Japanese textbooks cause violent Chinese protests. [via]
Not as widely reported: “The offending books, which are published by a right-wing nationalist group, are used in fewer than 1 per cent of Japan’s schools because the vast majority of teachers agree that they distort history.” Also not widely reported: “Completely absent from (Chinese) textbooks is China’s 1951 invasion and subsequent colonisation of an independent Tibet. Erased too is the 1962 attack on India and the ill-fated 1979 incursion into Vietnam.”

Firefox 1.0.3 released.
More fixes.

You can never have too many ninjas.

Robert Cop 3. [via]
Part man, part machine, all bootleg.

Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab. [via]
Tips for writing.

Bill Maher’s new rules. [via]
“New Rule: Time Magazine has to change its name to God Weekly. This week, Mary is on the cover again. In the last two years, Time has put out: ‘The Secrets of the Nativity,’ ‘The God Gene,’ ‘Faith, God and the Oval Office,’ ‘The Bible and the Apocalypse,’ ‘Who Was Moses?’, ‘What Jesus Saw,’ ‘Why Did Jesus Have to Die?’, ‘Jesus in 2000.’ If Jesus gets any more free press, he’s going to start thinking he’s Paris Hilton. Look, I understand we have a lot of Christians in this nation, but how about a little equal time? ‘Vishnu to Ganesh: Drop Dead.’ And ‘Is There No Pleasing Zeus?'”

How to solve the piracy problem.
Slate focussed on China but the observations and suggestions are applicable elsewhere. The single best point: “… products are not worth what the manufacturers say they are worth but what customers are willing to pay for them. The reason pirated products are so wildly popular is that customers love their value proposition.” DVD manufacturers understand this perfectly well but are unlikely to lower prices without pressure from piracy.

Blogs used to spread malware. [via]

Tungsten E2 first impressions.
Non-volatile memory, an improved display and better battery life. I almost wish my TE would die so I could justify getting a replacement.

Teacher is a gaijin. [via]
Hilarious and educational. That kancho scene in Macross Zero was just bizarre and I had no idea kids actually did that in real life. And to their teachers as well. Proctology must be a popular profession over there.

Broadcast/Blaster gets an upgrade.
Shockwave customised as a CD player for Hibiki’s Disk Animals.

In-game advertising.
The nVidia ad in Rome: Total War’s manual and the “Plays Best on Alienware” logo during the installation were annoying enough. I’d go ballistic if my faction leader, Gaius Julius, started proclaiming it was Miller time after battles.

Bittornado upgraded.
Only minor bug-fixes, though.

Checking for a transparent web proxy.