The world's largest Linux migration is speeding ahead, with the German national railway announcing today it has successfully moved all its 55,000 Lotus Notes users onto the open-source operating system.

Describing the moment as the first important milestone in its company wide move to Linux, Deutsche Bahn said it expected the move to provide it with continuous cost savings, greater flexibility and integration benefits as it gradually moved the rest of its business over.

The company has already shifted its vital train timetabling system from HP Non-Stop to Linux. Next, it will move various SAP systems, including sales support, from Unix to Linux. And by the end of the year all remaining critical systems such as databases, application servers, web servers, mail servers and network infrastructure will be running on Linux, the company said.

The vast project - which dwarfs even the frequently quoted migration of Munich Council to Linux - was agreed upon last year, with half of its 300 or so servers moved by November 2004. The announcement today demonstrates that the company is now determined to go full speed ahead with the adoption of open-source software - giving it a big credibility boost.

"Our mission is to develop and deliver an efficient and economical IT service for German railways. Linux is a key element in our strategy and the smooth process of migrating our mainframe-based Lotus Notes system is a clear sign that this major project will be successful”, said Detlef Exner, director of production at Deutsche Bahn's IT service provider, DB Systems.

The roll-out is also being overseen by IBM - whose hardware most of Deutsche Bahn's systems run on. European VP for IBM's technology group, Steve Menadue, had this to say: "IBM congratulates Deutsche Bahn on their visionary decision to move all critical systems to Linux. This strategic choice is further proof that Linux has matured as a strategic enterprise platform offering a variety of advantages like cost savings, shorter development time and high level of security. IBM continues to deliver strong support for Linux across all of IBM’s technology platforms as still more companies look for simple, safe and cost-effective enterprise computing."

Quite what Microsoft will make of that is anyone's guess.

[...]

http://www.techworld.com/opsys/news/index.cfm?NewsID=3064

crash feb 11th 2005 london uk
crash revelations for holographic binding OS
crash forced expanded opening for new post-software-art
crash melancholia and fascism
crash post humanist ontology
crash abstraction + machinic representation
crash auto-destructive art relation to the computational
crash self-coded post-algorithmic constructivist noise performance

crash florian cramer, stewart home, otto e roessler, anthony moore, sunny bains, dick j bierman, lisa jevbratt, martin howse, jonathan kemp

crash andy bolus, russell haswell, yves degoyon, erich berger, ap, stillupsteypa, farmers manual, kaffe matthews, pita

crash shoreditch town hall london ec1 [on door £3 / online £3,33] 10 am
crash ica london sw1 [tickets through ica 02079303647] 8.30 pm
crash crashing@1010.co.uk crash.1010.co.uk
crash ap project supported by arts council england, smal + mute


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

crash is a unique event exposing a radical new space for post-software art and examining links to theories of endodata, holographic programming and auto-destructive art.

crash builds from two components, a one day symposium at shoreditch town hall with speakers including florian cramer, stewart home, dick j bierman, lisa jevbratt and otto roessler. the evening component at the ica collides theory with practice, combining constructivist noise, self-coded applications and self-constructed hardware. participating international artists include pita, farmers manual, yves degoyon, andy bolus, ap, erich berger, stillupsteypa, kaffe matthews and russell haswell.

crash necessary apologies for cross-posting or dupes / crash please disseminate further


one-off email

MALAYSIA TO USE GOLD DINAR IN TRADE WITH ISLAMIC NATIONS

WAR ON TERROR "IS" THE COVER FOR A GOLD WAR

NEW ARTICLES

Gold Dinar Can Play Big Role in Global Trade

Malaysia to use gold dinar in trade with Islamic nations

Malaysia unveiled additional info about its Islamic dinar project

Iran sees large inflow of gold and capital

Western World Would Be Unwise To Ignore Proposal For Gold Dinar Currency

....... more, please scroll down

To: Central Banks, Secretariats, Governors, Concerned Others:

Yesterday we sent many of you a correspondence speculating that perhaps the Republican-contrived "war on terrorism" may be actually a cover for the expressed purpose of eradicating any alternative circulating mediums to the US dollar, namely gold and gold-redeemable substitutes.

Subsequent to my e-mail I discovered a remarkable and prophetic 4-year old article on the advent of the gold dinar by Mr. Jay Taylor. Jay gives us the list of countries that could become members of this newly emerging Gold Bloc:

http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_98/taylor112598.html

He has a superb site on gold stocks: http://www.miningstocks.com/

His e-mail has since changed and is now: jtaylor9@ix.netcom.com

Back in the heady days of the 70s oil embargoes, hostages & rising gold prices I recall a rumour going around that South Africa was paying Iran in gold for oil. Never attributed much to it at that time, but that maneuver, even if it wasn't true, could be an early precursor of what may be unfolding upon us now, twenty+ years later.

I find it notable that the 9-11 terrorists hit our financial centers in the heart of New York. It was a terrible and horrific event, make no mistake about that. If the intent was to make a statement in opposition to Yankee imperialism, they did that, for sure! But, if Osama and his family have such considerable influence with the Saudis why does the Saudi Central Bank, and other Islamic central banks continue to hold dollar reserves? Granted, we don't have an answer for that. However, if all the Islamic countries, in keeping with muslim edicts, begin to settle their national accounts in gold - watch out! Be cautioned that the US Insider propagandists and their NY bank co-conspirators will be pointing the Homeland Security squads at the American gold owners as furnishing aid and comfort to our enemies!

Worse, if they begin to demand gold for their oil, WE'RE BROKE!

Osama might have been just a warm-up! We would not be surprised to begin seeing an increase of social unrest in these pro-gold Islamic countries as the gold cabal does its darndest to bring down regimes that are gold friendly. We encourage all of you to seek out through your resources any information which materially can support these conjectures.

UPDATE:

We are pleased to realize that consistent with the Monetary Protocols for the 21st Century, you are making good progress in retrieving your gold reserve assets from third party custodians in New York and London. While the below article is not new to any of you, it's best to review where we are so as to remain focused. Furthermore, as those inclined to remain on a US dollar based reserve footing at the outset, gold dinar signatories can expect to be attracted to the gold dinar because of its inherent stability and superior trading characteristics. As more than half of the central banks' foreign exchange reserves (US$2 trillion, mostly US dollars) reside in Asia, we can anticipate strong resentment and maybe a more antagonist response from the U.S., particularly when it becomes realized that the Peoples Republic of China is entertaining a strong inclination to join the Islamic system for trade settlement.

While not of considerable concern to the American authorities, it should be strongly noted that America's foreign trade deficit was US$38 billion for the most recent month. As the substantial portion of America's manufacturing base has been transferred to foreign entities, primarily Asia, it's unlikely this hemorrhage of their debt obligations can continue, and a sharp reduction in American consumption of our imported goods is anticipated. Therefore, you are urgently encouraged to accelerate your foreign exchange diversification programs from the US dollar to competing mediums, including gold.

- - CBOM

Percy Bysshe Shelley - The Mask of Anarchy

Written on the occasion of the massacre carried out by the British Government
at Peterloo, Manchester 1819

As I lay asleep in Italy
There came a voice from over the Sea,
And with great power it forth led me
To walk in the visions of Poesy.

I met Murder on the way -
He had a mask like Castlereagh -
Very smooth he looked, yet grim;
Seven blood-hounds followed him:

All were fat; and well they might
Be in admirable plight,
For one by one, and two by two,
He tossed the human hearts to chew
Which from his wide cloak he drew.

Next came Fraud, and he had on,
Like Eldon, an ermined gown;
His big tears, for he wept well,
Turned to mill-stones as they fell.

And the little children, who
Round his feet played to and fro,
Thinking every tear a gem,
Had their brains knocked out by them.

Clothed with the Bible, as with light,
And the shadows of the night,
Like Sidmouth, next, Hypocrisy
On a crocodile rode by.

And many more Destructions played
In this ghastly masquerade,
All disguised, even to the eyes,
Like Bishops, lawyers, peers, or spies.

Last came Anarchy: he rode
On a white horse, splashed with blood;
He was pale even to the lips,
Like Death in the Apocalypse.

And he wore a kingly crown;
And in his grasp a sceptre shone;
On his brow this mark I saw -
'I AM GOD, AND KING, AND LAW!'

With a pace stately and fast,
Over English land he passed,
Trampling to a mire of blood
The adoring multitude.

And a mighty troop around,
With their trampling shook the ground,
Waving each a bloody sword,
For the service of their Lord.

And with glorious triumph, they
Rode through England proud and gay,
Drunk as with intoxication
Of the wine of desolation.

O'er fields and towns, from sea to sea,
Passed the Pageant swift and free,
Tearing up, and trampling down;
Till they came to London town.

And each dweller, panic-stricken,
Felt his heart with terror sicken
Hearing the tempestuous cry
Of the triumph of Anarchy.

For with pomp to meet him came,
Clothed in arms like blood and flame,
The hired murderers, who did sing
'Thou art God, and Law, and King.

'We have waited, weak and lone
For thy coming, Mighty One!
Our Purses are empty, our swords are cold,
Give us glory, and blood, and gold.'

Lawyers and priests, a motley crowd,
To the earth their pale brows bowed;
Like a bad prayer not over loud,
Whispering - 'Thou art Law and God.' -

Then all cried with one accord,
'Thou art King, and God and Lord;
Anarchy, to thee we bow,
Be thy name made holy now!'

And Anarchy, the skeleton,
Bowed and grinned to every one,
As well as if his education
Had cost ten millions to the nation.

For he knew the Palaces
Of our Kings were rightly his;
His the sceptre, crown and globe,
And the gold-inwoven robe.

So he sent his slaves before
To seize upon the Bank and Tower,
And was proceeding with intent
To meet his pensioned Parliament

When one fled past, a maniac maid,
And her name was Hope, she said:
But she looked more like Despair,
And she cried out in the air:

'My father Time is weak and gray
With waiting for a better day;
See how idiot-like he stands,
Fumbling with his palsied hands!

He has had child after child,
And the dust of death is piled
Over every one but me -
Misery, oh, Misery!'

Then she lay down in the street,
Right before the horses' feet,
Expecting, with a patient eye,
Murder, Fraud, and Anarchy.

When between her and her foes
A mist, a light, an image rose,
Small at first, and weak, and frail
Like the vapour of a vale:

Till as clouds grow on the blast,
Like tower-crowned giants striding fast,
And glare with lightnings as they fly,
And speak in thunder to the sky,

It grew - a Shape arrayed in mail
Brighter than the viper's scale,
And upborne on wings whose grain
Was as the light of sunny rain.

On its helm, seen far away,
A planet, like the Morning's, lay;
And those plumes its light rained through
Like a shower of crimson dew.

With step as soft as wind it passed
O'er the heads of men - so fast
That they knew the presence there,
And looked, - but all was empty air.

As flowers beneath May's footstep waken,
As stars from Night's loose hair are shaken,
As waves arise when loud winds call,
Thoughts sprung where'er that step did fall.

And the prostrate multitude
Looked - and ankle-deep in blood,
Hope, that maiden most serene,
Was walking with a quiet mien:

And Anarchy, the ghastly birth,
Lay dead earth upon the earth;
The Horse of Death tameless as wind
Fled, and with his hoofs did grind
To dust the murderers thronged behind.

A rushing light of clouds and splendour,
A sense awakening and yet tender
Was heard and felt - and at its close
These words of joy and fear arose

As if their own indignant Earth
Which gave the sons of England birth
Had felt their blood upon her brow,
And shuddering with a mother's throe

Had turned every drop of blood
By which her face had been bedewed
To an accent unwithstood, -
As if her heart had cried aloud:

'Men of England, heirs of Glory,
Heroes of unwritten story,
Nurslings of one mighty Mother,
Hopes of her, and one another;

'Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number,
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you -
Ye are many - they are few.

'What is Freedom? - ye can tell
That which slavery is, too well -
For its very name has grown
To an echo of your own.

'Tis to work and have such pay
As just keeps life from day to day
In your limbs, as in a cell
For the tyrants' use to dwell,

'So that ye for them are made
Loom, and plough, and sword, and spade,
With or without your own will bent
To their defence and nourishment.

'Tis to see your children weak
With their mothers pine and peak,
When the winter winds are bleak, -
They are dying whilst I speak.

'Tis to hunger for such diet
As the rich man in his riot
Casts to the fat dogs that lie
Surfeiting beneath his eye;

'Tis to let the Ghost of Gold
Take from Toil a thousandfold
More that e'er its substance could
In the tyrannies of old.

'Paper coin - that forgery
Of the title-deeds, which ye
Hold to something of the worth
Of the inheritance of Earth.

'Tis to be a slave in soul
And to hold no strong control
Over your own wills, but be
All that others make of ye.

'And at length when ye complain
With a murmur weak and vain
'Tis to see the Tyrant's crew
Ride over your wives and you -
Blood is on the grass like dew.

'Then it is to feel revenge
Fiercely thirsting to exchange
Blood for blood - and wrong for wrong -
Do not thus when ye are strong.

'Birds find rest, in narrow nest
When weary of their wingèd quest
Beasts find fare, in woody lair
When storm and snow are in the air.

'Asses, swine, have litter spread
And with fitting food are fed;
All things have a home but one -
Thou, Oh, Englishman, hast none!

'This is slavery - savage men
Or wild beasts within a den
Would endure not as ye do -
But such ills they never knew.

'What art thou Freedom? O! could slaves
Answer from their living graves
This demand - tyrants would flee
Like a dream's dim imagery:

'Thou art not, as impostors say,
A shadow soon to pass away,
A superstition, and a name
Echoing from the cave of Fame.

'For the labourer thou art bread,
And a comely table spread
From his daily labour come
In a neat and happy home.

'Thou art clothes, and fire, and food
For the trampled multitude -
No - in countries that are free
Such starvation cannot be
As in England now we see.

'To the rich thou art a check,
When his foot is on the neck
Of his victim, thou dost make
That he treads upon a snake.

'Thou art Justice - ne'er for gold
May thy righteous laws be sold
As laws are in England - thou
Shield'st alike the high and low.

'Thou art Wisdom - Freemen never
Dream that God will damn for ever
All who think those things untrue
Of which Priests make such ado.

'Thou art Peace - never by thee
Would blood and treasure wasted be
As tyrants wasted them, when all
Leagued to quench thy flame in Gaul.

'What if English toil and blood
Was poured forth, even as a flood?
It availed, Oh, Liberty,
To dim, but not extinguish thee.

'Thou art Love - the rich have kissed
Thy feet, and like him following Christ,
Give their substance to the free
And through the rough world follow thee,

'Or turn their wealth to arms, and make
War for thy belovèd sake
On wealth, and war, and fraud - whence they
Drew the power which is their prey.

'Science, Poetry, and Thought
Are thy lamps; they make the lot
Of the dwellers in a cot
So serene, they curse it not.

'Spirit, Patience, Gentleness,
All that can adorn and bless
Art thou - let deeds, not words, express
Thine exceeding loveliness.

'Let a great Assembly be
Of the fearless and the free
On some spot of English ground
Where the plains stretch wide around.

'Let the blue sky overhead,
The green earth on which ye tread,
All that must eternal be
Witness the solemnity.

'From the corners uttermost
Of the bounds of English coast;
From every hut, village, and town
Where those who live and suffer moan,

'From the workhouse and the prison
Where pale as corpses newly risen,
Women, children, young and old
Groan for pain, and weep for cold -

'From the haunts of daily life
Where is waged the daily strife
With common wants and common cares
Which sows the human heart with tares -

'Lastly from the palaces
Where the murmur of distress
Echoes, like the distant sound
Of a wind alive around

'Those prison halls of wealth and fashion,
Where some few feel such compassion
For those who groan, and toil, and wail
As must make their brethren pale -

'Ye who suffer woes untold,
Or to feel, or to behold
Your lost country bought and sold
With a price of blood and gold -

'Let a vast assembly be,
And with great solemnity
Declare with measured words that ye
Are, as God has made ye, free -

'Be your strong and simple words
Keen to wound as sharpened swords,
And wide as targes let them be,
With their shade to cover ye.

'Let the tyrants pour around
With a quick and startling sound,
Like the loosening of a sea,
Troops of armed emblazonry.

Let the charged artillery drive
Till the dead air seems alive
With the clash of clanging wheels,
And the tramp of horses' heels.

'Let the fixèd bayonet
Gleam with sharp desire to wet
Its bright point in English blood
Looking keen as one for food.

'Let the horsemen's scimitars
Wheel and flash, like sphereless stars
Thirsting to eclipse their burning
In a sea of death and mourning.

'Stand ye calm and resolute,
Like a forest close and mute,
With folded arms and looks which are
Weapons of unvanquished war,

'And let Panic, who outspeeds
The career of armèd steeds
Pass, a disregarded shade
Through your phalanx undismayed.

'Let the laws of your own land,
Good or ill, between ye stand
Hand to hand, and foot to foot,
Arbiters of the dispute,

'The old laws of England - they
Whose reverend heads with age are gray,
Children of a wiser day;
And whose solemn voice must be
Thine own echo - Liberty!

'On those who first should violate
Such sacred heralds in their state
Rest the blood that must ensue,
And it will not rest on you.

'And if then the tyrants dare
Let them ride among you there,
Slash, and stab, and maim, and hew, -
What they like, that let them do.

'With folded arms and steady eyes,
And little fear, and less surprise,
Look upon them as they slay
Till their rage has died away.

'Then they will return with shame
To the place from which they came,
And the blood thus shed will speak
In hot blushes on their cheek.

'Every woman in the land
Will point at them as they stand -
They will hardly dare to greet
Their acquaintance in the street.

'And the bold, true warriors
Who have hugged Danger in wars
Will turn to those who would be free,
Ashamed of such base company.

'And that slaughter to the Nation
Shall steam up like inspiration,
Eloquent, oracular;
A volcano heard afar.

'And these words shall then become
Like Oppression's thundered doom
Ringing through each heart and brain,
Heard again - again - again -

'Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number -
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you -
Ye are many - they are few.'

Original Caption Released with Image:

The initial tsunami waves resulting from the undersea earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) on 26 December 2004 off the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, took a little over 2 hours to reach the teardrop-shaped island of Sri Lanka. Additional waves continued to arrive for many hours afterward. At approximately 05:15 UTC, as NASA's Terra satellite passed overhead, the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) captured this image of deep ocean tsunami waves about 30-40 kilometers from Sri Lanka's southwestern coast. The waves are made visible due to the effects of changes in sea-surface slope on the reflected sunglint pattern, shown here in MISR's 46° forward-pointing camera. Sunglint occurs when sunlight reflects off a water surface in much the same way light reflects off a mirror, and the position of the Sun, angle of observation, and orientation of the sea surface determines how bright each part of the ocean appears in the image. These large wave features were invisible to MISR's nadir (vertical-viewing) camera. The image covers an area of 208 kilometers x 207 kilometers.

Since the greatest impact of the tsunami was generally in an east-west direction, the havoc caused by the tsunami along the southwestern shores of Sri Lanka was not as severe as along the eastern coast, though there was still substantial damage in this region--as evidenced by the brownish debris in the water--because tsunami waves can diffract around land masses. The ripple-like wave pattern evident in this MISR image roughly correlates with the undersea boundary of the continental shelf. This surface manifestation is likely to be caused by interaction of deep waves with the ocean floor, rather than by the more usually-observed surface waves driven by winds. It is possible that this semi-concentric pattern represents wave reflection from the continental land mass; however, a combination of wave modeling and detailed bathymetric data is required to fully understand the dynamics. Examination of other MISR images of this area, taken under similar illumination conditions, has not uncovered any surface patterns resembling those seen here.

This image is an example of how MISR's multiangular capability provides unique information for understanding how tsunamis propagate. Another application of MISR data enabled measuring the motion of breaking tsunami waves along the eastern shores of Andhra Pradesh, India.

Freedom of what? First Amendment no big deal to students

AP | Jan 31 2005

The way many high school students see it, government censorship of newspapers may not be a bad thing, and flag-burning is hardly protected free speech.

It turns out the First Amendment is a second-rate issue to many of those nearing their own adult independence, according to a study of high school attitudes released today.

The original amendment to the Constitution is the cornerstone of the way of life in the United States, promising citizens the freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.

Yet, when told of the exact text of the First Amendment, more than one in three high school students said it goes "too far" in the rights it guarantees. Only half of the students said newspapers should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of stories.

"These results are not only disturbing; they are dangerous," said Hodding Carter III, president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which sponsored the $1 million study. "Ignorance about the basics of this free society is a danger to our nation's future."

The students are even more restrictive in their views than their elders, the study says.

When asked whether people should be allowed to express unpopular views, 97% of teachers and 99% of school principals said yes. Only 83% of students did.

The results reflected indifference, with almost three in four students saying they took the First Amendment for granted or didn't know how they felt about it. It was also clear that many students do not understand what is protected by the bedrock of the Bill of Rights.

Three in four students in the survey said flag-burning is illegal. It's not. About half the students said the government can restrict any indecent material on the Internet. It can't.

"Schools don't do enough to teach the First Amendment. Students often don't know the rights it protects," Linda Puntney, executive director of the Journalism Education Association, said in the report, "Future of the First Amendment." "This all comes at a time when there is decreasing passion for much of anything. And, you have to be passionate about the First Amendment." [...]

WHERE IS MY BUTTOOOOOOON?!?!?!

Not long ago, the American dream was a global fantasy. Not only Americans saw themselves as a beacon unto nations. So did much of the rest of the world. East Europeans tuned into Radio Free Europe. Chinese students erected a replica of the Statue of Liberty in Tiananmen Square.

You had only to listen to George W. Bush's Inaugural Address last week (invoking "freedom" and "liberty" 49 times) to appreciate just how deeply Americans still believe in this founding myth. For many in the world, the president's rhetoric confirmed their worst fears of an imperial America relentlessly pursuing its narrow national interests. But the greater danger may be a delusional America—one that believes, despite all evidence to the contrary, that the American Dream lives on, that America remains a model for the world, one whose mission is to spread the word.

The gulf between how Americans view themselves and how the world views them was summed up in a poll last week by the BBC. Fully 71 percent of Americans see the United States as a source of good in the world. More than half view Bush's election as positive for global security. Other studies report that 70 percent have faith in their domestic institutions and nearly 80 percent believe "American ideas and customs" should spread globally.

Foreigners take an entirely different view: 58 percent in the BBC poll see Bush's re-election as a threat to world peace. Among America's traditional allies, the figure is strikingly higher: 77 percent in Germany, 64 percent in Britain and 82 percent in Turkey. Among the 1.3 billion members of the Islamic world, public support for the United States is measured in single digits. Only Poland, the Philippines and India viewed Bush's second Inaugural positively.

[...]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6857387/site/newsweek/

from MSNBC yet....