Paul Smith's Blog

Ed Bott made a recent entry on Internet Explorer 7 vs Firefox 2. I’ve only begun using the Firefox beta in the past few days, so I have only a small sample size to work with. But so far it has missed every one of four phishing sites I’ve pointed it to, each of which has been detected by IE7. I’ve tried monkeying with the settings for the anti-phishing option in FF2, with no luck, and I’ve repeated the installation on a separate computer with identical results....

The following resolution in solidarity with the Cuban Revolution was unanimously passed at the world congress of the International Marxist Tendency taking place in Barcelona. Las noticias sobre la enfermedad del comandante Fidel Castro, y la cesión temporal de poderes, suponen un motivo de profunda preocupación para los trabajadores de todo el mundo. La reciente intensificación de la campaña contrarrevolucionaria del imperialismo USA, a favor de la restauración capitalista en Cuba, es un claro indicio de que el peligro para la revolución cubana es muy grave....

From Fidel Castro: I very much appreciate all the messages sent by our compatriots and by many people in the world. I feel sorry for having caused so much concern and bother to our friends in the world. I can not make up good news, because that would be unethical; and if there were bad news, these will only be of benefit to the enemy. Given the specific situation facing Cuba and the plans designed by the empire, the information about my health condition becomes a state secret that can not be continuously disseminated; and my compatriots should understand that....

In any revolutionary period we see the masses mobalise into their own organisations. Today in Latin America they're called Bolivarian Circles, in Russia they were called Soviets (literally meaning workers' councils), these same councils sprung up in France, Germany and across Eastern Europe in times of advanced class struggle. In Russia in 1905, the trade unionists understood that only by strengthening solidarity beyond their own interests, would they be able to wage a successful struggle....

Microsoft have made the right choice and have announced that shortly after Internet Explorer 7 is released it will be pushed down over Automatic Updates as a high priority item. For enterprises Microsoft will offer a tool to prevent IE7 being downloaded, individuals can also decline installation simply by pressing the don't install button on the installer. Hopefully this will rapidly update the user-base. Unlike IE6's release which took years to trickle down to everyone....

George Galloway made a recent speech at a Stop the War Coalition demonstration against the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. He said one thing that caught my attention (thanks to Take back the voice): I am here to glorify the resistance, Hezbollah. I am here to glorify the leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah is a bourgeois scumbag who should be locked up, with his Israeli opposites. Socialists support the actions of the people in defending themselves from aggressive expansionist regimes....

Heavy shelling around Khiam on Tuesday had forced the four observers into the bomb shelters. At about 1.20pm, officials say, a jet dropped a bomb only 300 metres away. The observers contacted the Unifil headquarters. The observers warned Israel that their aircraft were dropping bombs dangerously close to a UN position. The Israelis said that they would check the situation and make any necessary adjustments. But jets then dropped ten bombs between 100 and 300 metres from the UN position and fired 12 artillery rounds within 150 metres, UN officials said....

Another political thread? Nah back to the geek wars. Just came across this Windows Vista Beta: A lot like Mac OS X. Well no, not really. I'll deal with the whole Widget and Gadget thing first. Microsoft announced the sidebar before Apple copied Konfabulator, yes that is right they copied Konfabulator almost exactly. Microsoft's sidebar (which hosts the gadget platform) existed prior to Apple copying it, don't believe me go check out the early PDC videos....

Many of my American readers really have little knowledge of the situation with Israel, the territories they're occupying and the recent invasion of Lebanon, they regard all who fight against the illegal Israeli occupation as "terrorists" because it's always presented as Israel defending itself - which is nonsense as Israel is the aggressor which has tens of thousands of troops in foreign countries that it is occupying. Although this video pre-dates the current conflict with Lebanon, a lot of it can be applied and is recommended viewing Peace, Propaganda & The Promised Land....

This morning Ted Grant, aged 93, died. I'll borrow some stuff about him from Wikipedia: He formed a new, small tendency in the Labour Party, called the Revolutionary Socialist League which in 1957 was recognised at the official British section of the Fourth International and in 1964 founded the paper Militant. The group at first grew only very slowly, but by 1983, when it was known as the Militant Tendency, it was a significant force in British politics, and Grant was expelled from the Labour Party....