Verdt å lese

Swedish development studio Cockroach Inc has divulged information regarding upcoming point-and-click adventure The Dream Machine. It's a game created entirely out of clay and cardboard, which is a rather exciting prospect.

Players take control of Victor and Alicia, who have just moved into a seemingly normal apartment block - however, things are not as they first appear. The game looks utterly gorgeous (just check out the screenshots below the cut to see what I mean). Episode one of the game is …

Are they saviours? Or are they ecological monsters in the making? No questions were asked. There were only high hopes when a swarm of African wasps was released in Khon Kaen over the weekend in a bid to save Thailand's cassava export industry from the pestilence of mealybugs.

Agricultural officials and foreign entomologists who worked for the wasps' release hailed it as a perfect measure of biological control. Originally from South America where tapioca also came from, the wasps are natural …

Reading just the Bangkok Post as a bit of relaxation turned into a horror story for PPT on Sunday. There are just too many articles that call into question human rights in Thailand, in the past but especially under the Abhisit Vejjajiva regime. Earlier today we posted on one of the these stories, but as PPT ploughed through more of the paper, jaw dropping, we found it all a bit much. For interested readers, here are the articles we refer to, in no particular order:

1) In its report on the …

<img>For tredje gang må Laila Navrud søke UNE om at hennes utvisningsvedtak behandles. Personer som har vedtak som omfattes av regelendringen som Statsminister Jens Stoltenberg omtalte på Utøya vil få sine saker avgjort etter at nytt regelverk er på plass.

Justisdepartementet vil ikke si noe om hvor lang tid dette vil ta men avdelingsdirektør Birgitte Ege sier til Drammens Tidende at dette godt kan ta uker eller måneder. Navrudekteparets advokat Arne Seland sier at de sender anmodningen til UNE …

good_night_till_it_be_morrow

By request, a new poster is available in the store.
(Based on this one.)

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A long and important letter from Human Rights Watch to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, dated 10 July 2010. Some points worth noting:

Human Rights Watch raises “serious concerns regarding the three-month extension of the Emergency Decree by your government on July 6 for Bangkok and 18 other provinces, and reiterate our views about the Emergency Decree’s negative impact on respect for human rights, due process of law, and democratic principles in Thailand.”

HRW’s concerns relate to “provisions …

Recently i've come across the official Perl 6 logo, which is a butterfly named Camelia, you can see it over on the Perl 6 site.
It is not very marketing friendly, to put it lightly, so i've looked up the actual requirements for Camelia and started doodling a bit.

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I've tried to preserve the childish charm of the original, while taking it a bit more easy with the colors.
The dots on the wings represent "P" and "6" as required by the Camelia spec.
To highlight the basic design elements there …

I gave this talk in Norway at NDC2010 a month or so ago.  It's a subject near and dear to my heart.  A bit of a slow start, though.  There's nothing quite like having the airline lose your luggage and then marching off to speak in the middle of your biological night time.

Symposium/Høring i regi av Liberaldemokrater i EU.

Blant annet med Julian Assange, Naema Tahir og Lars Vilks.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdsqw8_100621-aldeadle-full-event-hearing

Here's a fun little hack i've come up with today to pass the time until Planet Perl gets updated with the feed URL of my new blog.

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A lot has happened in the Mojolicious world since i last blogged about it.
The number of users and applications has exploded, technologically we've made quantum leaps, supporting many bleeding edge HTML5 features such as WebSockets out of the box.

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darwinia.jpg

Introversion Software has released the source code for two of its biggest hits, Darwinia and the multiplayer edition Multiwinia.

Both are available to buy from the Introversion online store, and cost $45/£30 for the two. Chris Delay of Introversion gave details in a forum post:

"The code is distributed via an online subversion repository, where you can not only access the vanilla sources, but also create your own branches to share with other developers. Purchase of this product …

• Chiang Mai: 10 seats in 4 constituencies (2007: 11 in 4), population decreased by 25,750
• Nonthaburi: 7 …

NOTE: This is the first in a series of guest blogger posts that will appear on Bangkok Pundit over the coming weeks.

By Ricefield Radio,

Every time I hear this it raises, if you don't mind the pun, the proverbial red flag and makes me ask the question once more, "Who is actually running the country".

Headlines point not to elected officials making decisions about the security of the country but those who have been appointed dictating the decisions to the elected.  This is very troubling.  If …

Mens Governments funderer over hvordan de skal implementere EU’s alternativ til “The Great Firewall of China”, og hvordan de alternativt kan lagre og overvåke all din søke-historikk fra Google, MSN, Yahoo, Bing, m.f. …. …. så arbeides det i Europa med retningslinjer for “profiling” av individer.

(se også Stopp DLD’s artikkel om at alt du søker etter skal registreres: http://stoppdld.no/2010/06/06/google-dld/. Der er forøvring mange must-read artikler samlet hos Stopp DLD…)

Når alle dine …

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(photo credit: Prachatai on Flickr)

No matter which government we have in power, human rights remain essentially an alien concept in Thailand. The Rohingya affairs, the drug war, the perpetual emergency decree – you name it. And yet things have taken a strange, or should I say depressing, turn when the country was elected as president of the UN Human Rights Council (see here). Yes you heard it right. A country with serious human rights problems like Thailand now gets to chair a global …

quite_a_bit

Speaking of bits, Randall was kind enough to make
a binary hex dump of the image file of this comic.
Thanks, Randall. You’re one bad ass-dude.
No pun intended. :)

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Further to our earlier post on the Chuti Krairiksh, the Information Technology and Communication minister, and his efforts to protect the monarchy through internet censorship, PPT notes a related and chilling development reported in the Bangkok Post’s technology columns.

The story tells of three ministries – MICT, Justice and Culture – have come together to sign an MOU to coordinate the tracking and hunting down those the government thinks are threatening the monarchy. The ministers link this …

Some days ago PPT posted on Senator Jim Webb’s public plea to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to keep Thailand off the human trafficking watch list, linking this to issues related to recent political events.

AFP reports that the plea was not fulfilled, and Thailand was placed on a human trafficking watch list, accused o”f failing to prevent women from being forced into prostitution.” The State Department “said that Thailand was a source, destination and transit point for trafficking, with …

The Bangkok Post:

Sodsri Satayathum, another election commissioner, said the EC planned to have candidates from different parties promise to keep their campaigns within the boundaries of the law and let their competitors campaign for votes freely in their constituency strongholds.

If there are credible signs the candidates will not be safe canvassing for votes, the EC might have to ask the government to impose an emergency decree during the election campaign, she said.

"Personally, I don't see …

WARNING_just_reading_this_comic_could_make_you_stupider
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PPT has been posting for several months on the military-backed Abhisit Vejjaiva administration as a dangerously authoritarian regime. By this, we have not been referring to the use of force and censorship alone, but a decline into a system of rule that is based on laws that hark back to the dark days of naked military rule.

PPT has questioned the regime’s – and Abhisit’s own – sincerity regarding rule of law, the use of the judiciary and its stated commitment to human rights and democratic …

It’s a while since New Mandala featured the thoughts of Sondhi Limthongkul. A few days ago he made a long statement that, among other things, attacked the Democrat Party, attacked the police, and rejected the accusations of terrorism levelled against the peace-loving People’s Alliance for Democracy. One of his more interesting comments came later in his statement where he set out what he would do if he was Prime Minister:

We cannot fix our country with the parliamentary system. The parliament …

Comments

Somyos Prueksakasemsuk, leader of a leftist red-shirt faction and editor of the Voice of Taksin magazine, surrendered to police yesterday morning after the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) issued an arrest warrant against him for violating the emergency rule. Somyos had held a press conference last week to call for further protests after the May 19 bloody crackdown.

Just hours before turning himself in, Somyos told The Nation in an …

According to Mr. Sarayuth Ampan who was shot by firearm into his arm while hiding himself in the rear part of the white medic van with clear signs, some demonstrators who had started to gather around Bon Kai area on Rama IV Road were running away into Soi Ngam Du Plee, off Rama IV Road. The army officials were chasing after them. As the demonstrators had gone into other smaller lanes, the army officials approached the Pinnacle Hotel’s parking lot where the medic van was parked …

A reader has sent us this in an email, and it deserves some consideration:

Some disturbing propaganda claiming that Reds shot their own people “who were trying to leave the temple [Wat Pathum Wanaram]“, despite an article in the Australian in which a foreign journalist who was inside the temple with the Reds had the impression “sharpshooters were firing from the Skytrain line.”

<img>See the picture, which was taken as shooting was taking place on Sarasin Rd. during the early stages of the final …

postpostmodern_souciance

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We are living through a second brutal massacre in Bangkok in just over a month. 36 dead so far this time (as of May 18), including at least two rescue workers wearing white medical uniforms with visible red crosses, a 17-year old and a 10-year old boy, with more than 250 injured, including three Thai and six foreign reporters. All are civilians save one soldier. This crackdown has lasted  X days and confirms our Prime Minister’s place in history, and the lowest berth in Hell.

He used his power-b …

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The World Cup Is So Predictable
Apparently some savante has come up with a formula for soothsaying the winner of this year’s World Cup. Wired UK ran an image visualising the algorithm. Designed by the always awesome SectionDesign.

World Cup Predictions

The Appliance Of Science
How much energy does a microphone use? Or a blender? Or a sateillite dish? And how much does that add up to over a year, money-wise and planet-wise? A lovely playful app from Pentagram team of Lisa Strausfield and Mike …

Land of Smoke and Mirrors

Thailand is many things, but a bastion of transparency it is not.

Justin Alick

FM4: May 4, 2010

http://fm4.orf.at/stories/1646638/

On the night of April 10, 2010, a distraught group of red-shirted, pro-democracy activists stormed into a Bangkok hospital and demanded that it hands over the bodies of fellow protesters they had witnessed being shot to death by the Royal Thai Army in a bloody military crackdown that was still in progress. At first they were turned away by …

AAPL

<<<<<<<<<
It's true. If you bought AAPL July 270 calls at around the
time the iPad was released, you could have tripled your money
in about two weeks.

Another interesting fact:
You could have bought an Apple PowerBook G3 250 for $5700 in
1997. But if you had invested that money in Apple stock, it
would be worth about $330,000 today.

You can read more here (found via reddit).

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[FACT comments: We are proud to welcome The Honourable Birgitta Jónsdóttir, member of Iceland’s parliament, Althingi, and sponsor of the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, as FACT’s newest signer.

Tiny Iceland, with a population of only 300,000 will consider becoming the first country to make censorship illegal! We think this not only the ethical approach but think Iceland will become a magnet for freedom of expression worldwide and can use this advantage to create a valuable Internet …

Last week we had a meeting in Haifa where SawyerX and myself gave a talk about programming Android using Perl. SawyerX wrote a report about it.

More than a month ago I bought an Archos 5 Internet Tablet with the excuse that I need it to learn how I can run Perl on it. It is really cool but I'll probably ruin your day saying that you actually don't need a real devices in order to try Perl on Android. After looking around the web site of Android you will quickly find your way to the Android …

Observers continue to ask what the real position of the Royal Thai Army in the current political crisis is.  A frustrating lack of access and information has made credible answers to questions about that position difficult.   This writer’s access to a number of RTA officers leads him to offer the following thoughts on the matter.  He concludes that a crisis within the RTA’s officer corps scarcely less grave than one in Thailand’s politics had brought about an alarming state of affairs for the …

You can't even change the future, in the sense that you can only change the present one moment at a time, stubbornly, until the future unwinds itself into the stories of our lives.
-- Larry Wall in perlmonks

1. Buying land in Thailand is not safe for now
2. This is a warning to all farang farmers in Thailand
3. Totally safe to buy land in Thai wife name almost

There have been earlier comments on the economic damage done by red shirt rallying, and PPT posted earlier on this and pointed out that there had been little impact on the economy. This might have changed with reports of the state’s violent crackdown on protesters on 10 April.

In one of our earlier posts, we questioned the estimates by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) of huge losses. Now the Bangkok Post (18 April 2010) reports on the same university saying that if the …

In censoring Web, Thailand could worsen crisis

Danny O’Brien

Committee to Protect Journalists: April 12, 2010

http://cpj.org/blog/2010/04/in-censoring-web-thailand-could-worsen-crisis.php

As part of its declaration of emergency, the Thai government last week radically broadened existing Internet censorship powers to prohibit a wide range of speech, including independent commentary and newsgathering. In doing so, it has exacerbated an already fragile political situation and may have permanently …

As a result of the clash between the protestors of the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) and Thai security forces on 10 April 2010, which caused the injuries and deaths of Thai people from both sides including a foreign national, the Group of Students and Scholars of the Australian National University wish to express our condolences to the families and friends of both sides whose beloved ones were injured and killed. We also wish to express our concern for the …

Recently, the UK government passed The Digital Economy Act which included many, perhaps draconian, measures to combat online music piracy (including withdrawing broadband access for persistent pirates).

Much was proclaimed about how these new laws would protect musicians and artists revenue and livelihoods.

But how much money do musicians really get paid in this new digital marketplace?

How Much Do Music Artists Really Earn Online?

This image is based on an excellent post at The Cynical Musician …

Many of the yellow-shirt related blogs have been full of conspiracies, fantastic concoctions, third hands and calls for tougher government action against the hated red shirts. As a summary of this sometimes bloodthirsty, sometime bizarre expressions of hate and fear, nothing seems to top Sopon Onkgara’s latest op-ed in The Nation.

The propaganda battle continues, with the government offering a particular conspiracy theory of “terrorists” bent on bringing down the monarchy, and this is beginning …

atheism_in_a_foxhole_takes_great_faith

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Malaseng Jehteh believes he has the answer not only for the restoration of peace in the deep South.The village head of Ban Laweng in Tambon Donsai, Pattani province, is also confident that his approach to governing is applicable nationwide.And if national leaders pay attention, he believes it would also alleviate the deepening political divisions in the country.

A devout Muslim, Malaseng has made it a routine to hold meetings with the imam, kamnan and the chief of the Tambon Administration …

wear_the_pants

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• In Nakhon Si Thammarat, the subdistrict municipality Thon Hong (เทศบาลตำบลทอนหงส์) contains 3 households from Chang Sai subdistrict (ตำบลช้างซ้าย) - even though …

Learn Thai with Bon

The new YouTube kid in town: Learn Thai with Bon…

Noticing her new learning Thai videos on YouTube, I contacted Bon Ratta back in February, for a mid-March post. But… the Red Shirts happened – something is always happening in Thailand, yes? – so I’m coming in late. Again. Apologies Bon!

In Learn Thai the Bon’s Way, Thai native Bon takes a sometimes wacky approach to teaching Thai. When I asked about her aims, she replied:

I have walked the streets of foreign cities where …

Som de fleste nå har fått med seg, er de mange historiene om løpske Toyota Prius-er intet annet enn røverhistorier. De aller fleste historiene som har dukket opp i amerikanske medier har involvert mennesker over 50 år, som burde akselere skepsisen blant de fleste. En av amerikanerene som tilkalte politiet i det  han påsto Prius-en hans var løpsk var tidligere siktet for forsikringssvindel.

Det første rapporterte tilfellet av Prius-effekten i Norge kom 11. mars fra Lillesand. Pressen hoppet på …

Shared by perhenrik
Good comment on the current situation.

When will this madness be over? How is this going to end? Why do we have to go through this again and again without any end in sight?

Are you asking these questions while watching the March of the Red Shirts, or when human blood was being splattered as a grim warning against what is to come?

The answers from the red shirts are loud and clear: No justice, no peace. No equal opportunities, no peace.

Who in his right mind can refute the …