September 25, 2002

Britney Spears, Madonna, Other Stars in TV Ads on Piracy

Britney Spears, Madonna, Other Stars in TV Ads on Piracy "Too many people don't realize that when you download a song you like from a peer-to-peer network or some other unauthorized Internet source, what you're doing is stealing music," says Britney. Somebody ask Brit if she knows what peer-to-peer means. This is the latest Big Idea from the RIAA.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet at 10:21 PM PST - 78 comments

Kazaa to RIAA; "Catch us if you can!"

Kazaa to RIAA; "Catch us if you can!" Although I was initially skeptical, it seems as though Kazaa's decentralized system is proving to be a problem for the RIAA. With Napster, it seemed like they caved almost immediately. What I'm wondering is, does Kazaa actually have a change at establishing some sort of favourable ruling concerning file-trading / P2P? I know it's probably too early to tell, but speculation makes for great conversation some times.
posted by Dark Messiah at 10:05 PM PST - 15 comments

Alana Dung

Alana Dung passed away quietly in her sleep at age 3 from leukemia, but not before inspiring 30,000 people in Hawai'i to register themselves with The National Bone Marrow Registry. Since her parents and brother were not marrow matches, her family made her battle public. To honor her memory, they eventually formed the Alana Dung Research Foundation, an organization dedicated "to support research efforts designed to improve the quality of life for children with serious illnesses." Her brief life also inspired a play. Is your marrow registered?
posted by Joey Michaels at 7:21 PM PST - 17 comments

Originator of term "Shareware" Dies

Originator of term "Shareware" Dies
Bob Wallace, was born in Washington, D.C. in 1949, the author of PC-WRITE, and one of three persons credited with coining the term "Shareware" was found dead at his Northern California home on Friday, September 20th, 2002. In 1978, Bob joined Microsoft (the company that wrote MS DOS for IBM) when the company had only ten employees. He was employee number 9. Five years later, Bob decided to break with Microsoft (which by then had grown to company of over 300 employees) and establish his own company: Quicksoft. Among Quicksoft's innovations in software design and marketing was the "shareware" concept. Cause of death was determined to be pneumonia.
posted by jackspace at 5:55 PM PST - 24 comments

Do you plan to stay at a Marriott hotel any time soon? If so, you might want to relieve yourself in the dark since a spy cam was found in a Marriott hotel's bathroom lighting fixture and connected to the same circuit so as to turn on with the lights.
posted by David Dark at 5:45 PM PST - 24 comments

Riding The Reputation Seesaw:

Riding The Reputation Seesaw: I'm a sucker for underrated/overrated lists anyway, but this series of short articles from underrated American Heritage magazine is one of the best I've ever read. I specially liked the haphazard criteria for selecting the categories, leaving out some of the most obvious.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 5:30 PM PST - 17 comments

Think the upcoming Ice Age theory has died?

Think the upcoming Ice Age theory has died? It's been mentioned once or twice in discussion threads, but I spent some time in the library recently reading this very interesting article from Discover magazine. I was discussing it with a meteorolgist friend of mine, and supposedly the mini-ice age theory is very alive and has a lot of support. Should we start buying more electric blankets?
posted by mychai at 4:38 PM PST - 12 comments

Kinoko-ya has stunningly beautiful pictures of mushrooms. (Please don't crash the site, gang; I'm using it for research...)
posted by realjanetkagan at 3:20 PM PST - 25 comments

Who's richer:

Who's richer: Montgomery Burns, Cruella De Vil, or Bruce Wayne? On the heels of last month's Top-Earning Dead Celebrities list, Forbes brings us their Fictional Fifteen, the wealthiest made-up people in the world. Anyone see any egregious exclusions?
posted by GreyWingnut at 2:33 PM PST - 51 comments

Bumfights.com producers arrested

Bumfights.com producers arrested and charged with "conspiracy, solicitation of a felony crime and illegally paying people to fight". The site itself was discussed here a few months ago. At that time, there was disagreement as to the legality of the tapes. The producer defended his legal footing saying that the participants signed releases. Looks like that wasn't enough, hearing to start Oct 10th.
posted by jonah at 1:26 PM PST - 60 comments

Similarities between the United States and the Roman Empire.

Similarities between the United States and the Roman Empire. With the comparrison having become common, it is interesting to consider just how much the two really have in common. What would Cicero think?
posted by homunculus at 11:34 AM PST - 48 comments

Daschle Accuses Bush of Politicizing Iraq Debate

Daschle Accuses Bush of Politicizing Iraq Debate "You tell those who fought in Vietnam and World War II they are not interested in the security of the American people" because they are Democrats, Daschle said. "That is outrageous. Outrageous." The full text of Daschle's comments. Do we finally have an opposition party?
posted by owillis at 11:04 AM PST - 74 comments

Mel Gibson wants to do a movie on the last 12 hours of Jesus's life. The only issue? He wants to do it totally in Latin and Arameic without subtitles. A cool way for Hollywood to branch out from the norm, or artsy pretension from a rather boring actor? Time may tell. Seen also on AICN.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:41 AM PST - 55 comments

Donald, do you know what those Germans are up to?

Donald, do you know what those Germans are up to? Like, comparing everyone and their hamsters to Hitler? [Spoiler alert: the first comment explains it, for those who don't get it]
posted by vowe at 10:23 AM PST - 27 comments

In the new LRB, a pretty good attempt to answer the pressing question - why do the Bush people want to attack Iraq so much?
posted by Mocata at 9:34 AM PST - 20 comments

The Plight of the Pregnant Prisoner.

The Plight of the Pregnant Prisoner. Every culture has to decide what to do with their pregnant prisoners. Here in the USA, are we doing the best we can? And then there is the whole abortion debate.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 9:26 AM PST - 6 comments

A Visual Journey: Photographs by Lisa Law 1965-1971

A Visual Journey: Photographs by Lisa Law 1965-1971 Lisa Law's photographs provide glimpses into the folk and rock music scenes, California's blossoming counterculture, and the family-centered and spiritual world of commune life in New Mexico. They are moments that she lived, witnessed, and recorded on the frontier of cultural change.
posted by konolia at 8:48 AM PST - 3 comments

So how would you spend your retirement?

So how would you spend your retirement? In the grand tradition of the backyard Falcon and Gundam (link in Flacon thread), a retired Canadian Navy officer built a German submarine. In his garage. With "egg poaching cups and a motor from his wife’s blender", among other items. Sadly, he died before its launch. (more inside)
posted by GhostintheMachine at 7:51 AM PST - 6 comments

Think you're smart? How does your test-taking ability stack up to your forebears? Could you have graduated eighth grade in 1895? Been accepted into college in the 1930s? What do you think - is it easier to be a student today or harder?
Oh, here's a cheat sheet in case the 8th grade exam proves too challenging!
posted by madamjujujive at 7:41 AM PST - 32 comments

Mullet Talk,

Mullet Talk, FM morning radio show comedy at it its finest. Of course, in Pittsburgh we appreciate the finer things in life. Sadly, this is the only episode I could find on the web.
posted by Recockulous at 7:38 AM PST - 10 comments

Milk and meat

Milk and meat from cloned cows and their offspring may be on store shelves by next year. Apparently breeders are already raising "scores" of clones in America. Just another step to making animals to suit our needs (domestication, organ cloning, and Silk from goat's milk.
posted by LordMcD at 7:27 AM PST - 30 comments

What do you get

What do you get when you mix 50 pounds of silly putty, a parking garage and bored techies? Ahh, the hilarity (AVI link).
posted by psychotic_venom at 6:58 AM PST - 19 comments

The end of an era?

The end of an era? The Miss America crowning had just 12 million viewers tune in this past Saturday, the lowest viewership in the history of the pageant. Are people turned off by this type of competition? Or are there just better things to do on a Saturday night?
posted by MediaMan at 6:27 AM PST - 36 comments

Satire is dead.

Satire is dead. "On Monday 23rd September, the Metropolitan Police (acting with the support of The Internet Watch Foundation) contacted my web host, Webfusion (aka Host Europe), and requested that thinkofthechildren.co.uk be 'removed from the public domain'."
posted by MintSauce at 4:54 AM PST - 31 comments

"He was twitching and his eyes were not quite shut ... I thought he was dead."   With the rise in home-computers during the mid-nineties came the fall of game arcades and their unhealthy drifter culture. The family-oriented nVidia and ATI companies provided home-entertainment and the final nail in the coffin for the infamous arcade. That was until late 1998, and DDR. Dance Dance Revolution swept the nation and kids exchanged "moves" like bubblegum. It was a juggernaut. It was out of control. DDR claimed victim after victim, with no signs of stopping...
posted by holloway at 1:36 AM PST - 14 comments

The State of the Nation's Ecosystems -

The State of the Nation's Ecosystems - According to a report commissioned five years ago by President Clinton and finally completed and released, the United States may have no streams left that are free from chemical contamination, and about one-fifth of animal species and one-sixth of plant types are at risk of extinction.
posted by dejah420 at 1:13 AM PST - 14 comments

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