Another one for the "there is no spoon" file. Case in point, is the economy really sucking right now? Unless you're in telecom, IT, or some related industry, probably not.

This is the second article in the last 2 weeks that makes me want to plunk down the $300 needed for a McKinsey subscription.

McKinsey Quarterly: Anatomy of a bear market

Digital piracy does indeed threaten to overwhelm so-called “content” industries. As the power and reach of the internet continue to grow, the illicit trading of perfect copies may well devastate the music, movie and publishing industries.

No, not devestate. Transform. There is a difference, but it is up to the firms to make a choice as to which they want.

My stance is to repeal copyright altogether. I think it would be a tremendous boon to humanity to have freely flowing content and ideas. At the very least, it would be a grand experiment.

But in the interests of practicality and a smooth(er) transition, at least pull back copyright to something more in line with the shelf life of content. Something like 5 years.

Economist.com on Copyrights

Observe the 2 easter egg launches on the automatic transmission system.

Fun with an M3

"ENFIELD, Conn., Jan. 24 -- LEGO Company today announces one of only two existing scale replicas of the famous Stanley Cup is missing since the close of the annual Super Show that took place in Las Vegas earlier this week."

Just what is this world coming to?

LEGO Stanley Cup Stolen

I'm not joking. A obscure law called the No Electronic Theft (NET) Act that former U.S. President Bill Clinton signed in 1997 makes peer-to-peer (P2P) pirates liable for $250,000 in fines and subject to prison terms of up to three years. (You may want to read it, since you'll likely be hearing more about it soon.)"

Hey, you--the unindicted federal felon

v1.0, but interesting nonetheless.

YourSQL by Magister Ludi - GUI front end for MySQL on OS X

Steve Albini writes an essay for the Negativland site about how screwed the music industry really is, particularly if you're a young indie band looking for a "Big Break."

Never mind any "artists rights" noise you might hear - examine the hypothetical numbers he includes toward the end of the article and you'll see exactly why the music industry hates MP3s.

The Problem With Music

This is relevant to several other memes I've been partaking in lately, in that it represents that technical quality is ultimately not the only (or even prominent) factor in success.

Why VHS was better than Betamax

Some very interesting information here. In particular, check out the 9/11 timeline, which details the events of the day and leading up to the day. It becomes clear that there are a lot of unanswered questions, the investigation of which the administration is attempting to block. Why did the jets not scramble to intercept once the planes were suspected to be hijacked, when it is standard operating procedure to do so? (note that interception is NOT the same as shooting them down, but puts fighters in a position to do so) Serious investigation into this and other issues would uncover a scandal much bigger than Watergate: the Bush administration was complicit in the attacks of 9/11, if not actually behind them.
Insane? Read it for yourself, and ask, just what has the administration gained from 9/11? An endless, profitable, global war, amazing popularity, righteousness, complete amnesia about the judicial coup, Total Information Awareness, Fatherland Security, unprecidented secrecy, the ability to perpetually detain and execute anyone, citizen or not, *accused* of terrorism, in secret, with no evidence and no representation.
It is clear that they had been warned. With so much to gain, why would they try to stop it?

Center For Cooperative Research (911 Scandal)

A Dutch gay rights campaigner is seeking a ban on a computer game in which players can shoot a variety of individuals, including homosexuals.

the best part of this article is the quote from the game's publisher.

Gay activist seeks video game ban