So, it turns out that Apple has locked the video out option on the new iPods in such a way as to prevent it from working with older video accessories.  This is a really bad move and stories like this one at iLounge deserve more attention.

I use the video out capability on my 5G iPod all the time.  In fact, my MyVu glasses are my favorite iPod accessory of all time, ranking slightly above my Bose noise reduction headset.  As it turns out, if I buy a new iPod, the MyVus won’t work with it.

Dumb move Apple.

Bruce Sterling is heralding the Washington Post’s recent interview with author William Gibson as one of the best ever and I would have to agree. If you haven’t read his latest novel Spook Country, I highly recommend it. I am still trying to sort out what the implications are now that our top cyberpunk authors are writing about the recent past.

That’s the problem with his game, he says. “If I had gone to Ace Books in 1981 and pitched a novel set in a world with a sexually contagious disease that destroys the human immune system and that is raging across most of the world — particularly badly in Africa — they might have said, ‘Not bad. A little toasty. That’s kind of interesting.’

“But I’d say — ‘ But wait! Also, the internal combustion engine and everything else we’ve been doing that forces carbon into the atmosphere has thrown the climate out of whack with possibly terminal and catastrophic results.’ And they’d say, ‘You’ve already got this thing you call AIDS. Let’s not –’…

“And I’d say, ‘ But wait! Islamic terrorists from the Middle East have hijacked airplanes and flown them into the World Trade Center.’ Not only would they not go for it, they probably would have called security.” Link—>

Is apparently $200.00.   Reaction amongst the Apple fan base has not been pleasant.  Thanks Apple!

Haven’t spent the better part of 3 years working to expand the TEW Network, it is nice to see another strong node firm up despite DHS’s best effort to kill the initiative off.

The St. Louis Terrorism Early Warning Group (TEW) is a public safety partnership consisting of law enforcement, fire, public health, emergency management and private sector agencies.  As a regional intelligence fusion center, The TEW provides a multi-jurisdictional, multi-disciplinary approach to the collection, analysis and dissemination of information. Additionally, the St. Louis TEW works with government and private organizations to identify and protect the region’s critical infrastructure and key resources through the implementation of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan.  This public/private partnership is committed to sharing and protecting information in order to enhance the near and long term preparedness capabilities of the St. Louis area for disasters both natural and deliberate. Link—>