| Software EU Looks For More Anti-competition Gold in the Microsoft Mine
The EU proves itself once again to be a strong market-regulator, launching two new investigations into Microsoft anti-competitive practices It could be safely said that the European Union (EU) and Microsoft are not exactly best buddies. Microsoft fought the law, and the law won -- to the tune of a $690M USD fine imposed last year by the European Commission (EC), the financial regulatory branch of the EU. Pleased with its success, the European Commission just released a memo detailing that it believes more fines may soon be in store against Microsoft. The EC memo states its intent to launch two more formal investigations into whether Microsoft abused its market position and engaged in anti-competitive processes. One claim leveled in the memo alleges Microsoft failed to disclose interoperability information "across a broad range of products." In particular it mentions the Office suite, server products and the .NET framework as possible software which Microsoft failed to disclose interoperability data; an anti-competitive and illegal practice. The crux of the investigation is Microsoft Office 2007's new proprietary Open Office XML format. The Commission will examine whether the new formate makes Office "sufficiently interoperable with competitors' products." If it decides that it is not, it could be the latest in a long string of failures for the new oft-criticized format. Recently, the governing body of the British school system expelled Vista and Office '07 from the classroom, partially because it felt OOXML was inferior to the open source Open Document Format. Microsoft has constantly argued the opposite -- that its format is the superior one.
50 people who could save the planet
Then the Guardian's science, environment and economics correspondents met to add their own nominations and establish a final 50. Great names were argued over, and unknown ones surfaced. Should Al Gore be on the list? He may have put climate change on the rich countries' agenda, but some felt his solution of trading emissions is not enough and no more than what all major businesses and western governments are now saying. But in the end he squeaked through. There was also debate over Leonardo DiCaprio. It would be easy to sniff at someone who seemed to have merely pledged to forgo private jets and made a couple of films about the environment, but we felt the Hollywood superstar who has grabbed the green agenda had to be included because of the worldwide influence he is expected to have.
Jan 2008
A few environmental regulations and resistance to eminent domain aren't going to stop TransCanada. They've got oil that's worth $90 a barrel now, twice its value five years ago, and will only increase in value as demand increases and supplies dwindle. Like any business, they want to maximize their profit, and their accountants could probably show us that it's worth the gamble for TransCanada to pay lawyers to try getting the land for cheap through eminent domain and to pay lobbyists to tell our legislators that bond requirements are an excessive financial burden. We all do that when we negotiate: we argue for the best deal we can imagine, then settle for a deal that works. Almost nothing South Dakota can do regulatorily will make TransCanada say, "Ah, forget it, we don't really want to build this pipeline.
The Complete Bushisms
I can look you in the eye and tell you I feel I've tried to solve the problem diplomatically to the max, and would have committed troops both in Afghanistan and Iraq knowing what I know today."—Irvine, Calif., April 24, 2006 Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 30:41. "I aim to be a competitive nation."—San Jose, Calif., April 21, 2006 "I'm the decider, and I decide what is best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the secretary of defense."—Washington, D.C., April 18, 2006 "I strongly believe what we're doing is the right thing. If I didn't believe it—I'm going to repeat what I said before—I'd pull the troops out, nor if I believed we could win, I would pull the troops out."—Charlotte, N.C., April 6, 2006
Clich here to see video of Bush's comments.
North Shore religion briefs
Healing Rooms, free and open to all in search of physical, spiritual and/or emotional healing, are available every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Kingdom Life Center (formerly the "Black Painted Church"), 127 North St., Salem. For more information, call 978-741-2728 or visit www.kingdomlifemin.com.
Club 456, which meets at the First Church Congregational, 4 Georgetown Road, Boxford, on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in the Coggin Room, is currently undertaking "The James Project," a biblically based, team-building service project for grades four to six. For more information, contact Pastor Michael at michaelwilliams001@gmail.com or 781-608-2309.
Men's Bible Study is held at 6 a.m. on Friday mornings at First Church Congregational, 4 Georgetown Road, Boxford, where the book of John is currently under study.
Having no luck fighting alleged toll violations
Discarded fishing line is a death trap for birds and other animals. Wildlife rehabilitators have consistently told PETA that fishing line and other tackle is the No. 1 danger to aquatic animals today. Birds who swallow fish hooks often suffer lacerated beaks and throats; most will slowly starve to death. Animals who get entangled in line that is on the ground can become trapped underwater and drown if it catches on rocks or debris. Baby birds can be strangled if their parents used bits of fishing line when weaving their nests. Unfortunately, the more animals struggle, the tighter monofilament line becomes — animals who don't die can suffer severed wings or feet. Fishing is not a harmless pastime. To learn more, visit PETA's Web site at www.FishingHurts.com. Paula Moore Senior writer People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Norfolk, Va.
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