Microsoft is offering Microsoft Visual Studio 2008, Windows Server 2003, XNA Game Studio 2.0, and more to students for a grand total of $0.00 USD.
Visit Microsoft DreamSpark and start downloading!
Thanks, Nick
Archive for February, 2008
Drudge Report, “PRINCE HARRY FIGHTS ON FRONTLINES IN AFGHANISTAN; 3 MONTH TOUR”
**World Exclusive**
They’re calling him “Harry the Hero!”
British Royal Prince Harry has been fighting in Afghanistan since late December — and has been directly involved in gun battle, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
The prince, a junior officer in the Blues and Royals, and third in line to the throne, has been a “magnificent soldier” and an “inspiration to all of Briton.”
Prince Harry is talking part in a new offensive against the Taliban.
Ministry of Defense and Clarence House refuse all comment. Army chiefs have managed to keep the prince away from media and have encourage fellow soldiers in his squadron to stay quiet.
Developing…
Herald Tribune, “Sizing up Medvedev, the next Russian president”
ALABINO, Russia: Dmitri Medvedev, the man chosen to be the next Russian president, sat surrounded by soldiers. It was Feb. 23, Defenders of the Motherland Day, and Medvedev had traveled to the parade grounds of the Tamanskaya Motorized Rifle Division.
The division has been a perennial character in Russian political life. One of its tanks opened fire on the Parliament building in Moscow in 1993, preserving Boris Yeltsin’s presidency. Eight years ago, as a new president, Vladimir Putin, was introducing himself to the world, its platoons fought for the capital of Chechnya, helping forge Putin’s persona as a leader of icy resolve.
Now Medvedev, the presidential successor Putin has personally selected, is creating his own public identity. And here, in a mix of Soviet and Russian symbols, the man rising to Kremlin power avoided the stern themes that have often accompanied Putin’s appearances.
Breitbart, “Automated killer robots ‘threat to humanity’”
Increasingly autonomous, gun-totting robots developed for warfare could easily fall into the hands of terrorists and may one day unleash a robot arms race, a top expert on artificial intelligence told AFP.”They pose a threat to humanity,” said University of Sheffield professor Noel Sharkey ahead of a keynote address Wednesday before Britain’s Royal United Services Institute.
Intelligent machines deployed on battlefields around the world — from mobile grenade launchers to rocket-firing drones — can already identify and lock onto targets without human help.
There are more than 4,000 US military robots on the ground in Iraq, as well as unmanned aircraft that have clocked hundreds of thousands of flight hours.
The first three armed combat robots fitted with large-caliber machine guns deployed to Iraq last summer, manufactured by US arms maker Foster-Miller, proved so successful that 80 more are on order, said Sharkey.
NewsBusters, “Surge Success Charts Media Won’t Dare Show You”
As my colleague Brent Baker reported on February 15, of the three evening news programs offered by the major broadcast networks, only ABC’s “World News” addressed the one year anniversary of the troop surge in Iraq, and did so by sharing with viewers how successful the strategy has been.
Yet, not all press members agree with ABC. In fact, some, like Michael Kinsley in Slate last Thursday, parrot the Democrat talking point “No, the surge is not a success” because troops aren’t being aggressively withdrawn from the region.
With that in mind, what follows are two charts depicting events in Iraq that media members like Kinsley won’t dare show American citizens:
CNN, “Coffee break for Starbucks’ 135,000 baristas”
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Warning to Starbucks junkies who usually get a fix on their way home from work: You’re out of luck on Tuesday.
Starbucks, which last week announced 600 layoffs, plans to temporarily close its 7,100 U.S. stores on Tuesday for three hours of employee training.
The coffee chain said the in-store training program which will begin at 5:30 p.m. local time, would foster enthusiasm in its 135,000 U.S. employees and improve the quality of drinks made by Starbucks baristas.
“We believe that this is a bold demonstration of our commitment to our core and a reaffirmation of our coffee leadership,” said chief executive Howard Schultz in a statement.
Continue reading ‘Starbucks closes for 3 hours today, millions of junkies to suffer’
BBC News, “Pakistan lifts the ban on YouTube”
Pakistan’s telecoms regulator has lifted the restrictions it imposed on video-sharing website YouTube.
The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority has told internet service providers (ISPs) to restore access to the site, according to a spokeswoman.
Google, the owner of YouTube, confirmed service had been restored in Pakistan.
The attempt to block the site, reportedly because of a “blasphemous” video clip, caused a near global blackout of the site on Sunday.
NYTimes, “‘No Country for Old Men’ Wins Oscar Tug of War”
HOLLYWOOD — “No Country for Old Men,” Joel and Ethan Coen’s chilling confrontation of a desperate man with a relentless killer, won the Academy Award for best picture on Sunday night, providing a more-than-satisfying ending for the makers of a film that many believed lacked one.
The Coens, who live in New York and remain aloof from the Hollywood establishment, also shared the directing and adapted screenplay awards. Joel Coen thanked the academy members for “letting us continue to play in our corner of the sandbox.”
When it breaks, it breaks big
It may look small in the video, but these suckers are ginormous:
FOXNews, “Pakistan Blocks YouTube For ‘Blasphemous’ Content”
Pakistan’s government has banned access to the video-sharing Web site YouTube because of anti-Islamic movies that users have posted on the site, an official said Sunday.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority told the country’s 70 Internet service providers Friday that the popular Web site would be blocked until further notice.
The authority did not specify what the offensive material was, but a PTA official said the ban concerned a movie trailer for an upcoming film by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, who has said he plans to release an anti-Koran movie portraying the religion as fascist and prone to inciting violence against women and homosexuals.
The PTA official, who asked not to be identified because he was not an official spokesman, said the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority also blocks Web sites that show controversial drawings of the Prophet Muhammad. The drawings were originally printed in European newspapers in 2006 and were reprinted by some papers last week.
The PTA urged Web users to write to YouTube and request the removal of the objectionable movies, saying authorities would stop blocking the site once that happened.
Pakistan is not the only country to have blocked access to YouTube.
In January, a court in Turkey blocked the site because some video clips allegedly insulted the country’s founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. It is illegal to insult Ataturk in Turkey.
Last spring the Thai government banned the site for about four months because of clips seen as offensive to Thailand’s revered monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Moroccans last year were unable to access YouTube after users posted videos critical of Morocco’s treatment of the people of Western Sahara, a territory Morocco took control of in 1975.
