ambivalent bits

Florida loses e-voting records:
A computer crash erased detailed records from Miami-Dade County's first widespread use of touchscreen voting machines, raising again the specter of election troubles in Florida, where the new technology was supposed to put an end to such problems.

American Candidate: Vote w/Remote:
In conceiving "American Candidate," R.J. Cutler . . . has said he wanted to create an entertainment form that could permit political discourse outside the mainstream.

Baker Botts Deals w/Heat From "Fahrenheit 9/11":
"Fahrenheit 9/11" contains half-a-dozen references to Baker Botts or its partners, and the movie portrays several lawyers at the firm as handmaidens to Bush and the Saudis.

Kucinich Addresses Convention:
Courage, America, to create a nation where our government achieves legitimacy not from the money it spends on armaments, but from the resources it channels into education, health care, job creation, housing, environmental protection and new sustainable energy policies.

Sharpton Speech Draws Big O's:
Mr. President, read my lips: Our vote is not for sale. [full text of speech]

Driver charged w/murder by auto w/DVD player:
A man in Alaska went on trial last week on charges of second-degree murder after police found a dashboard DVD player in his car after a fatal accident where he struck and killed two people in another car.

BugMeNot.com Registration:
Explain how a search engine like Google would function if no content was publicly accessible:

RealNetworks Upgrades Software for iPod:
The new software will recognize MP3 players as they are connected to the user's computer, convert the DRM wrapping around the file as appropriate and then copy the song to the device.

Microsoft May Sell Slate:
According to company executives, Microsoft is considering a sale of Slate because the model of creating a Web magazine of cultural criticism and political analysis to attract visitors to its MSN Network has little business salience in an age dominated by search applications. And the site's small size limits its ability to contribute meaningfully to Microsoft's revenues.

Congrats, Lance!
Lance Armstrong finished safely on the final day of the Tour de France to seal a record-breaking sixth race victory.

Website for the Homeless:
"The [Labor] Department did not announce plans to give out wireless laptops to the homeless or provide the homeless with homes with desktop computers connected to the Internet."

Armed and Dangerous:
Democrats had better assume that team Bush will do anything to win. For this White House, abuse of power isn't just a tactic, it's an identity.

Bike Shorts: Biological Business:
How do riders take care of, ahem, biological business in the middle of a six-hour Tour stage? We liked that last one. Here's the answer. [link via Venturepreneur]

Armstrong Extends Tour Lead:
The Texan claimed his third stage win of this year's race to extend his overall lead over Italian Ivan Basso to three minutes and 48 seconds.

We don't need no stinking login:
BugMeNot.com is a site that generates login names and passwords for registration sites.

Kucinich to Endorse Kerry:
Thanks for your hard work, Dennis!

Aladdin expels Ronstadt after political remarks:
Near the close of her performance, Ronstadt dedicated the Eagles hit "Desperado" to Moore, producer of "Fahrenheit 9/11," and the room erupted into equal parts boos and cheers. She said Moore "is someone who cares about this country deeply and is trying to help."

MP3 Blogs Aggregator
An aggregated feed of mp3 weblogs: updated every hour on the hour. How long before these blogs get shut down by the RIAA?

9/11 Commission Finds Iran/al-Qaeda Ties:
Sources also tell TIME that Commission investigators found that Iran had a history of allowing al-Qaeda members to enter and exit Iran across the Afghan border. Watch it: Sounds like they're building the case for Bush's next war.

Mayor Renews Pledge to Reduce Car Thefts:
Mayor Anthony A. Williams last night declared that juvenile car thieves have created a crisis in the District, and he pledged to add law enforcement resources and increase social services for the troubled families and neighborhoods in which so many of the offenders grow up.

You're Not Going to Find Us Working:
Kerry has missed more than 80% of Senate votes this year, the AP reports. Drudge attempts to suggest Kerry is as big a slacker and vacationer as Bush. I'm not sure that's possible, but again: Why did the Dems choose Kerry!?

Duke University buys thousands of rich kids iPods:
Apparently the $500,000 promotion, er, initiative, provides iPods for recording lectures, language lessons, and audio books, and will also enable students to download information through the Duke web site’s iTunes Music Store knockoff.

Negative Capability:
The following assertions were collected from public statements made by George W. Bush and his official spokesmen since 1997.

Brazil Internet Craze Angers English Speakers:
[T]he rush of Brazilians to join Orkut and rival social networking sites has upset some online users, who complain of a proliferation of messages posted in Portuguese, Brazil's native tongue.

9/11 Commission Hearings free at iTMS:
Apple is delivering, free of charge, 36 9/11 Commission Hearings through the iTunes Music Store. The hearings cover the initial staff statement from March 23, up through the FAA's response, delivered June 17.

This Land is Their Land:
A flash animation satire featuring Bush, Kerry, and their corporate sponsors.

iPod Nation:
To 3 million-plus owners, iPods not only give constant access to their entire collection of songs and CDs, but membership into an implicit society that's transforming the way music will be consumed in the future. New, smaller, cheaper iPods are here, too.

Government seeks to end gray wolf protection:
Conservationists acknowledged that the revival of the gray wolf in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan is a tale of ecological success.

Fox News Memos:
The INTl Court of Justice ruling against the US is something that many americans might find offensive. We'll take a look at just what this court is, and what gives it the right to tell US courts what to do with death row prisoners. I'm so glad Fox is there to tell me how to feel and what to think about everything.

My First (and Last) Time With Bill O'Reilly:
He exploded, repeatedly called me an "S.O.B." and assured me that he would cut my accusation from the interview when the show aired. He also said I would "never ever" be on his show again. At this point, I wasn't sure whether to take that as a threat or a promise.

GWU Students Will Get Free Tunes this Fall:
[S]tudents living in campus residence halls will be able to access hundreds of thousands of songs over the university's high-speed network, effectively allowing them to use their personal computers as digital jukeboxes.

New, sleeker iPods in August:
Sources report the new models will be available in a variety of new colors, expected to include purple, orange, and yellow, as well as larger hard drive sizes as compared to Apple's current offerings.

Medicare redefines obesity as an illness:
Medicare now recognizes obesity as an illness, a change in policy that may allow millions of overweight Americans to make medical claims for treatments such as stomach surgery and diet programs. What will this mean for lawsuits against fast food?

Venezuela e-voting furor:
The touchscreen machines on which a third of the U.S. electorate will vote in November are dangerously vulnerable to hackers, rigging and mechanical failure, computer scientists generally agree.

FUH2:
So while our brothers and sisters are off in the Middle East risking their lives to secure America's fossil fuel future, H2 drivers are pissing away our "spoils of victory" during each trip to the grocery store.

Chip implanted in Mexico security workers:
It's a pioneering application of a technology that is widely used in animals but not in humans. Scarier and scarier!

Japan: Schoolkids to be tagged with RFID chips:
The chips will be put onto kids' schoolbags, name tags or clothing in one Wakayama prefecture school. Denmark's Legoland introduced a similar scheme last month to stop young children going astray.

Invisiblog:
invisiblog.com lets you publish a weblog using GPG and the Mixmaster anonymous remailer network. You don't ever have to reveal your identity - not even to us. You don't have to trust us, because we'll never know who you are. Get your own anonymous blog and tell the world how screwed up are!

U.S. to open more forests to logging:
Under the new rule, governors who want to protect pristine areas will have to petition the Forest Service to keep them off-limits to development. The Forest Service will make the final decision about what areas would remain roadless.

IE Web Browser Alternatives:
IE's slow rendering engine and dearth of privacy features may plant the thought in some iconoclastic minds that it may not be the best browser for everyone. Here we evaluate the newest offerings from Opera Software, Opera 7.52; and from Mozilla Foundation, Firefox 0.9.1.

Outfoxed:
The film explores Murdoch's burgeoning kingdom and the impact on society when a broad swath of media is controlled by one person. See also comments on the film from Lawrence Lessig.

24 Hours of Adrenalin
The sporting part of 24 Hours of Adrenalin™ revolves around a massive relay, where solo riders or teams of up to ten people compete to ride as many laps as possible in a 24-hour time frame.

Underneath Their Robes:
News, gossip, and colorful commentary about the federal judiciary.

Officials discuss how to delay Election Day:
"[Ridge] sounded more like an interior decorator talking about what more we can do under the shade of yellow," [Democratic Rep. Jane Harman of California] said. See also discussion on Scripting.com]

Ex-chief of Park Police denounces firing:
"The American people should be afraid of this kind of silencing of professionals in any field," she said. "We should be very concerned as American citizens that people who are experts in their field either can't speak up, or, as we're seeing now in the parks service, won't speak up."

Bush Flips Off Protesters:
Adam, Brendan, and I rose our banner (the More Trees, Less Bush one) and he turned to wave to our side of the road. His smile faded, and he raised his left arm in our direction. And then, George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States of America, extended his middle finger.

July Surprise?
[T]he Pakistanis "have been told at every level that apprehension or killing of HVTs [High Value Targets; i.e.: Osama Bin Laden] before [the] election is [an] absolute must." What's more, this source claims that Bush administration officials have told their Pakistani counterparts they have a date in mind for announcing this achievement: "The last ten days of July deadline has been given repeatedly by visitors to Islamabad and during [ul-Haq's] meetings in Washington.

Tech from the Tour de France:
While a lot of the coverage will be on the riders and specifically Lance Armstrong (We think Jan Ullrich is going to do some ass-handing this year) we thought we’d cover some of the gadgets and technologies used in and around the race—the on bike computer, the two-way radio, tv coverage and getting updates on your phone.

Poll: Higher Taxes OK if They Cut Traffic:
This is so stupid. I'll tell you what will cut traffic: Stop driving so damned much! Improve public transportation! Charge $10/gallon for gas!

Pentagon Might Release Some Detainees:
"If there are people who can be released after some due process of review that we've established, it's worth considering whether that's the right next thing to do," Di Rita said.

Military, 9/11 families call on Bush to see "Fahrenheit 9/11":
''What we're trying to do here is to tell the administration ... not only see it but then come out ... and explain why this happened, why we went to Iraq and why 9/11 happened,'' said Ivan Medina, a former Marine from Middletown, N.Y., who served in Iraq and whose twin brother Irving was killed there.

AARP survey: Drugmakers undercut Medicare savings:
Drugmakers raised prescription prices by nearly triple the rate of inflation in the first three months of this year -- just before Medicare began its pharmacy discount card program -- negating much of the savings the government promised to seniors, according to an AARP survey released Wednesday.

Did Google Steal the Orkut Code?
In its lawsuit, Affinity Engines, based in Palo Alto, California, said engineer Orkut Buyukkokten illegally took the code that he had written for the company -- which he co-founded -- with him when he joined Google. Affinity Engines also claimed that Buyukkokten promised Affinity Engines that he wouldn't develop a competing social-network service for Google.

Army Recalling Former Members:
The Army is preparing to notify about 5,600 retired and discharged soldiers who are not members of the National Guard or Reserve that they will be involuntarily recalled to active duty for possible service in Iraq or Afghanistan, Army officials said Tuesday. Gee, "involuntary recall" sounds a lot like "draft" to me.

Pampered Bush Meets A Real Reporter:
On the eve of his recent sojourn in Europe, President Bush had an unpleasant run-in with a species of creature he had not previously encountered often: a journalist. (Watch the interview.)

Bush Gets Checked and Balanced:
In an extraordinary series of legal opinions that spanned three cases, filled nearly 200 pages and united justices usually at the polar extremes of political thought, the court said that the Bush administration's "trust us" approach to the war on terror amounted to an attempt to "turn our system of checks and balances on its head."