s feature on Onshore Wind Turbines shown by BBC in Countryfile shows pictures of wind turbines, interviews with people for and against (some of them very emotional). The reporter is shown on top of a wind turbine. Very nice. The Countryfile website links to a map of operational and projected sites from Renewable UK. But nobody has thought about asking the simple question: “If you really don’t want a wind turbine within sight of your village, would you prefer a nuclear, coal or gas powered generator? Wouldn’t that be an eyesore? And, do you realise that, even if those conventional generators are not within the sacrosanct sight of your village, you would still get the pollution generated by their activity?” No, no trace of questions like that. It’s not a matter of taking sides, it’s a matter of exploring more than one side of an issue, just decent journalism.
Or, for that matter, show as well existing or projected nuclear and thermal plants on the Renewable UK map, which would make the map more useful. Bur then, information doesn’t seem to be part of the equation, it’s more about proving a point.
Cult of Mac on magazines and advertising on the iPad
Ryan Faas in Cult of Mac writes about magazine apps and advertising, bemoaning the fact that the experience is, often, akin to reading a PDF edition of a magazine, rather than an all-singing-all-dancing experience iPad Publishers Still Boning Up Magazines And Ads.
El Pais: Así mataban los soldados de Hitler
El Pais writes about the book Soldados del Tercer Reich: Así mataban los soldados de Hitler (in Spanish). British and US intelligence eavesdropped on WWII German prisoners of war to collect information about weapons, organization and morale of the troops. In the process, they collected thousands of transcripts. The authors of the book, Sönke Neitzel and Harald Welzer came across the papers in the British National Archives, where they sifted through the transcripts to compile their book.
Ed Husain in CFR: Jews and Muslims Must Show Unity Against Jihadis
BBC World Have Your Say: Has this week changed France?
From Google+:
“BBC World Have Your Say – 14:21 – Public
Has this week changed France? It been a dramatic few days in France, culminating in the death of the gunman suspected of killing seven people in Al-Qaeda inspired attacks in southern France. Mohammed Merah was killed when police commandos stormed his apartment in Toulouse. The story has sparked a wider conversation about France, its politics and the challenges of a multicultural society. At 1800 GMT we’ll be discussing whether these events have transformed the country.”
BBC World Have Your Say: What are the competing claims over the Falklands?
BBC: What are the competing claims over the Falklands? and discussion on G+
Why would the Falklands suddenly become a priority for Argentina? Does it have anything to do with the government trying to distract its citizens from trouble at home? Continue reading