Rare show of clarity in Congress – No rush to new gun control

I’m not used to seeing this kind of reaction from the liberals, but Senator Harry Reid has suggested caution in any push for stricter gun control laws in wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy.

After the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid cautioned Tuesday against a “rush to judgment” on stricter gun control.

A leading House supporter of restrictions on firearms conceded passage of legislation would be difficult.

“I think we ought to be thinking about the families and the victims and not speculate about future legislative battles that might lie ahead,” said Reid, a view expressed by other Democratic leaders the day after the shootings that left 33 dead on the campus of Virginia Tech.

Yes, it will be difficult to get additional restrictions on firearms. There’s still that whole 2nd Amendment guarantee that needs to be protected. Sure, a few of the Senators have already started the gun control battlecries:

In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, a few Democrats renewed the call for gun control legislation, and more are expected to join them.

“I believe this will reignite the dormant effort to pass commonsense gun regulations in this nation,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who was a leader in the failed drive to renew a ban on certain types of assault weapons that expired in 2004.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., was one of very few lawmakers to refer on gun control in the early hours after the shootings. “There will be time to debate the steps needed to overt such tragedies,” he said on Monday, “but today, our thoughts and prayers go to their families.”

Hopefully enough of them realize the problems that this won’t gain traction though. Personally, I look at this from the other side – had just one student in that classroom been carrying a firearm, the number killed by this nut could well have been far fewer. Restricting guns might reduce law-abiding citizens from carrying firearms, but it won’t slow down the criminals too much. Considering that the shooter acquired the weapon over a month before the shooting, it seems likely that he planned this and therefore would have pursued other means of arming himself were he unable to buy legally from a gunshop. I don’t believe restrictions on firearms would have stopped this, and I don’t think it will improve student safety in the future.

[tags]Senate Majority Leader cautions against pursuing stricter gun controls in wake of Virginia Tech shootings[/tags]

Adobe to deliver new media player

Hoping to cash in on some of the still unclaimed money floating around in the media-everywhere int4r-web thingie, Adobe has announced the imminent release of Adobe Media Player to the, ummmm, complete lack of notice to users everywhere. So what’s so great about Abode Media Player, and why should we be excited? Well, let’s see what the experts have to say:

Bruce Chizen, CEO at Adobe Systems Inc., commented that: “Adobe Flash has revolutionized the distribution of video content across the Internet and Adobe Media Player builds on this leadership position,” with regard to the company’s aspirations for the introduction of its newly integrated media player.

. . .

“Adobe has created the first way for media companies to release video content, secure in the knowledge that advertising goes with it,” said Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey in a Reuters report. “Control is something that media companies absolutely get high on,” he continued on the subject of media company reticence concerning the release of their content to the Web.

That’s right. Thanks to Adobe, you’ll now be able to get your media, secure in the knowledge that you’ll not miss out on your advertising when you receive your content. And if this product holds to the standard Adobe product features set, you can count on it being large, slow, intrusive, and possibly annoying.

I will give credit for one thing though – as much as I despise advertising, I do think having advertising tied in with the content distribution will get more premium content online for the enjoyment of consumers online. Not much more, but I believe it will help increase premium media distribution. It’s just dumb to proclaim how great it will be because it can force advertising in with content when sharing with end-users. Sell to them based on features they want – non-intrusive, lightweight, speed, ease of installation and use, and so on. Of course, Adobe might not be doing that in this case given the difficulty the company faces in producing applications that meet any of those requirements other than maybe ease of use.

[tags]Adobe announces new media player, Rest easy knowing you’ll not miss your advertisements in future distributed content[/tags]