Speaking of European Union

I for one welcome the idea of EU and think that this is good for everyone on the earth. Now there is a balance of power in the international arena and one country cannot dictate, control or force its views on the rest of the world. I am not taking about the military power that U.S.S.R used to be. I am talking about a conglomorate with the economic power that acts as counter weight to U.S. I have felt many times in the past that U.S.A has been unfair and looked at his own interest. Now there is someone (the EU) who could retaliate economicallly. Here are some examples:
1. Business ; EU to slap extra duty U.S. goods: The Commission took this latest step in the dispute over the Byrd Amendment in light of the continuing failure of the United States to bring its legislation in conformity with its international obligations.
2. European Satellite Navigation System Now the rest of the world isn't at the mercy of the united states.
3. Euro to compete with dollar: Now everyone has a choice when dealing with international trade. U.S doesn't control it anymore!

Now there is someone who can bell the cat.

European Commission is going too far

I have a feeling that European Commission investigating Microsoft's anti-trust shows a clear bias and motive when dealing with this case. Here is an example on why it is going too far:

From Microsoft, EU Agree on Name for Stripped-Down Windows

"The Commission ordered Microsoft to sell a version of Windows without its Windows Media Player audiovisual software and the two clashed over a suitable name."

which is o.k. But the part I couldn't agree on was this:

Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft's top lawyer in Europe, said the names "Windows XP Home Edition N" and "Windows XP Professional Edition N" were suggested by the Commission after it rejected 10 suggestions by Microsoft.
"We have some misgivings about the chosen name, as we fear it may cause confusion for consumers about the product, but we will adopt the Commission's name in order to move forward and accelerate the pace of the implementation process," Gutierrez told Reuters by telephone.

Doesn't the company that manufactures/makes the product decide what it would call it? I will have to agree with this:

Microsoft wanted consumers to be sure about what they were buying, but the Commission said it should not put off consumers, like Microsoft's first choice, "Windows XP Reduced Media Edition".

Lets see where this is heading? Some wild ideas:

• Maybe their next enforcement would be to put a penguin on the XP box so that the european customers buying it won't feel that there is no competition.
• Billg & SteveB aren't allowed to wear their blue shirts (which they often do) since it gives the impression that their wardrobe is monopilized by this color!!

Stupid white man's theory: One way to stop gun crimes is to give everyone one!!

That is the stupidest of all I have heard in my entire life. Here is the link to the article from www.msnbc.com . The NRA president Sandra S. Froman is quoted as saying:

"..All options should be considered to prevent rampages like the Minnesota school shooting that took 10 lives — including making guns available to teachers, a top National Rifle Association leader said Friday.
No gun law, no policy that you could implement now or that was already implemented, I think, could possibly prevent someone so intent on destruction,” she said. “I think everything’s on the table as far as looking at what we need to do to make our schools safe for our students.”

The country where I came from, this kind of thing never happens (i.e. in the last 30 years) because one cannot get a gun this easily. Worst stories I have heard is stabbing or hacking someone to death with a knife. Guns can hurt a lot more people lot more easily.

Note: I do not indent racism by saying "Stupid white men".

DRM and me

If you don't know what DRM is, here is the wiki page.

I am a very strong opponent of DRM (Digital Rights Management) from the beginning. It is a double edged sword. It is bad for individuals and good for business. Businesses love this technology since it allows them to control content to the extent of stopping the fair use of the copy righted material and makes consumers pay for the same content many times. The technology itself can drive monopoly and vendor lock-in. It also takes away the freedom that we consumers used to have about the content we purchased. Now I cannot back up my music files between my desktop and laptop and listen on both. By any measure, it is evil and I will never buy anything that has DRM and encourage it.

Here are somethings to read if you are really interested in more:
http://craphound.com/msftdrm.txt
http://interactionlaw.com/documentos/DRM_good_bad_ugly.pdf
http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/
http://www.japanmediareview.com/japan/stories/050210bovens/

Bye, Bye Walmart

It may have "Always low prices". But WalMart is one company that I have never given my business to unless I was passing by one of their "SuperCenters" and needed something urgently. I have read about their unfair business practices, labor exploitation here in U.S and in third world countries. They have reached a new heights with their decision to bypass a local ordinance. Here is the scoop:

Wal-Mart uses new tactic to get around Maryland county law limiting size Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is employing a new tactic to get around a Maryland town ordinance that limits store sizes - build two outlets right next to each other.
Signalling what could be a new approach to getting around such restrictions, Wal-Mart will build adjacent stores in Dunkirk, Md., with one outlet being constructed so that it will be just under the 6,967.5 square-metre limit that is allowed by a Calvert County ordinance.

I do not think that the local community decided to have this restriction adhoc. They must have had good reasons when passing these ordinaces. Now trying to be smartypants here and trying to work around that doesn't tell anyone that they care about the local community they are setting up the shop in. It shows that they will do whatever when they see $$$. Well, he is not getting my money for sure.