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Thursday, July 4, 2002
Ran across a fairly long but interesting piece written by 60's music artist Janis Ian on how free music downloads over the web are the best kind of marketing artists could ask (and not pay) for, and how -- contrary to everything you hear spewed at you by the RIAA -- they actually drive sales. Also pegging the needle on the "someone finally making sense" meter, eight communities are revolting against the new (so-called) Patriot Act. Excellent! Maybe if enough people get into the act, all our civil liberties won't go out the window...
Wednesday, July 3, 2002
By the way, I meant to share this Op-Ed piece over at the times: George W. Bush and the rest of the foxes assure us they're hot on the trail of those missing chickens. Yeah, right. On the other, less inflamatory side of the fence, I found this interesting bit on why the U.S. sometimes unfairly gets its "Bully in the World's Schoolyard" reputation. Some of it very thought-provoking, and it made me wonder why you don't see those kind of facts (?) more often. (I really can't substantiate any of them myself, offhand, YMMV.)
And while you're here, when was the last time you played Battleship? (Excellent little Flash applet.)
Also, I'd just like to say the future is here. Or at least a small part of it. Between this and the physicists teleporting (or transporting, a la Star Trek) a beam of light a few weeks ago, I'm beginning to be confident in the future again. For a while things just haven't been moving forward fast enough for me. I want a computerized house with an artificial intelligence assistant and a hovercar, and I want it now, darnit. And while we're on the topic of science, there's a pretty good article over at Slate about the somewhat nutty popularity of Stephen Wolfram's new book. Personally, while I'd like to see some new theory throw out half the stuff that's currently accepted as near-fact, I doubt Wolfram's is it. I can only believe that the public just wants to see A Beautiful Mind played out in real life. (I'd add the word "again" to the end of that sentence, but from what I've read, they really weren't all that true to the John Nash life story.) Oh, and if you're a math & science fan, here's a bonus link for you on Riemann's hypothesis.
And I had to finally weigh in on this, I suppose; it was inevitable. Go and read this David Greenberg article about how we're not one nation under god. Really. And then let's return the pledge (and our money, and the presidential swearing-in process) back to their original forms. This is not a christian nation.
Tuesday, July 2, 2002
I haven't run across much that's interesting on the web recently, but I haven't been spending much time behind a web browser, either. But there's an interesting Cringely column about Microsoft's new Palladium project, and another piece over at Online Journalism Review about the increasing trend of newspaper websites to require registration (a la the NYTimes, which has been requiring it since 1996.) Also, I'm getting interested in the idea of owning a PVR (Personal Video Recorder) unit, replacing my VCR, ideally. But I'm still trying to sort out whether I ought to be considering a ReplayTV unit or a Tivo; either way, the whole ruckus going on with the broadcasting people making a fuss about the ability to skip commercials (see my June 17th entry) made me shake my head when I ran over this old Robert A. Heinlein quote: "There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or a corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute nor common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back, for their private benefit." Good ol' RAH is apparently still preaching the good word from beyond the grave occasionally. Good to know.
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