] Ever since the invention of the printing press,
] governments have tried to make an ally out of owners of
] the means of information distribution. That's as old a
] story as when the powers that be tried to suppress
] Gutenberg's Bible. Not because they didn't believe in
] the Bible, but because they didn't believe everyone
] should be able to get one. This is a 600-year-old
] story. It's not a new story. But it's news to the United
] States that one side should get this close to that goal.

Strong words from Reed Hundt about the new FCC media ownership rule changes. Ted Turner has also come out strongly opposed to this in recent days. Basically the deal is that soon all the TV will be owned by Fox in the same way that all the radio stations are owned by Clear Channel.

[IP] Former FCC chairman: Deregulation is a right-wing power grab

Elonka wrote:
] The Planetary Society keeps coming up with neat perks.
] Through my membership with them I've gotten invitations to go
] on some nifty expeditions (that's how I ended up going to
] Antarctica in 1999), and a couple years ago my name got put on
] a space probe, Stardust, that's currently on its way to meet a
] comet.
]
] Today, I found out that my name is now going to Mars! The new
] Mars Rover is taking a mini-DVD with my name (and over 3.5
] million other names (grin)) with it. What a cool idea!
]
] For more info on the mission, check here:
]  http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/
]
] To search for other names (no partial matches, you have to
] type it in exactly), check here:
]  http://spacekids.hq.nasa.gov/2003/namequery.htm

Yep - I put my name on as well as the names of all my family members!

Unfortunately, the project stopped taking names on November 15, 2002. So if you missed the deadline, I'll be sure to send you a postcard! ;)

Laughing Boy

RE: Elonka's Going to Mars! -- Well, her name is . . .

] ...Rutan said that, in looking toward the future, hopefully
] within ten years, ordinary people, for the cost of a
] luxury cruise, might be able experience a rocket flight
] into the black sky above the earth's atmosphere. In doing
] so, they can enjoy a few minutes of weightless
] excitement, "then feel the thunderous deceleration of the
] aerodynamic drag on entry."

YES!!! I gave up the pipe-dream of being an astronaut when I was about 12 years old, but I might get my chance to fly in space yet! :)

Private Spaceship Undergoes Sky-High Test

] Young girls at a mixed primary school in Somerset have
] been banned from wearing thongs and G-strings after the
] headteacher deemed them "inappropriate".
]
] Concerned Anna Roxburgh, head of Hamp Community Primary
] School in Bridgwater, wrote a letter to parents after she
] saw four 11-year-olds wearing the risqué underwear while
] changing after sport.
]
] She said the "revealing" items could lead to "possible
] embarrassment" if they fall over in the playground or are
] spotted by boys.
]
] Although some parents slammed her decision, the move was
] welcomed by children's welfare charity Kidscape which in
] the past has campaigned for the withdrawal of sexy
] underwear for pre-teens.

OK... what kind of parent lets their 11 year old wear a thong? Never mind - likely the same type of parent like Patsy Ramsey that lets her 7 year old daughter be in swimsuit competitons for beauty pagents. It's just plain sick - and people wonder how/why peophiles exist?

What the hell is wrong with people?

Laughing Boy

UK: Headteacher Bans Young Pupils From Wearing Thongs

For cat-lovers: 90 seconds of very funny cat-related home movies. About a 3 MB download.

Funny Cat Videos

] He said he discovered the problem this weekend through a
] random finding in a Sacramento Dumpster, where a Cingular
] store had discarded records about a customer's insurance
] claim for a lost phone. By simply typing in a URL listed
] on the detritus, Lamo was taken to the customer's claim
] page on a site run by lock\line LLC, which provides the
] claim management services to Cingular.
]
] Normally, this page should have been reachable only by
] passing through a password-protected gateway, but by
] simply entering the valid URL, Lamo discovered that
] individual claims pages could be accessed, no password
] authentication needed.
]
] Each page contained the customer's name, address and
] phone number, along with details on the insurance claim
] being made. Altering the claim ID numbers (which were
] assigned sequentially) in the URL gave Lamo access to the
] entire history of Cingular claims processed through
] lock\line, comprising some 2.5 million customer claims
] dating back to 1998.

Bet Cingular is embarassed as hell to be exposed by a wandering hacker. Later in the article it mentions that "Lamo, 22, doesn't have a permanent address. He wanders cross-country on foot or by public bus. Spring and summer usually bring him to Northern California. Until recently, he used terminals at Kinko's to perform his hacks. He has graduated to using a Wi-Fi-ready laptop at Starbucks to do his work."

Wired News: Lamo Hacks Cingular Claims Site

Decius wrote:
] ] Federal authorities said today they have captured a man
] ] they believe to be suspected serial bomber Eric Robert
] ] Rudolph.
]
] Wow, they finally got him...

All I can say is, HELL YEA!!

I hate trying people in the court of public opinion, but based on what I've seen so far, the FBI has got the goods on this jackass.

I feel unusually strong about this, because, well... I was in Centennial Olympic Park the night the pipe bomb went off - just a couple hundred feet or less away. In fact I must have been right behind the guy with the video camera that captured it going off because that’s just about the vantage point I had, yet I've been unable to see myself in the video. I had walked thru the Swatch Pavilion (where the bomb went off) just about 10 minutes prior.

So I have a VERY personal vendetta here. As far as I'm concerned, he tried to kill ME and almost did.

Laughing Boy

RE: statesman.com | Olympic park bombing suspect captured

Talk about a bad date!

Laughing Boy

] A wanted man was arrested after his parole officer
] spotted him kissing his girlfriend in a live crowd shot
] displayed on the scoreboard at a Cincinnati Reds game.
]
]
] David Horton and his parole officer attended the same May
] 7 game when the smooching couple were caught by the "Kiss
] Cam" at Great American Ball Park.
]
] The parole officer and a police officer arrested Horton,
] 24, in his front-row seat.
]
] "Out of all the coincidences, we had 20- or 30-thousand
] people at the ballpark and who do they put on the 'Kiss
] Cam'? And then, who is there but his parole officer?"
] said Richard Goldberg, Horton's attorney.

Wanted Man Caught on 'Kiss Cam' Arrested

More geek then thou? A sample of the several hundred questions that await you (no cheating!)

] I HAVE...
] programmed a calculator in math class
] studied a language on my own
] always hated mainstream
] dated a geek
] married a geek
] done homework that wasn't required
] done homework for somebody else
] looked forward to dissecting a frog, pig, etc.
] looked forward to doing my taxes
] attended public academic lectures on my own
] studied an artificial language (i.e. Esperanto, Klingon)
] created an artificial language
] filed the Census as my persona
] worn 2 watches at the same time

Woof! I scored "44.3787% - Major Geek" and I'm PROUD!

Laughing Boy

The Geek Test

] The city of Munich said on Wednesday it would switch
] 14,000 computers from Microsoft's (nasdaq: MSFT - news -
] people) Windows operating system to rival Linux in a deal
] estimated to be worth tens of millions of euros.
]
]
] The decision is a blow to U.S. giant Microsoft, whose
] chief executive Steve Ballmer had personally campaigned
] for Microsoft's counter-offer to the city, based on
] Windows XP.
]
]
] Microsoft has created two funds to discount its products
] against the emerging Linux software, which is eating into
] its most profitable business.
]
]
] "This strategic decision makes Munich less dependent on
] one IT supplier and sets a trend towards more
] competition," Munich mayor Christian Ude said in a
] statement.
]
]
] Analysts said Munich's decision to choose open source
] software, which means Linux, was a breakthrough.
]
]
] "It is one of the largest desktop migrations to Linux
] ever seen," said Gartner Dataquest analyst Nikos Drakos
] in London.

Microsoft even underbid IBM/SUSE by $3m, and Munich still went for Linux. Interesting.

Forbes.com: UPDATE 2-Microsoft loses city of Munich deal to Linux