MY EYES! MY EYES!!

[ Ugh. I don't recall that much, uh, flesh, in Tron. -k]

Oh how you've ruined one of my most cherished memories...

[ As my boyo alan said :

10 HELL
20 GOTO 10

Such excellent blasphemy. -k]

JESUS CHRIST ACTION FIGURE TV COMMERCIAL

[ Sometimes I wish I had this much free time on my hands. Who am I kidding, like I would spend it doing something rediculous like this. --Baud ]

[ Fucking rad, if insane. -k]

Albino Blacksheep / Flash / Hosting - Windows Noises

[ Tim O'Reilly offers a cogent and reasonable defense of GMail, which echoes a lot of the feelings I've been having about all the uproar. He mentions the one thing that I consider the fundamental argument which is "DONT USE THE SERVICE IF IT CONCERNS YOU!" Why the fuck should the government get involved here? If you're worried about your privacy, don't sign up... simple is that. If no one signs up, they fail, market forces have taken care of the problem. I certainly don't think the market can be left to decide everything, but this is definitely one where it can, and should.

Besides that he makes a number of good points, and thankfully points out some of the benefits that could come out of the service, which I think is getting lost in all the froth and misplaced vitriol. -k]

O'Reilly Network: The Fuss About Gmail and Privacy: Nine Reasons Why It's Bogus [Apr. 16, 2004]

] A former English professor who teaches executives how to
] write, Mr. Brown, 59, calls "Intimacies" a digital
] epistolary novel, or DEN, terms that he has trademarked.
] The plot of "Intimacies" is based on "Pamela," the
] 18th-century work by Samuel Richardson that is one of
] Western literature's first epistolary novels. It is the
] format of Mr. Brown's work rather than its story that
] makes it postmodern: it is meant to be read with the aid
] of a software interface designed by Billy McQuown, an
] employee at Mr. Brown's consulting firm, Communication
] Associates.
]
]
] The story unfolds through e-mail messages,
] instant-message conversations and Web sites, all within a
] window generated by the DEN software; the program can be
] downloaded free from Mr. Brown's Web site,
] www.greatamericannovel.com.

[ I know from some past (and fairly spirited) discussions here on MS, that reading, and the various forms of content publication, is a popular issue. This struck me as a fairly innovative development, though I'm not sure it's one that appeals to my already well-aired predilections.

The article discusses the use of email conversations as a story telling mechanism, which isn't particularly unique, of course, but the first of them that i read, called Exegesis, was definitely worthwhile.

Anyway, I memed it more for the fact that it's a software based novel, which speaks to the possibility of more interactive storytelling in the near future, perhaps. -k]

The New York Times | Technology | Circuits | Call Me E-Mail: The Novel Unfolds Digitally

] Sony and Toppan Printing are making a new mark on Blu-ray
] disc technology.
]
] The two companies have been working for about a year on
] printing data onto Blu-ray discs made mostly of paper.
] The companies are aiming to produce lower-cost discs and
] expand the use of the technology.

[ Neat, if they can be made reliable... -k]

Sony pushes paper Blu-ray disc | CNET News.com

] Some Iraqi nuclear facilities appear to be unguarded, and
] radioactive materials are being taken out of the country,
] the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency reported after
] reviewing satellite images and equipment that has turned
] up in European scrapyards.

[ Awesome. I mean, i'm sure nothing *really* dangerous was in there. And, like, I'm positive none of those terrorists would want any radioactive materials anyway... what would they do with it?

I think everything's fine, and now that we're *officially* best pals with Israel, we're gonna make sure ALL the arabs like us. The middle east is gonna rule from now on. -k]

Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | Probe Shows Iraq Nuke Facilities Unguarded

] MUNICH COURT GRANTS PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION FOR INFRINGING
] USE OF GPL LICENSED SOFTWARE

[ Not in the US of course, but still a validation of GPL... always nice to see. -k]

netfilter/iptables project homepage - netfilter project was granted a preliminary injunction against Sitecom GmbH

] The "billboard in your home" metaphor you used is totally
] inappropriate. There are no flashing colors, no obtrusive
] interruptions. If you'd seen the system, there's no way
] you could have made a statement like that.

A better "billboard in your home" metaphor is advertising on television, and junk mail. The concerns about Gmail are not addressed correctly here on either front.

[ I think this whole issue is being blown way out of reasonable proportion. I've got zero problem with gmail as originally envisioned. That being said, I wasn't gonna use it for anything particularly important either, so having it give targeted ads on the random chatter from my grandparents isn't really a concern. I think the concept they're pushing is very intriguing and I'd like to see it in action... on my own test set.

I'm certainly not one to dismiss privacy issues, but I pretty much assumed right off that they were gonna be needing to digest my messages in order to do the things they said. I'd never in a million years do this with mail i want to keep private. I don't have any critically private shit go to my hotmail account either.

Speaking of which, aren't the blinking, flashing, "DATE THIS HOT CHICK, YOU PATHETIC LOSER" ads on hotmail about a thousand times worse than the unobtrusive ads i saw on the gmail screens? -k]

Powazek: Just a Thought: Dear Senator

] She cites another example. In September 2002, The Onion
] ran a piece called, "Al-Qaida Allegedly Engaging in
] Telemarketing." The piece told of the terrorist
] organization's nefarious plan to raise funds through
] various phone scams. It also showed screenshots of a
] videotape the CIA had uncovered in which al-Qaida's
] second in command, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, is seen with a
] headset, presumably tricking an unsuspecting victim.
]
] Thus, upon seeing the story, the Branch County sheriff's
] department in Coldwater, Michigan, which had been
] investigating telemarketing scams targeting the elderly,
] issued an urgent press release.
]
] "In the course of this investigation, it was learned that
] this is going on throughout the United States, and some
] of these telemarketing programs are believed to be
] operated by al-Qaida," the release stated. "The CIA has
] announced that they acquired a videotape showing al-Qaida
] members making phone solicitations for vacation home
] rentals, long-distance telephone service, magazine
] subscriptions and other products."

[ Wow, man. I mean, journalism? Hello? -k]

Wired News: Onion Taken Seriously, Film at 11