From Wired:

Ask the Expert
The author of two books on stupidity has been charged with trying arrange a sexual liaison with a teenager he met online. James Welles, 61, has written books called The Story of Stupidity and Understanding Stupidity. Both are about the dumb moves people make. Welles tried to set up a date with a 15-year-old girl, who turned out to be a 40-year-old undercover cop. No word on when the third book is due out.

Stupid is as Stupid does

The title says it all.

Bloody Finger Mail

"One mad consumer relations team might be an isolated incident, two begins to look like a trend. The dismissive response Bertelsmann Music Group's copy protection team recently issued to a consumer's query essentially boiled down to, 'all Cds will be copy protected, it's not our problem that they won't play on some devices, so tough.' But apparently, it's a competition. EMI Germany is taking pretty much the same attitude, and its humorously-tagged Consumer Relations team is calling the customers pirates while it's about it."

It never fails to amaze me just how stupid the recording industry is. However real the problem may be, I don't think this kind of idiocy is the answer.

All CDs will be protected and you are a filthy pirate

Nanochick wrote:
] ] "Local resident Blanche Kellye said the problem was not
] ] funny. "Everyone round here is living in fear...it's a
] ] vicious little thing. I'll never trust squirrels again."
] ] "

There's a follow up to this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2415095.stm?

Seems the little tree rat finally got what was coming to him.

RE: Yahoo! News - Squirrel Terrorizes Town

flynn23 wrote:
] A Canadian father is suing the New Brunswick Amateur Hockey
] Association after his 16-year-old son failed to win the
] league's most valuable player award.
]
]
] Michael Croteau is seeking about $200,000 in psychological and
] punitive damages from the association. He also demands that
] the MVP trophy be taken from the winner and given to his son,
] Steven.

Stuff like this just makes me sick. On a positive note, I am glad to see it's just not Americans that are so utterly ridiculous and abuse legal systems.

RE: The Problem with Youth Sports is the Parents

flynn23 wrote:
] Researchers in Japan have scientifically documented what
] dwellers of Dilbertville have known for years: Prolonged daily
] computer use can make you sore and sap your strength, energy
] and motivation.
] In a three-year study of more than 25,000 workers,
]
] Japanese researchers discovered that people who sat in front
] of computer screens were more likely to experience physical
] pain such as eye and shoulder strain, and to suffer from
] motivational symptoms such as lethargy.

No wonder I feel like crap all the time!

RE: so THAT'S the problem...

] "A missing chapter from hacker Kevin Mitnick's recent
] book has been published on the Internet."

After nearly a decade, Mitnick's voice is heard.

Wired News: Mitnick's 'Lost Chapter' Found

"Tie Domi has the offensive ability to survive in the skill game.
The worry to some faced with the realities of a new NHL, one that might be a more skillful league but also appears more peaceful, is that this is a process that could rob the league of its color and personality."

Is a more peaceful NHL a better NHL?

flynn23 wrote:
] Consumers could be saving money by selecting their premium
] channels a la carte, but don't expect to hear it from your
] cable outfit
]
] of course this article forgets to mention that cable cos holy
] grail is to get every subscriber into a bundled agreement
] worth $200/home/month.

Their pricing structures are as bad as the telephone companies. They attempt to baffle the common people with complicated packages and pricing policies. Just recently, I attempted to cut back my package to save some dough. When I asked about removing a few premium channels, I was informed that my bill would actually go up. I need to check back now that this law has passed since this occured before October.

RE: Big Cable's Package-Pricing Ploy

The best code in the world can be foiled by a single bug. One careless line of code can crash an entire program.

Lawrence Lessig calls laws "East Coast Code," and it only takes a few buggy laws to strangle freedom and innovation in technology. Laws like the DMCA, the Hollings Bill, and the CDA threaten to put the American technology juggernaut up on blocks.

AOTC has researched the sponsors of eight bad Internet laws and compiled a list of their most prolific campaign contributors. These laws were written and sponsored by a tiny handful of lawmakers, backed by a tiny handful of wealthy financiers. These bad coders and their backers have done more damage to computing, the Internet and freedom than all the virus authors, spammers and crackers combined.

The laws that will define the information age