Images from Rafah flicker on my computer screen. Gazans blowing up chunks of the wall that stood between them and Egypt, punching holes in the largest open-air prison in the world and streaming across the border. An incredible refusal to submit.

Rarely does our media offer images so laden with the palpable despair that has become daily life in the Gaza Strip. The situation has bordered on desperate since the outbreak of the Second Intifada in October 2000, when Gazans could no longer work inside Israel and the attacks and incursions of Israel's military, the IDF, became a regular occurrence.

Lengthy celebration for Marley in Trench Town

Damian and Stephen Marley perform together at Original Dancehall Jam Jam, held at the Jamalco Sports Club, May Pen, Clarendon, recently. They performed alongside Bunny Wailer on Friday night at the Marley Festival in Trench Town, St Andrew. - File

Friday's final night of the annual Bob Marley celebrations in Trench Town, St Andrew, was a combination of a long community showcase and a short professional concert - which was about appropriate for the $500 entrance fee.

Not that a bumper crowd came through the coconut bough covered gate into the Vin Lawrence Park off Spanish Town Road. And after Stephen and Damian Marley said goodbye at 5:45 a.m., there was a rush for the exit, only a few turning back when someone on the stage announced that Sugar Minott and Horace Andy were about to perform, while Capleton, I-Wayne and Jah Cure were on their way.

In Africa, Bush wants AIDS plan renewed

But Bush seemed surprised that Obama's name would come up during this victory-lap journey that is celebrating some of his only foreign policies that make him popular."It seemed like there was a lot of excitement for me, wait a minute. Maybe you missed it," he joked during a news conference, speculating that a question about Obama was put to Kikwete instead of him because it was well known that "I wouldn't answer."Kikwete appeared to get the hint, declining at Bush's side even to discuss the prospect of a man with African roots becoming president of the United States."I don't think I can venture into that territory, either," Kikwete said. "The U.S. is going to get a new president, whoever that one is. For us, the most important thing is, let him be as good friend of Africa as President Bush has been." Bush's term ends next January.The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, has raised the number of Africans on anti-retroviral treatments from 50,000 to 1.2 million.Democrats want to strip requirements that one-third of the money go to abstinence-until-marriage programs and that some groups sign anti-prostitution pledges.Some Democrats also say that Bush's request for $30 billion over the next five years, twice his original commitment of $15 billion, is too little, and would merely continue the program at the current year's ramped-up levels.

Conversations With the Deaf

Cheering splashed from Downtown’s street corners and blended into one sound. The owners of scattered ahwas, local coffee shops, were calling out orders, already sensing the sweet taste of profits. Even Cairo’s omnipresent street vendors had abandoned their usual posts and collected around streetside TV sets to shout encouragement to their favorite players.

Transcribing in Linux: Easy As 1, 2, 3...

I'm fairly sure that this is not open source software. My reasoning for stating this, since I have yet to see anything even close to Express Scribe, in the open source world as of yet. Much like MainActor is to those who want entry level software for decent video editing, I see Express Scribe as filling this same need, and perhaps even hitting a more important piece of the Linux puzzle.
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iTALC promotes learning on a classroom network
iTALC, or Intelligent Teaching and Learning with Computers, is a didactical tool designed to assist teachers. Despite its name, the tool itself isn't a learning environment. It's meant to let teachers control their students' computers in a computer-driven classroom setting. Thanks to its powerful remote desktop control features, simple setup, and lack of cost, it's a potential remote assistance tool for any type of network.

Gateway Plugs Phenom Into Two New Media-Friendly Desktops

With a Phenom 9600 processor, the GM5664 is oriented toward users interested in extreme gaming, digital photo and video editing, watching TV or movies and storing a massive media library. In addition to the hybrid optical drive, the machine features an integrated analog/digital TV tuner with remote control that lets consumers watch, pause and record their favorite live programming.