Oh, yeah, this was such a GREAT idea the first time around when it was called DIVX.

The discs stop working when a process similar to rusting makes them unreadable. The discs start off red, but when they are taken out of the package, exposure to oxygen turns the coating black and makes it impenetrable by a DVD laser.

Yahoo! News - Disney to Begin Renting 'Self-Destructing' DVDs

] To this end, I have decided to publish the top ten signs
] that your son is a hacker. I advise any parents to read
] this list carefully and if their son matches the profile,
] they should take action. A smart parent will first try to
] reason with their son, before resorting to groundings, or
] even spanking. I pride myself that I have never had to
] spank a child, and I hope this guide will help other
] parents to put a halt to their son's misbehaviour before
] a spanking becomes necessary.

Before reacting to this piece, I advise reading all of it very carefully and thoroughly. And especially check the embedded hyperlinks. My own reaction is that it's very clever satire, since it's far too well-researched to be as ignorant as it sounds (grin). But many of the people who replied to it seem to have very different opinions . . .

Is Your Son a Computer Hacker?

jessica wrote:
] I really don't know how to describe this. It's just really
] strange. Strange flash entertainment.
]
] Warning: very psychedelic!

Uhhhh.... WOW. I especially liked the synchronized dancing penis men. I thought they were Mellow Mushroom (tm) dudes at first, but then became convinced otherwise. Really cool animation.

RE: flashback

WASHINGTON - President Bush's aides did not forcefully present him with dissenting views from CIA and State and Defense Department officials who warned that U.S.-led forces could face stiff resistance in Iraq, according to three senior administration officials.

This is much like having bad news and not telling grandpa. "No, don't tell him, it'll only upset him."

Charlotte Observer | 03/29/2003 | Bush reportedly shielded from dire forecast

He was goofing around, and there's only one way to interpret that kind of behaviour just seconds before announcing war on Iraq: the man is an idiot.

...

I've seen the footage they're talking about. It's not the hair combing, it's the antics. I watched as he sat there trying to practice his serious face and asking if it was good or not. It was pretty sickening.

George's little antics

This definitely qualifies as propaganda for big corporations! For extra wholesome fun, check out the links on the sides of the article, where you can read papers about how the U.S. isn't being isolationist and how the Earth is just fine!

There is global warming. It has been going on now for anywhere from 14,000 to 10,000 years since the last Ice Age. There was a slight period of warming between 1850 and 1950 and, since then, there has been NO warming in terms of any dramatic rise in temperature worldwide. Indeed, the meteorological satellites have found, if anything, a slight cooling.

Ah, that explains the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef. Maybe even explains why the Arctic Ice Shelf is breaking away. Er, wait, no it doesn't.

What can Tony Blair possibly mean when he talks about "protecting our environment", let alone the rubbish about "the devastating impacts of climate change"? We cannot protect the environment except to insure against the obvious problems of keeping rivers clean of industrial wastes or intelligently managing forests. We can require, too, that industry does not befoul the air, but in fact we have already done that. In America and Great Britain, levels of this kind of man-made pollution have been dramatically reduced since the 1970s.

Aha! So it was pollution in the 70s that was keeping my allergies in check! No wonder I need to take so many anti-histamines, it's because the pollutants aren't there to help me!

No amount of statesmanship will ever create "a global community" so long as a particular religion (Islam) or economic theory (Communism) requires large groups of people to devote themselves to the enslavement of other large groups of people. Nations do not have "friends." Nations have "interests" which they pursue, often to the detriment of their neighbors and others.

I don't know if I can even touch that one with a 10 foot stick.

And, afterward, Iraqis will dance in the streets and throw flowers at their liberators.

Are we talking about the Iraqis that still live in Iraq, or the ones who moved to Tennessee several years ago?

National Anxiety Center - Warning Signs!

I noticed this when ordering some more address labels - you can get checks, address labels and contact cards in hexadecimal. I went for the Tolkien cards and labels, but thought this might be of interest to others. Imagine handing out these cards at the next con with your contact info on them.

Ultimate Geek Cards

"[It's] just like having drugs," said Al-Shalchi of his dependence on e-mail and Web access.

Despite not even getting access to the internet until 2000, their geeks are just as addicted to a "net fix" as we are. Interesting article on the current state of connectivity in Iraq and the seemingly ludicrous idea that they could wage a cyber-war against us.

Unleashing the dogs of cyber-war on Iraq!

Israeli scientists have devised a computer that can perform 330 trillion operations per second, more than 100,000 times the speed of the fastest PC. The secret: It runs on DNA.

A year ago, researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, unveiled a programmable molecular computing machine composed of enzymes and DNA molecules instead of silicon microchips. Now the team has gone one step further. In the new device, the single DNA molecule that provides the computer with the input data also provides all the necessary fuel.

Computer Made from DNA and Enzymes

] PERTH is one of two spots in the world being considered
] for development of a space elevator, a new concept in
] space travel which it is claimed would make possible
] tourism on the Moon.
]
] A space elevator - an alternative to rockets and shuttles
] - would consist of a 100,000km ribbon of super-strong
] carbon-based material.

The West Australian