September 12, 2010

There were 2 posts published on September 12, 2010 (this is page 1 of 1).

Hurricane season is like Russian roulette

Not long after North Carolinians stopped worrying about Hurricane Earl we’ve got more fun lining up in the Atlantic. Hurricane Igor has grown to a strong storm with 140 MPH winds at the moment. Igor is bearing down on North Carolina as of now, though it will be a week or so before it reaches its closest approach. Most likely it will be pushed aside the way Earl was by the high pressure sitting over us.

Following Igor is “Tropical Depression Twelve,” which is expected to become a tropical storm very soon. Life near the Atlantic is always full of excitement!

Microsoft helps Russian police quell dissent

The New York Times reports that Russia has been raiding offices of dissenters and using the pretext of searching for pirated Microsoft software. The Redmond-based company apparently fully supports these raids against environmental groups and others.

Compare Microsoft’s actions in Russia to Google’s in China. Though from a Chinese business perspective Google really screwed the pooch with its public embarrassment of the Chinese government, Google at least tried to do the right thing. Microsoft appears blind to the moral repercussions of its cooperation with an increasingly authoritarian Russian government.

More and more I am glad I use free software like Linux.