] CNN will probably fold "Crossfire" into its other
] programming, perhaps as an occasional segment on the
] daytime show "Inside Politics," said Jonathan Klein, who
] was appointed in late November as chief executive of
] CNN's U.S. network.

] Klein on Wednesday told Carlson, one of the four
] "Crossfire" hosts, that CNN would not be offering him a
] new contract.

] The bow-tied wearing conservative pundit got into a
] public tussle last fall with comic Jon Stewart, who has
] been critical of cable political programs that devolve
] into shoutfests.

] "I guess I come down more firmly in the Jon Stewart
] camp," Klein told The Associated Press.

] He said all of the cable networks, including CNN, have
] overdosed on programming devoted to arguing over issues.
] Klein said he wants more substantive programming that is
] still compelling.

] "I doubt that when the president sits down with his
] advisers they scream at him to bring him up to date on
] all of the issues," he said. "I don't know why we don't
] treat the audience with the same respect."

It seems Jon Stewart's appearance on Crossfire got some important people thinking.

CNN Lets 'Crossfire' Host Carlson Go

] It's official. LiveJournal founder Brad Fitzpatrick says:

] Why is Six Apart buying LiveJournal? Lots of reasons:

] * Our companies are more alike than different.

] * We both use Perl.

] * Together we form super robot that's stronger than
] the sum of its parts.

] * Super robots can fight super companies.

] * They respect us, we respect them.

] * We have a number of features they don't.

] * We have experience with making "inward-facing"
] community sites, whereas their sites/products tend to be
] "outward-facing". They want some of that inward-facing
] action.

] * Because we're awesome.

] What does this mean for LiveJournal? Nothing
] earth-shattering. LiveJournal development and support
] will continue, and will probably even accelerate, as we
] grow the team. We'll continue to work on speed,
] reliability, and new features. LiveJournal won't become
] paid-user-only or anything crazy like that. We're not
] going to raise prices. We're not going to cancel
] permanent accounts, etc, etc. And we're not going to spam
] or sell your information. You own your journals, not us.
] Really you shouldn't see any negative changes. The most
] immediate changes will be that we'll start to get
] prettier... more styles, themes, etc. Six Apart is really
] good at that and we're not.

LiveJournal announces sale to Six Apart

Everyone should be drinking green tea. It has various health benifits listed here. most exciting is it helps you lose weight.

green tea and health

] There are only seven months left before the FCC takes
] away your right to watch digital television on a device
] that isn't Hollywood-approved. Under the new "Broadcast
] Flag" regime, the FCC will mandate that every digital
] television device include the kind of technology that we
] see in cable PVRs (that erase your stored episodes of
] "Six Feet Under" after two weeks so that you'll be forced
] to pay-per-view your end-of-season marathon) and media
] center PCs (that won't let you burn "The Sopranos" to DVD
] because HBO has set a no-record flag in their cablecasts
] to force you to buy the DVD boxed sets).

] The tiny silver lining here is that if you can get an
] open, freedom-loving digital television tuner between now
] and the summer, you'll be able to go on doing practically
] anything you like with the digital television you receive
] over the air and with your unencrypted cable signal. If
] you choose to do this by plugging a DTV tuner into your
] computer, you'll be able to archive your shows on your
] hard-drive, manipulate them with your favorite editing
] software, and email clips to your friends.

Thought some of you might be interested in this info. There's some specific info for mac users in the article.

'Broadcast Flag' regime

] Lonely Planet Images is a digital stock library with a
] unique and comprehensive collection of over 120,000
] travel related images taken by some of the best travel
] photographers in the business.

] Search, create lightboxes, purchase and download images
] that capture the diversity of the world's countries.

Lonely Planet has gorgeous photographs from all over the world. I have one of their books that is breathtaking. You have to register but it is free. If you enjoy photos check it out.

Lonely Planet Images

] A medical device which allows a woman to sleep by
] switching off an implant in her brain has been stolen.
]
] Rita Carlisle, 53, from Knaphill, Surrey, suffers from a
] condition called essential tremor.
]
] The stolen remote control gadget sends out pulses to calm
] the condition and can be switched off so she can rest.

] Ms Carlisle, who now struggles to sleep, was carrying the device
] and £600 cash in a handbag which was stolen in Farnborough, Hants,
] on 23 December.

Thieves take brain remote control

] Reenie's head chip woke her by steadily increasing
] the perceived volume of a song by a British comedy
] troupe. Lots of trippy dreams last night. She
] couldn't remember them all this morning, but she was
] sure they were cool. She rolled out of bed and prepared
] for her "Commute" to the adjoining room. Reenie
] loved her job, well, as much as she could love any job.
] She got to work from home as much as she liked.
]
]
] Avoiding the mirror, she slipped on her jeans from
] yesterday and a sweatshirt. She had bought some new comfy
] clothes over the past week. For some goofy reason, all
] she seemed to have in her closet were suits and foreign
] yuppie wear, which were just not her. Maybe she could
] donate them to the homeless.
]
]
] Reenie's home workspace was a chaos of unwashed
] laundry, cola cans and papers. As she savored her morning
] A-1 Cola, she decided to interface with the office, make
] sure nothing was going on. "Good morning, Beth.
] How's things?"

If you liked "Ownz0red" by Cory Doctorow, which many of you did, you will definitely like this quick little 10 minute read. Futurismic is collecting short sci-fi stories and putting them on the web.

-Dolemite

Futurismic: Fiction

] US Administration officials are preparing long-range
] plans for indefinitely imprisoning suspected terrorists
] whom they do not want to set free or turn over to courts
] in the United States or other countries, The Washington
] Post reported Sunday.
]
]
] The Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency
] (CIA) have asked the White House to decide on a more
] permanent approach for potentially lifetime detentions,
] including for hundreds of people now in military and CIA
] custody who the government does not have enough evidence
] to charge in courts

Xinhua - English

Once you have recommended this link, if you do not actually donate some money, you are a jerk.

Already ahead of ya there.

Tsunami Relief

] The World Health Organization in Geneva warned on Tuesday
] that tens of thousands of people could face death from
] cholera, typhoid and other diseases.

] "The initial terror associated with the tsunamis and the
] earthquake itself may be dwarfed by the longer term
] suffering of the affected communities," said David
] Nabarro, a physician in charge of crisis operations for
] WHO. "There is certainly a chance that we could have as
] many dying from communicable diseases as from the
] tsunami."

Tsunami's Toll Surpasses 55,000