] "A visitor to the Adobe Photoshop-for-Windows Forum
] (registration required to post, can log in as guest) has
] described a curious 'feature' with Photoshop 8 (also
] known as 'CS'). Seems this latest version of Adobe's
] flagship product has the built-in ability to detect that
] an image is of American currency. Something has been
] built into Photoshop's core coding that can detect
] something in images of currency and will prevent the user
] from opening the file. Apparently it will also do this
] with Euro notes; info on other currency is pending."

interesting.

Slashdot | Photoshop CS Adds Banknote Image Detection, Blocking?

] [Real] has created a jukebox that will play all the media
] formats used by its own and other song stores--including
] secure downloads from the iTunes store.

it uses QT in the background. apparently it's native format is also AAC, though probably with a different DRM wrapper.

the potentially major coup here is that Real player should work in Linux since it's all based on their common Matrix platform. This could be the first of the new generation to work in linux. Of course, since RealPlayer is an all-in-one audio/video player, they could move towards movie distribution as well.

However:
] The company concedes that, like its rivals,
] it doesn't expect profits from the song store
] itself, since the cost of licensing music,
] distribution and credit card fees reach close
] to the retail price of the songs themselves.
]
] But Real hopes that exposing consumers to digital
] music though the relatively familiar pay-per-song
] model will ultimately whet appetites for the
] all-you-can-eat model of its $10 per month Rhapsody
] service.

i'm still undecided on the validity of this approach. i have no interest in what is effectively a choose-your-own-adventure radio service, but perhaps other people will?

Real offers new tech, song store | CNET News.com

neat

ScienceDaily News Release: Scientists Find New Way To Store Hydrogen Fuel

The step was described by some military officials as a sign that the administration might have lowered its sights and no longer expected to uncover the caches of chemical and biological weapons that the White House cited as a principal reason for going to war last March.

US Withdraws Weapons Hunters From Iraq

Today was MWSF, and apple dropped a few new things, all relatively well predicted, but none the less cool.

Among the new stuff are G5 Xserves (still 1U), updated iLive with a new entry level recording/mixing/tracking app called Garageband, major update to FC Express and the new iPod Mini, targeted at the high-end flash based players (it's got 4 gb, looks to be about 60% the size of a 3g ipod, comes in colors, and costs $250).

i'll leave the analysis off for now. ;)

Apple

i had a quote, but it was too small to encompass this story.

you all should read this.

i found it hard to finish it due to the sheer density of horrifying acusations. If even 1/4 of this is true, it's an outrage. How much damage can one administration do? Sweet god. Clinton got impeached for a blowjob (ok, fine, for LYING about a blowjob) but this nonstop rape barely gets press coverage? Lord, it's hard to be optimistic sometimes... and even harder to suffer fools gladly when they're ruining things you care about.

RollingStone.com - Crimes against Nature

] A former Iraqi intelligence officer, whom the Express did
] not name, told the paper that Saddam was held prisoner by
] a leader of the Kurdish Patriotic Front, which fought
] alongside US forces during the Iraq war, until he
] negotiated a deal.

] The deal apparently involved the group gaining political
] advantage in the region.

This would be interesting if this hit the mainstream press. Certainly would change the views of Bush's job in Iraq. I wish some enterprising journalist in the US would follow up on this.

Yahoo! News - Saddam was held by Kurdish forces, drugged and left for US troops

That would be one hell of a telescope.

owl concept study

good read... somewhat dense in spots for those of us without a lot of experience in political philosophies.

i take from all this that Neocons generally define themselves as pragmatists, acting in all cases in such a way as to maximize the global benefits for the U.S. specifically with a middle-of-the road approach to the tradeoffs between the size of government and the availability of social programs.

Conservatives and Neoconservatives

] No one expects to lose much sleep over it but, for the
] record, NASA has been sued by three men from Yemen for
] invading Mars.

i wonder how their ancestors originally gained rights over the red planet... guess he flew there and staked a claim. i didn't realize africans were kicking interplanetary travel back in B.C. that's fucking impressive.

i like the part at the end about the guy selling deeds to plots on the moon. can't wait til we get a base up there and some fucktard tries to claim it's built on his land and demands millions. And how the owners of the base will be all, "Say, that's a pretty good deal, but we've got a better one. We're gonna give you the finger... and you're going to fuck off."

Caveat emptor indeed.

CNN - 3 Yemenis sue NASA for trespassing on Mars - July 24, 1997