DP Review posted a very good review of Canon's new 5D.

Who wants to walk the length of Broadway with me tomorrow?

Yahoo News: "The Bluth clan of Fox's ratings-challenged "Arrested Development" is [...] headed for the exit after Fox cut the third-season order on the Emmy-winning comedy to 13 episodes."

This stinks. I started watching Arrested Development this year. It is very funny in a non-network TV kind of way. HBO should buy this and develop it.

POTD

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Maybe the dingo ate your baby.

Apple has released version 2.2 of its Xcode tools. This accompanies a fifth developer release of its 1.5-level Java VM released on 11/4. Both are available on http://developer.apple.com/.

ThinkProgress has isolated the video for the Bush Administration's little Ministry of Truth moment.

These pretzels are making me thirsty.

And, predictably, Ms. Aluminum Tubes resigns. Thank God.

New York Times: "The lobbyist Jack Abramoff asked for $9 million in 2003 from the president of a West African nation to arrange a meeting with President Bush and directed his fees to a Maryland company now under federal scrutiny, according to newly disclosed documents."

Oops.

Solaris question:

Are you telling me that there is no way for non-root users to change their default shell? There is no chsh equivalent?

POTD

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VisualStudio Express. This is a smart move.

Jerk Store, people. Jerk Store.

I've been lying to you for three days and now you're screwing me!

POTD

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So if Libby can take the heat for a time, he and his former boss (and friend) may get through this. But should Republicans lose control of the Senate (where they are blocking all oversight of this administration), I predict Cheney will resign "for health reasons.

Via FindLaw

Is this a meat helmet?

Washington Post: "A prominent pastor in Beijing's underground Protestant church was sentenced to three years in prison Tuesday for illegally printing and distributing Bibles and other religious books."

"The White House on Tuesday began mandatory, hourlong briefings for an estimated 3,000 staffers on ethics and the handling of classified information in response to the indictment of a top official in the CIA leak investigation.

Among those who attended the first ethics briefing were some assistants to the president with top security clearances, White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.

President George W. Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, was not among the first group, although he was expected to attend an ethics class later this week."

This is news. Why does it make me laugh?

POTD

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For all those Earth people who say, "I don't get it" when I explain what I do for a living, go order a copy of Aardvark'd, the new documentary shot at Fog Creek software. It is kind of like that, except for the bad skin and the "like a second family" crap.

"After working with OS-X for a few hours, switching back to Windows is like partying with Charlize Theron then coming home to Kathy Bates. Sure, Kathy Bates is exceptionally talented, but sometimes a little glamour is exciting."

-- Nick Bradbury (yes, that Nick Bradbury)

"The ghouls are out on Franklin Street. They wear black shawls and keep single file on the sidewalk. At the corner of Greenpoint Avenue, they turn and laugh. The bottoms of their faces are stained red. One takes the plastic knife from his belt and twirls it in the air in front of him. This is how I know they are not real ghouls, but impostors. Ghouls don't use knives: their touch causes paralysis."

From The Sold Coast.

I'm not quite sure what to think of all the rioting in France. On one level, I fail to see how anyone living in or around Paris would get worked up enough to riot. I'd be so fat and happy with wine, bread, and 10,000 varieties of cheese that I'd be way too lethargic to smash windows.

On quite another level, I'm glad to see that New Orleans isn't the only (presumably) civilized place we'll see descend into chaos this year. At least we aren't alone in being complete morons.

Four Minutes to Midnight, Issue Seven. Good stuff.

"U.S. President George W. Bush said on Monday "we do not torture" and defended his administration's efforts to stop the U.S. Congress from imposing rules on the handling of terrorism suspects." [Reuters]

If you are having this conversation, it seems the debate is already lost. Why not take this opportunity to declare a moral high-ground, condemning the mistreatment of any human being as a crime against all humanity? Why not pledge, in this the twenty-first century, that we are above human rights abuses, that the world's greatest superpower will be a force for good?

Ah...I just had to laugh a little. I keep forgetting who is in control of the executive branch. Sorry, world -- I'm afraid you are in for three more years of hypocrisy, corruption, and lies. We'll try not to be such fucking morons in '08.

This just shouldn't be.

The Hipster T-Shirt Generator

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Two things:

1. When did these schmaltzy illuminated street signs start going up?
2. I thought we weren't calling Sixth Avenue "Avenue of the Americas" any more.

"Senior FBI officials acknowledged in interviews that the proliferation of national security letters results primarily from the bureau's new authority to collect intimate facts about people who are not suspected of any wrongdoing."

From a very interesting article in the Washington Post about the proliferation of national security letters, used by the U.S. government to conduct surveillance on its citizens.