It just occurred to me that we are the new hippies. I am sure we must appear quite strange to normal folks when we talk of blogs, social networks, Ajax, and similar nonsenses.

According to a Korean news report, a former personnel of the notorious Unit 731 testified at a medical ethics related symposium held in Osaka that he dissected two to three living human bodies daily. In one case, he testified that he dissected a mother in front of her child, letting the child watch her die while they cut her up into pieces.  The child was later sent to be used in a frostbite experiment. Apparently this went on for years.
What punishment did Unit 731 receive for their research? Amnesty.
I wish I could link to the testimony directly but Korean newspaper sites rarely provide links to the material they used to write their articles.

How come Nick Denton can get away with saying San Carlos is for fags? Where is the uproar? Because it's a city? Then is it alright to say Oxford is for fags? The airport he talked about is just a stone throw from where I live, Redwood Shores, and my son goes to a jr. highschool in San Carlos. For that matter, is it even socially proper to resent his calling any vicinity of where I live a fag?
Hey, Nick. I think Valleywag permalinks are fagged. What's the point if they all redirect to the frontpage? BTW, put a cork in your Superman-fetish and stop stalking Kevin Burton. Frankly, I think you are more of a square than he is. And thanks for all the cool spots in SF you named but I wouldn't want to go near such Web 2.0 pussy lockers even if my life depended on it.
In case you are wondering, I felt like relieving some tax-related stress at the expense of Nick. I figured he can take it.

Elliotte Rusty Harold asks if there is a better way than JCP to evolve Java.
I think Sun needs to create a universal Java software and component distribution infrastructure and re-package Java so that initial runtime footprint is small (a few meg) but extensible and updatable as needed. Extensions and updates can be categoried accordingly and certified by Sun as well as authorities approved by Sun to ensure security and stability of each Java platform. Authorities should also be allowed to issue extension and update policies so that users and administrators can pick and choose according to their the security and trust profiles.
With such an infrastructure in place, Java can evolve much faster and more dynamically, allowing extensions like JSR 203 to be deployed in pieces as they become available and only to systems that need them. If executed well, a thriving ecosystem will emerge in which only the best API and implementations will survive regardless of who proposed tor implemented them.

South Korean consumers have come to expect high quality customer service as the norm, particularly with electronic goods. If a washer or TV breaks, repairmen is expected to show up in hours after making the call, not days like in the US. And if a product has a design defect, the manufacturers can expect unstoppable torrent of complaints until the defect is fixed. Thankfully, consumers don't just complaint but actively suggest ways to improve product design, packaging, and marketing, a phenomenon foreign companies can appreciate.
So it's not surprising that a man drove a $200,000 Mecedes into SKT HQ when he didn't get the service expected. A lonely island of intelligence amidst a sea of mindless rage: the car was rented.

Of course the captured Britons were coerced . But isn't our tax dollars being used to coerce detainees at Guantenamo Bay and secret interrogation camps around the world? Remember Abu Ghraib ? How long will it take to wash that stain out of our moral fabric? Being short-sighted is not an excuse for hypocrisy.

It's good to see 15 British soldiers released after 13 days of captivity but more than 20 American soldiers died in Iraq during that 13 days. Here is are their names:

March 23rd, 2007 – Spc. Lance C. Springer II (IED), Sgt. Greg N. Riewer (IED)

March 24th, 2007 – Lance Cpl. Trevor A. Roberts (combat)

March 25th, 2007 – Sgt. Jason W. Swiger (IED), Cpl. Jason Nunez (IED), Pfc. Orlando E. Gonzalez (IED), Pfc. Anthony J. White (IED), Spc. Sean K. McDonald (IED)

March 27th, 2007 – Sgt. Curtis J. Forshey (non-combat), Staff Sgt. Marcus A. Golczynski (combat), Master Sgt. Sean M. Thomas (combat)

March 29th, 2007 – Sgt. Joe Polo (IED)

March 30th, 2007 – Unnamed (non-combat)

March 31st, 2007 – 1st Lt. Neale M. Shank (non-combat), Spc. Wilfred Flores Jr. (IED), Two Unnamed (IED), Four Unnamed (IED)

April 1st, 2007 – Pfc. Miguel A. Marcial III (non-combat), Staff Sgt. Jason R. Arnette (IED)

April 2nd, 2007 – Unnamed (combat), Unnamed (IED)

<p>It&apos;ll take some time for America to unsubscribe from this <a href="//www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_casualties-months.htm" target="_blank">feed of death</a> but the least we can do is spare a glimpse for them between our seemingly intentional fixation with everything unrelated to Iraq. 

Sun updated Java
6 so I fired up Java conrol panel on my Windows machine to update my existing Java 6 installation. Duh. It's telling me that I am already running the latest version despite the fact that it's not. I kept the auto-update feature of Java disabled because, given the frequency of update, I felt it was a nut-job to keep the Java updater task running. Well, it looks like it doesn't even do what's supposed to do. What kind of jokers are running the show at Sun, I must wonder. I would be happy if Tim
takes a break from raving about NetBeans and starts kicking some pointless ass.

So EMI takes the bait. Somebody had to. Will they be surprised to learn that they can actually make money while getting ripped off around the globe? I doubt it. Software industry does it so why not the music industry?  Will DRM fade away? Nope. DRM will be more popular than ever because, when the fume of righteousness evaporates, enough people will choose cheap over DRM-free to keep it going.
Michael Arrington is hooked on Prom Queen. Different folk, different strokes. I can't stand serials which is why I don't watch TV dramas. Internet shows like Prom Queen are extreme serials. Each episode is like 2 minutes long and there are 80 to be released, one episode at at time. Out of that 2 minute, looks like about 30 seconds is wasted on commercials and previews. Egads. And it looks to be a suspense thriller of sort. I have no idea how people will maintain suspense with daily dose of 1.5 minute clip. Nuts. If it was byte-sized comedy, I can see it catching on but suspense?

On April 1st, the Lord said "What? I wasted 6 days on this and you don't get the joke?"