abaddon wrote:
] more comentary on the Jose Padilla saga, this one is a
] puletser (yeah yeah i dont spell) prize winning jurnalist
] chastising the media for not giving any coverage to the
] Padilla case...
]
] when exactly did the we all deside the government didnt need
] checks and balances any more...

When? Why it was when George W. Shrub was appointed president of the United States by the Supreme court.

Don't get me started on the Padilla case... that whole side-stepping of due process of law for an American citizen is just wrong on so many levels.

Laughing Boy

RE: no-one cares about civil liberties or reason 1502-B why i hate people

] In August, Buena Vista Home Entertainment--Disney's home
] video unit--will begin a pilot program using technology
] that renders discs useless 48 hours after being removed
] from packaging and exposed to oxygen, Reuters reported.
]
] The DVDs will play perfectly during the two-day period,
] Flexplay Technologies, which developed the technology,
] told Reuters.
]
] The discs cannot be hacked after 48 hours because the
] technology is based on chemicals and not computers, it
] was reported. But the disc can be copied before it
] oxidizes.
]
] The move allows Buena Vista to expand its market by
] "renting" movies from almost anywhere without having to
] provide a return point for the discs, Reuters said.

This is moronic. My first thought is, "Oh great, disposable DVDs. Wonder how much waste that will cause?" Well, my question was answered later in the article:

"Self-destructing DVDs would create considerable waste. A study conducted for Flexplay by environmental policy expert Jonathan Koomey found that if disposable DVDs made up 10 percent of all U.S. video rentals, an additional 350 million DVDs would be discarded, creating 5,600 metric tons of solid waste annually."

I'm glad Disney is so concerned about our world.

Also in the article is this tidbit of market research:

"The technology can also work on music CDs and software CD-ROMs, according to SpectraDisc, but movies are the target, since people generally buy music and software to keep."

Who are they talking about? I buy movies to keep, and so does everyone else I know. This is going to get mauled by the "video on demand" development going on in the cable industry.

Warning: This DVD will self-destruct in 2 days

] TO have any chance of making easy money on the Internet,
] computer geek Howard Carmack knew he had to send more
] than a million junk e-mails every day.
]
] And to avoid being detected by Internet companies that
] try to block the nuisance messages, he needed to become
] devious.
]
] So to keep his annoying spam flowing across the Web and
] into the in-boxes of hundreds of thousands of e-mail
] users, the 36-year-old stole the identities of strangers
] and hacked into their e-mail accounts, investigators have
] learned - and he also betrayed members of his own family.
]
] Carmack not only stole his uncle Joseph's identity; his
] mentally disabled brother, James Jr., was also a victim,
] according to court papers.

Ooh, this guy is a real winner.

NYPOST.COM Regional News: SPAMMER GETS MESSAGE By DAVID TOBENKIN

] LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Warner Bros. Pictures'
] "The Matrix: Reloaded" made box office history this
] weekend as the highly anticipated sequel chambered an
] estimated $93.3 million during the three-day session and
] a staggering $135.8 million since its release late
] Wednesday night.
]
] Numerous records were shattered at the box office in
] North America, but a select few remained intact as the
] record books had to be downloaded and adjusted to
] accommodate the massive assault by "Reloaded,"
] co-produced with Village Roadshow.
]
] As expected, the opening weekend gross vaporized the
] record for the biggest opening by an R-rated film,
] effortlessly besting MGM's "Hannibal" ($58 million). The
] Keanu Reeves starrer, helmed and written by brothers
] Larry and Andy Wachowski, racked up the second-biggest
] three-day weekend ever, behind Sony's "Spider-Man"
] ($114.8 million), which was released on a Friday without
] previews. The first four days of "Reloaded" is likely to
] be bigger than the same time frame for the webbed one
] ($125.9 million) even without the grosses from Wednesday
] night previews -- marking the biggest first four days in
] history.

I foresee the hacker culture suddenly becoming very mainstream...

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage

] A survey has lifted the veil on an unexpected secret -
] many scientists believe in ghosts.
]
] The survey of 18 scientists at Waikato University and
] Britain's Leicester University found that most were not
] willing to rule out the possibility that "some houses are
] haunted by ghosts".
]
] Many also believed it was possible that "wearing
] jewellery made out of certain crystals can help to keep
] you healthy", and that "in the past aliens from some
] other planet have landed on Earth".
]
] But most said astrology and palmistry were "almost
] certainly untrue", and all agreed there was almost
] certainly no truth in the ideas that breaking mirrors or
] "black Fridays" brought bad luck.
]
] A Waikato University researcher and joint author of the
] survey, Dr Richard Coll, said the scientists gave much
] more credence to "superstitions" than he had expected.
] "You might reasonably have expected them to say these
] things are complete nonsense," he said.
]
] "They didn't. The ones they were more likely to believe
] were aliens and ghosts. The aliens one didn't surprise me
] greatly, but the ghosts one did."
]
] The research was inspired by other surveys that found
] widespread superstitious beliefs among the public, high
] school students and science teachers.
]
] The research was inspired by other surveys that found
] widespread superstitious beliefs among the public, high
] school students and science teachers.
]
] The result: The scientists were certainly more sceptical
] than both high school students and science teachers.
] "There was only one person who was totally sceptical
] about all the propositions. She happened to be a
] biologist who was a strong atheist."
]
] There were no differences between the Waikato and
] Leicester samples.

Very interesting. Being an amateur paranormal investigator myself, it’s reassuring to know that some scientists ARE looking at our research with an open mind.

Laughing Boy

New Zealand News - NZ - Ghosts lurking in scientist minds

] The office that treats mental health patients in
] Multnomah County had included Klingon on a list of 55
] languages that could be spoken by incoming patients.
]
] But the inclusion of the Star Trek language drew a spate
] of tongue-in-cheek headlines.
]
] And now the county has rescinded its call, stressing that
] it hasn't spent a penny of public money on Klingon
] interpretation.
]
] "It was a mistake, and a result of an overzealous attempt
] to ensure that our safety net systems can respond to all
] customers and clients," Multnomah County chair Diane Linn
] said in a news release.
]
] County officials had previously said that no patient had
] ever come in speaking only Klingon, but that the county
] would pay a Klingon interpreter in the unlikely case one
] was actually needed.
]
] In recent years, Klingon has gone from being a fictional
] tongue for the Star Trek television and movie series to a
] complete language, with its own grammar, syntax and
] vocabulary.

Hmmm... I wonder how long before my local jr college starts "Klingese as a second language" courses?

Laughing Boy

Sorry, Klingon interpreters, Oregon's not hiring

] Here's the idea: you promise a voter 50 euros (31 pounds)
] to cast their ballot for your candidate, send them into
] the booth with a 3G phone, they send a picture via the
] phone proving that they have voted as instructed and then
] they get the cash.

The T-Mobile Election Rigger

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.

You get a week from most rental places. I don't see what the consumer appeal is going to be with these. They are not going to sell.

Oh, wait, I know.. You can buy them, take them home, and copy them with the DVD burners that are starting to become cheap..

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

] I was sure we'd see a silly "Hackers"-esque 3D animated
] "hacking scene".
] Not so! Trinity is as smart as she is seductive! She
] whips out Nmap (!!!), scans her target, finds 22/tcp open,
] and proceeds with an über ssh technique! I was so surprised,
] I almost jumped out of my seat and did the "r00t dance"
] right there in the theatre!
]
] There can be only one explanation: Carie-Anne has the
] hots for me!

OK, if Fyodor gets Carie-Anne can I have her Ducati?

Nmap Hackers: Whoa!

pR00f j00 dU kN0t Kn3Ed t0 b33 4 h4x0R t0 c0mMiT Cyb0rCr1m3z

CNN.com - Feds nab 135 in cybercrime sweep - May. 16, 2003