Archive for November, 2010

GOP Establishment Candidates Lost Senate (Not The Tea Party)

November 12th, 2010 Scott
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The narrative that TEA Party backed candidates were somehow responsible for the GOP’s lackluster showing in the 2010 midterm election, which is continually being espoused by political pundits on all sides, is not grounded in reality.

While it is true that several Tea Party backed candidates lost their senate bids, the Tea Party was responsible for many of the GOP pickups in the senate, as well as the rout that occurred in the House of Representatives and in the state legislatures.

Let’s take a look at the facts, shall we?

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Intel Confirms HDTV/BluRay Encryption Has Been Cracked

November 12th, 2010 Scott
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According to a recent report on Fox News, it has been confirmed that the encryption which protects High Definition digital content has been cracked.

This does no bode well for the supporters of DRM (Digital Rights Management) but it will allow consumers to backup their high definition digital media, with many consumers asserting it is their right to do so.

Intel confirmed Thursday to FoxNews.com that the High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) — the digital rights management software that governs every device that plays high-def content — had in fact been compromised.

“It does appear to be a master key,” said Tom Waldrop, a spokesman for Intel, which developed and oversees the HDCP technology.

Well, that didn’t take long.

Experts claim the decryption must be chip based at present so we wouldn’t expect a software solution to be quickly forthcoming. However, it would not be surprising to see HD/BluRay recorders with an embedded decryption chip appear for sale on the Internet in the near future.

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Fedora Linux Releases Version 14

November 5th, 2010 Scott
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Fedora releases a new version of its popular Linux distribution, codenamed: Laughlin. It is ready for download via the Fedora Project website.

Fedora is a fast, stable, and powerful operating system for everyday use built by a worldwide community of friends. It’s completely free to use, study, and share.

For more information and to see what’s new in the latest version, see the Fedora 14 announcement thread.

Early reports suggest there are a few issues with Fedora’s support of ATI & nVidia proprietary video drivers but the FOSS video drivers are improving. ATI’s proprietary drivers are bug riddled and practically unusable, while there is only a minor install issue with the nVidia drivers.

If you’re using a fairly modern PC, using generic video drivers is like putting a 4 cylinder engine in a Ferrari. Your performance will suffer greatly, especially in the area of video playback and 3D graphics support. The FOSS drivers are still a year or two away from catching up with the proprietary drivers, if they ever do.

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Federal Reserve Prints Another $600 Billion Dollars

November 5th, 2010 Scott
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The day after the midterm elections, the Federal Reserve prints up another $600 billion dollars. This move by the fed will continue to devalue the dollar, hurting citizens whose investments are tied to interest rates, while adding to the bottom line of the big banks on Wall Street.

By devaluing the dollar, commodities such as food, clothing and gasoline will continue to skyrocket, putting further financial pressure on a tapped out citizenry. In a period when prices should be falling, the Fed monetizes the debt, ensuring prices will rise.

The so called “quantitative easing” by the Federal Reserve is estimated to devalue the dollar by as much as 20%, which amounts to a 20% hidden tax on all Americans.

Since its inception, the Federal Reserve has devalued the dollar by 90%.

Posted in Headlines, National Politics Tags: , , , , No Comments »
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