Linked List: December 2, 2010

Thursday, 2 December 2010

RIM Buys UI Design Firm TAT 

With purchases like this, and last year’s purchase of QNX (the OS RIM is using to power the PlayBook, and, presumably, future phones), RIM seems to have an accurate self-assessment. They know where they’re weak. Rather than go into denial regarding their weaknesses, they’re trying to fix them.

More on Joe Lieberman’s Censorship Campaign Against WikiLeaks 

Glenn Greenwald:

I just spoke with the creator of the “visualizations”: a British freelance journalist named James Ball. The only thing these “visualizations” are were charts summarizing the material released by WikiLeaks (for instance, the charts counted the documents which originated from each country, the number of documents by year, and the like). These charts contained no classified information whatsoever, and disclosed nothing about the content of the cables. It was the completely innocuous work of a freelance journalist to inform the public about the categories of documents released. Those charts were then linked to from the WikiLeaks site, but hosted separately by Tableau.

As Jeffrey Goldberg asks, why doesn’t Lieberman go after The New York Times, too?

Maybe We Should Start Burning Books, Too 

Tableau Software:

Wednesday afternoon, Tableau Software removed data visualizations published by WikiLeaks to Tableau Public. We understand this is a sensitive issue and want to assure the public and our users that this was not an easy decision, nor one that we took lightly. […]

Our decision to remove the data from our servers came in response to a public request by Senator Joe Lieberman, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, when he called for organizations hosting WikiLeaks to terminate their relationship with the website.

WikiLeaks has never been found guilty of violating a single U.S. law. As Glenn Greenwald writes, Lieberman, using his position as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, is pressuring hosts to drop WikiLeaks content on the premise that they’re aiding terrorists. It’s abusive coercion. I’d love to hear from a U.S.-based hosting provider that has told him to go stuff it.

Andy Baio’s WikiLeaks Cablegate Roundup 

Comprehensive list of links.

Dyin’ Ain’t Much of a Living, Boy 

Ask and ye shall receive: a Safari extension from Troy Gaul to put the Outlaw Josey Wales on Wikipedia.

Using Google Voice on the iPhone 

Nathan Peretic has written the best piece I’ve seen on what it’s like to use Google Voice on an iPhone. He nails the pros (free texting, great call screening features), and he nails the cons (“like living in a tiny Android bubble in an iPhone world”).

Ben the Bodyguard 

Killer HTML5 teaser site for an upcoming iPhone app. Just scroll.

Chrome Passes Firefox as Top Browser Among TechCrunch Readers 

This is a golden age for web browsers — healthy competition with four major players and several notable minor players.

Russia to Host World Cup in 2018; Qatar in 2022 

MSNBC:

The tournament would be held when temperatures in Qatar typically exceed 48 degrees C (118 degrees F). FIFA highlighted the potential risk posed by the heat.

Sounds delightful, as do Qatar’s oppressive Sharia laws:

The laws of Qatar tolerate alcohol to a certain extent. However, the few bars and nightclubs in Qatar operate only in expensive hotels and clubs. […] Under Qatar’s Sharia, it is illegal to show alcohol or be drunk in public.

How Our ‘Security’ Obsession Costs Us 

Powerful piece by Tom Engelhardt connecting U.S. security theatrics with our unending wars in the Middle East:

Of course, the U.S. national security state has quite a different formula for engendering safety in America: fight the Afghan war until hell freezes over; keep the odd base or two in Iraq; dig into the Persian Gulf region; send U.S. Special Operations troops into any country where a terrorist might possibly lurk; and make sure the drones aren’t far behind. In other words, reinforce our war state by ensuring that we’re eternally in a state of war, and then scare the hell out of Americans by repeatedly insisting that we’re in imminent danger, that shoe, underwear, and someday butt bombers will destroy our country, our lives, and our civilization. Insist that a single percent of risk is 1 percent too much when it comes to terror and American lives, and then demand that those who feel otherwise be dealt with punitively, if they won’t shut up.

It’s a ‘Game’ 

Daniel Tencer, reporting for Raw Story:

Ken Wooden, founder of Child Lures Prevention, says the TSA’s recommendation that children be told the pat-down is a “game” is potentially putting children in danger. Telling a child that they are engaging in a game is “one of the most common ways” that sexual predators use to convince children to engage in inappropriate contact, Wooden told Raw Story.

Why are they screening young children at all?

The Inevitable Decline Due to Clutter 

Seth Godin:

Once you overload the user, you train them not to pay attention. More clutter isn’t free. In fact, more clutter is a permanent shift, a desensitization to all the information, not just the last bit.

Logitech Revue With Google TV Commercial 

Not sure it does a damn thing to sell the gadget, but it’s a fun commercial. (Via Lessien.)