Two neat stories from Slashdot today:

First, an essay about fragmenting standards in the Linux world. I’m not certain yet if I think he’s on the right track, but an interesting read nonetheless.

Then, and this is really cool, an article about building your own PBX using old hardware for under $20. Basically, this can give you things like voicemail, multiple phone lines in your house, etc. Fascinating read, and I’m probably going to have to try it out :-) They are using the Asterisk project.

Next, I decided I would periodically report on the, ahem, exacting quality standards of what we see in some of the mainstream news outlets.

Today, CNN leads with Martha Stewart saying “it’s really wonderful to be back”, a story about how Jackson needed a bathroom break at his trial, the White House denying it targeted the Italian hostage, and how Clinton gave up his bed on a plane to George H. W. Bush. Real news factor: low.

MSNBC fares little better with some Pope watching, “Jackson’s private eye goes public” (whatever that means), the Jackson thing again (though sadly lacking in bathroom watching), and somebody surviving a drop from an overpass.

FOX leads off with “Boeing’s new boss talks scandal!”, a story on the “Jacko” defense, and after reading those two, I was too fed up to read any farther.

NPR leads off with “Syria vows pullback, large Hezbollah protests predicted”, a story about the new U.N. envoy, the Italian reaction to the hostage shooting, and Sony’s new CEO. Quite a bit farther down, I see a link to “‘Bring Out Your Dead’: Monty Python hits Broadway.” Hmm.