Oh, For Fuck’s Sake….

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Need I say more?


OK, this is it. Ever since the Firm™ first started operating I was proud of the fact that we had some seriously good streaming set up. Windows media services 4.1 on our server and Windows media encoder at the source -it worked perfect. The fact that most of PCs have had Windows media player installed together with WIN200 and later WIN XP, only helped me widen my smile.

And until recently Windows Media solutions were one thing which in my view really moved Microsoft into the “good guys” area. I mean – the encoder is free, the server is not utterly pocket-crippling either, and the whole package acutally works. What more do you want?

And then they fuck it up big time with Windows Media Player 11… I mean I understand that thecnology moves forward, but why on Earth can’t it be backward compatible? Why did they have to drop the MMS protocol? I have nothing against RTSP protocol, in fact I like it a lot since mobile phones use it and it made my life a lot simpler when I was setting up our mobile streaming.

But why drop a perfectly good protocol especially if Widows Media Services don’t support RTSP? Is Microsoft really trying to shoot itself into the knee?

In my opinion it has already done so. If something is not done quickly with WMP 11, it will follow the path of Netscape’s 4.xx browser. I’ve never ranted agains a certain piece of software, but this change for the worse is simply incomprehensible to me. Thus I’m left with a shitload of work, trying to migrate to WIN2003 server – which supports RTSP – as soon as possible. Fuck….

Drnovšek vs. Janša

Remember this post? Good thing we still have a president who does not bow to the government of Janez Janša just like that. Instead, he’s going head-to-head with JJ


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Animation modified by Pengovsky – I have way too much free time 😀


The row over the new Governor of the Central Bank of Slovenia is becoming even uglier… After backstabbing Mitja Gaspari, Janez Janša is doing everything he can to put his man on the top spot. Well, Boštjan Jazbec is allegedly even closer to finance minister Andrej Bajuk than to JJ, but close enough.

The Prez, however, will have none of it and proposed Gaspari’s second-in-command, Andrej Rant to the top spot, sparking a more or less open conflict with the government, just as last year’s row over Drnovšek’s travels calmed down. Again, I feel that the President is excersinging his constitutional right and duty to propose a candidate he sees fit – especially if the president is one of the very few sources of political power this administration has not (yet) devoured.

Detox & Redux

Talk about getting yourself a birthday gift… Robbie Williams just checked into a rehab clinic, supposedly to cure his addiction to prescription drugs… Now, Wobbie is my favourite pop musician currently on stage, but how the fuck to do you get hooked on antibiotics???? 😈


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This is what an OD of amoxiclav will do to you…


Hearing the brighter side of life…After reportedly becoming half deaf, Phil Collins’ hearing has reportedly improved so much that he’s back on tour with Genesis and will give a free performance in Rome on July 14 (Ozzy “whaddafuckisthat” Osborne is following suit)


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No wonder he got an ear infection… Didn’t mama ever tell him not to take his shirt off when he was all sweaty?


And finally… Spread ’em… The Police are back… The high-piched voice of Sting will ask Roxanne not to go out whoring yet again.


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Rooooooooxane!


BTW: In case you didn’t know – Sting is the vocal at the begining of Dire Straits’ Money For Nothing. I guess Mark won’t be touring these parts any time soon, right?

A Case for Implementation of Journalistic Code of Conduct in Blogosphere

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When in deep trouble, try to remain cool…


For some time a debate is raging on the nature of blogs and bloggers. Does blogging equal to journalism, are bloggers and their blogs subject to standards of journalism, and most of all, can they be held responsible for the views they express.


As the title of this post suggest, I’d say “yes” to most of those counts – but not in the same degree on all of them. Naturally, there are at least two widely opposing views present. One says that blogs are not journalistic pieces, whereas another claims that some sort of code of conduct should be followed

While I understand aversion to any sort of “regulation” (for lack of a better word) in the blogosphere – albeit a voluntary and selfimposed regulation (as I will show a bit later on), one thing must be considered: contrary to common sense an established code of conduct could actually diminish the possibility of censorship in the blogosphere. Why?

Simply, because it would give bloggers some sort of leverage against would-be censors.


And this is where Journalistic Code of Conduct comes in. Namely, this Code is not state-imposed but rather self-imposed by the journalists’ association in order to give journalists cover when they find themselves under attack by objects of their articles. This code of conduct has been refined during the years and is now more or less accepted by all journalists (even if they do not always conform to it). It also serves to “filter out” bad journalism from good journalism.


Bloggers are not journalists. Their subjects vary from strictly personal or even mudane to matters of greater public importance. Both extremes (and everything in between) are equally “blog-worthy”.


However. As I have shown some time ago, blogs are a modern-day version of the Speaker’s Corner. This however means that an individual who finds him/herself a subject of any particular blog entry, can feel violated and seeks justice in court – much like the Gušti affair. And since bloggosphere as a community is not closely connected but is rather a loose association of individuals, whose more or less only common point is the fact that they happen to be blogging, there is little actual resistance to more or less obvious acts of censorship by anyone who happens to be in a position of power over a particular blogger.

If there were some sort of a document which bloggers could invoke in their defence, this would be the first (albeit weak) line of defence. Admittedly, this document would not be legaly binding, but neither is Journalistic code of conduct. However the latter is still regularerly invoked. Thus I firmly believe that it is in bloggers’ best interest to form some sort of Bloggers’ Ethics Code, which would set out best practices when blogging about the “outside world” – that is to say about people and events. The said Code needs not be as rigid as the Journalists’ Code, nor as narrow minded. But one could use Journalists’ Code as a starting point, applying changes and modifications where and when necesary.


Recent events have shown that certain types of blogs and bloggers need some sort of protection. Any kind of protection – be it from politicos or from media owners. Pressure will always be brought to bear. But the community should find a way to deflect it, not just cry “Wolf!” when it happens.