] Google notes and saves information such as
] time of day, browser type, browser language, and IP
] address with each query.
]
] Please be aware, however, that we will release specific
] personal information about you if required to do so in
] order to comply with any valid legal process such as a
] search warrant, subpoena, statute, or court order.

While everyone is freaking out about their Tivos, Jeremy mentioned a much more serious issue. The fact is that TV only shows you popular culture. There are limited circumstances where surveillance of TV watching habits would really be problematic politically. TV is the soma. The Internet, on the other hand, makes your local library look tame. Google knows everything that you've thought about seriously in past 5 years. And what Google knows, the police know.

If they don't need permission or notification to pull your records from the library, how long before they can do the same with your Google records?

Google Privacy Policy

] So far it has largely been used by US intelligence
] agencies to analyse the huge amount of information
] collected as part of the war on terror.
]
] "The government and international security agencies have
] a desire to find, track and sometimes arrest people,"

If this quote doesn't scare the hell out of you something is wrong. A desire to find and track people.... and sometimes arrest them. Why the hell do you need to find anyone in the world and be able to track them unless you have an active and justified investigation of them? And its scary how no one is reacting to this drastic change in policy for protection of the fatherland... sorry I meant homeland.

[ yeah. this is not cool. i guess, being optimistic, at least they're *telling us* this is the plan? -k]

DARPA funding to track people on Internet

Elonka wrote:
] ] TiVo estimated that halftime viewership among its
] ] customers was up 12 percent from 2003.
]
] Um, this was news to me. TiVo maintains records of everything
] that its customers view, including everything they ask for
] replays of?? Is the FBI now going to be accessing this
] information to determine who's watching which TV shows??

[ They assure you that they're only collecting anonymous data which doesn't tie your name, customer id or IP to the viewing data. Your level of trust in the system is, of course, up to you... but their stated privacy policy can be found here : http://www.tivo.com/5.11.asp

It's the third link down. -k]

RE: TiVo's records of viewing habits

] There are only three exceptions to the draconian new
] typographical rules: telegrams, treaty materials prepared
] by the State Department's legal affairs office and
] documents drawn up for the president's signature, it
] said.
]
]
] The memorandum offered no explanation for the exceptions,
] leaving foreign service officers to speculate as to
] whether the White House, US treaty partners and telegram
] readers are not yet able to handle the change.

heh

US bans timed-honoured typeface. 30/01/2004. ABC News Online

] Three IBM-designed 64-bit microprocessors. The
] combined power of these chips means the Xbox Next will
] have more computing power than most personal computers.
] Earlier versions of these PowerPC chips are used in Apple
] Computer's high-end G5 PowerMac machines now.

[ i'm treating this as rumor, of course, but if true, looks like some serious horsepower. i'm not quite as happy about the possibility of losing the harddrive, b/c saving to flash is lame, and slow. i can only assume they're doing it to curb the piracy issues -k]

Microsoft leaks details on Xbox Next

Decius wrote:
] LAME! They are only giving free itunes in bottles, not cans,
] and the place were I usually buy bottles, my office, has at
] least a month's supply of bottles that aren't part of the
] promotion. By the time they get Pepsi in that is actually part
] of the promotion it will be over. Despite the fact that I
] drink at least two Pepsis a day I'll have to seriously alter
] how I buy them if I'm going to get any itunes.

yeah, it's a bit problematic... i'm gonna have to spring for a few 12 packs of bottles, and put em in the fridge. I knew it was gonna be bottles only... though i wish they'd find some way to do it with cans... i don't like bottles. To my knowledge, no one ever has done this kind of giveaway with cans.

Incidentally, Pepsi is predicting that only 10-20% of the caps will actually be redeemed. I hope to prove them wrong.

I'm also curious how albums will be handled. The promotion indicates that the cap will be worth one track... but albums are 10 bucks, usually for more than 10 tracks. For the sake of argument, say i have 15 caps entered in... if i buy an album w/ 15 songs, do i lose all my caps or 10 of them? Something to keep in mind. I'm probly gonna spend them piecemeal, on individual tracks i want to have... things like Boston's "More than a Feeling", er, i mean, uh... something modern and hip!

RE: Apple - Pepsi

] "I'll get you naked by the end of this song," sang
] performer Justin Timberlake, moments before he ripped off
] Jackson's top, exposing a bare breast -- the nipple
] covered by a metal 'solar' nipple medallion.

[ Silly silly puritans. I saw the picture... crimony, the medalion covered as much of her breast as that dude's hand did when she was on the cover of Rolling Stone. and of course there's nothing wrong with singing about fucking, but an unrestrained (DIRTY, FILTHY) titty on the screen sets loose the FCC attack hounds. Meanwhile Kelis' frickin milkshake song is huge, and the sexual imagery in it and it's ilk (Brittney, Christina, etc.) is only fine because people aren't paying attention. -k]

Janet Nipple - OUCH!

] "This is the way constitutional rights are lost," he
] continued. "Not in the thunder of a tyrant's edict, but
] in the soft judicial whispers of deference."

well said, wether or not it applies in this case...

] Faced with rising gang activity at Internet cafes -- the
] number of which had grown from three to 22 in two years
] -- the Orange County city of Garden Grove in 2002 placed
] a moratorium on more cafes. It also prohibited minors
] from visiting the cafes during school hours, required
] uniformed security guards on Friday and Saturday nights,
] and demanded the installation of video surveillance
] systems.

does it seem ok for the gov't to force private business to install/hire their own security apparatus? i have mixed feelings here. on the one hand, if something inherent to the business poses a danger (such as, say, a construction site) then appropriate measures to prevent people from harm should probably be mandated. On the other hand, isn't it incumbent upon the city to provide adequate police protection? Isn't it also incumbent upon parents to pay attention to what their kids are doing and keep them out of cybercafes that have a history of violence?

If the owner of the business, as a means of improving public perception, or because of their own ethical motivations, wants to hire guards or put up cameras, that's cool, the public will decide if that's acceptible, but to be forced by the city seems somewhat improper.

Internet Cafe Ordinance Sparks War of Words

Karen, Birmingham Social Services said, had Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy, the mental illness that causes parents to harm their children in an attempt to draw attention to themselves. Her child had been placed on the 'at risk' register even before she was born in December 1999.

awesome. yay big pharm. and also yay stupid ass doctors.

A mother tells how she was blamed when her son died after being given cisapride

] According to De Pasquale, the circles in the cells are
] nothing but the first numbers of the Fibonacci series, in
] which each number is a sum of two previous: 1, 2, 3, 5.
]
]
] The abacus would then work on a base 40 numbering system.

sounds pretty cool, if unverifiable for the time being.

Incan Counting System Decoded?