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While I'm not a fan of Harry Potter books (yet - I'll get around to checking them out someday soon), I find it interesting to see some folks still strongly oppose the stories of sorcery, while it seems the average CNN.com reader doesn't see a problem with them (the poll is 97-3 as I write this). It seems that every few years, some fiction strikes the fancy of kids, and parents rally against it, even though it piques kids' imaginations and gets them reading. What's so wrong with Potter books?
posted by mathowie at 9:16 PM PST - 15 comments

Stinky Meat has got to be on of the crudest, funniest, sophomoric pranks I've seen yet. But it's all in the name of "science" (NOT for the squeemish).
posted by inviolable at 4:04 PM PST - 6 comments

No one seems to have pointed out the Napster press release. It lists the points made in their legal brief, and, by cracky, they're all damned good ones. Their lead lawyer is the guy who just split Microsoft up; I think he might be able to win it; what do you think?
posted by baylink at 2:39 PM PST - 14 comments

An undoubtedly unintentionally ironic message that pretty much sums up the sad, sorry state of e-commerce today. "You have reached www.24-7.com. Unfortunately, we are now closed."
posted by monstro at 1:58 PM PST - 4 comments

"Netscape is using SmartDownload to eavesdrop," I thought Microsoft was the ONLY evil!
posted by Mick at 12:24 PM PST - 6 comments

This story of a whiz kid who vanished raises all kinds of questions. Sufiah, a 15-year-old student at Oxford University, disappears; then, her father receives an e-mail, supposedly from her. The e-mail claims that she ran away from her father's abusive high-pressure learning techniques; the father claims that she must have been kidnapped and brainwashed. The police aren't sure how to handle this situation, as there's no way to prove that the mail is really from the daughter. Finally, the father has called in the media to present his side of the story, since Sufiah has threatened to go to the media with hers.
posted by harmful at 10:12 AM PST - 11 comments

The story of Huang Qi, the man who started the first human-rights website in China, is one of the most depressing internet stories I've read. Now that he is jailed for "subverting state power," no US internet firms are sticking for him, as they're too busy trying to market their sites and services in China. I've participated in protests before, but I really wish we could get together and protest bigger things, things that might improve or save others' lives. I hope the proposed data havens like Sealand get online and allow sites such as Qi's to continue.
posted by mathowie at 9:14 AM PST - 3 comments

A Damn Good Idea, but about as likely as Dr. Laura joining NOW.
posted by Doug at 8:07 AM PST - 19 comments

"We apologize for any involvement in the terrible practice of buying and selling human beings." The Hartford Courant, the oldest newspaper in continuous publication in the United States, ran a front page apology for slavery on the 4th of July. What will it take for the U.S. Congress to do the same?
posted by sudama at 7:49 AM PST - 20 comments

The Last Refuge... invaded... Yes, I have a cell phone. Yes, I use it. But, I turn if off any place it would be rude to be having a full-voiced conversation, because I hate it when people make or take a call in those situations. I'd always sort of enjoyed the fact that the airlines claim they'll screw up navigation systems; whether they do or not, it means I don't have to listen to a dozen suits around me trying to out-do each other a-wheelin' and a-dealin and a-squealin' up and down the aisles. Guess I won't be flying Virgin Atlantic again any time soon...
posted by m.polo at 7:40 AM PST - 17 comments

Why not just put chips in their heads? Big Brother for real. . .
posted by aflakete at 12:26 AM PST - 11 comments