This email snip is from an entertainment industry crony of Doc Searls. As could have been predicted ahead of time, U2's new soon-to-be mega-blockbuster album has been leaked on the Internet before its release date. The humor, irony, and bungling comes from how this bad situation is being handled.. Badly.

] Well, over the weekend it was starting to show up on
] BitTorrent sites. The whole CD was there in fine audio
] form. By Tuesday I would guess almost everybody in radio
] had it. BUT nobody was playing it. (You can now monitor
] this in real time for stations country wide with search
] and all that.) Why? Well to do so would piss off the
] record company and the band.
]
] There is a tour planned in 2005 and of course lots of
] stations want to be part of the promotion for that. And
] now, with so few record labels it's not a good idea to
] piss anyone off. But radio was really wanting to play the
] CD. So the record company promised to get copies out to
] the stations Thursday. I don't know if they actually sent
] a CD or did it via computer as they do with commercials.
]
] So today stations around the country started to play it.
] But it's still not in the stores or on iTunes. Why? Get
] this...word is the retail stores will be pissed if the
] band puts it up on iTunes before the CD is on the shelves
] in the stores! Wal Mart trumps U2.
]
] So the big plan to trump illegal downloads completely
] backfires today as jocks all around the country play new
] the new U2 CD and say "it's not available yet."
] Translation: "you can get an illegal copy on the Net," to
] the clickty click folks. So much for that strategy.

You can't yet get U2's album in any legitimate way, but you can get a special edition U2 branded iPod to hold all your favorite Nevativland tunes! http://www.apple.com/ipod/u2/

Best known for their lawsuits, the RIAA is also responsible for giving out those platinum and gold albums to celebrate high record sales.. (No, I didn't get that backwards, its the new millennium, baby. thump thump thump thump, its oh four, not four four, baby.) They may need to make a new prize for a botched release. I suggest "The Brown Download".

Racket protection - U and the numeral 2

Ears.. bleeding. Head.. ringing. can't.. tell.. which.. way.. is.. up... no sense of balance..

Help!

CNN | Ashcroft sings - 'Let The Eagles Soar'

] Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, 75, the
] leader who passionately sought a homeland for his people
] but was seen by many Israelis as a ruthless terrorist and
] a roadblock to peace, died early Thursday in Paris.

Let me say a phrase I'm sure we will be blasted with over the next few days: History will not look kindly upon Yasser Arafat.

Things may have been very different today if he took a different action in 2000. Things may have been very different today if he did not continue to resort to (and practically invent) terrorist tactics.

It may now be possible to make significant headway toward peace between Palestine and Israel. Maybe..

CNN.com - Palestinian leader Arafat dies at 75

] Leading candidates to succeed Mr. Ashcroft include
] Alberto R. Gonzales, the White House counsel, and Marc
] Racicot, the chairman of Mr. Bush's re-election campaign.
] Larry D. Thompson, who served as deputy attorney general
] until last year and is now the general counsel of Pepsico
] in Purchase, N.Y., is a personal favorite of the
] president but is said not to be interested in the job, a
] Republican close to the White House said.

] Former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York City was
] mentioned by some as a possible successor, but his
] spokeswoman, Sunny Mindel, said Tuesday night that
] he was not interested in the job.

NYT | Ashcroft Quits Top Justice Post; Evans Going, Too

] The purpose of this website is to advocate that the State
] of Georgia compile and distribute a Voter Information
] Guide to voters in the State prior to each election and
] primary. This website will explain the concept, why its
] important, and what individuals can do to help make it a
] reality. This website will also act as a clearing house
] for information about efforts to improve voter education
] in the State of Georgia.

Tom said he'd do something about this, and he is. Go Tom!

Jersey could use voter information guides as well. Maybe what Tom is doing here will inspire me to take on something else I don't have time for.

Georgia Voter Information

] The city of Taipei plans to make wireless Internet access
] available throughout the Taiwanese capital by the end of
] next year.
]
] Taipei is the latest among a small but growing number of
] cities that provide citywide Wi-Fi networks.

HP, Intel, Microsoft, and Cisco will be the suppliers and consultants. Taiwan company Q-Ware will be doing the heavy lifting.

WiFi Free Taipei

This is the CacheLogic study referred to in the Reuters story.

Peer-to-Peer [is] a huge problem for last mile providers, where it makes up 80% or more of the traffic on the network.

CacheLogic - P2P Traffic Analysis

] According to British web analysis firm CacheLogic,
] BitTorrent accounts for an astounding 35 percent of all
] the traffic on the Internet -- more than all other
] peer-to-peer programs combined -- and dwarfs mainstream
] traffic like web pages.
]
] "I don't think Hollywood is willing to let it slide, but
] whether they're able to (stop it) is another matter,"
] Bram Cohen, the programmer who created BitTorrent, told
] Reuters.

Wired News: File-Sharing Thrives Under Radar

Yep.. We've done that too.

Every parade should have a weapon of mass destruction leading the way.

Missile Parade

] The event was a "table read," when the cast of "The
] Simpsons" gathered with a roomful of writers, producers
] and guests, using their imaginations to conjure up the
] animated family with the distinctive mustard hue.

] Actors, producers and writers sit at a massive conference
] table littered with water bottles and note pads. Invitation-
] only visitors ring the table. (Noticeably absent are the
] network executives who always haunt rehearsals; "The
] Simpsons" has a rare stipulation, won by executive
] producer James L. Brooks, limiting Fox meddling.)

] "It's sort of the hottest ticket on the lot," said Yeardley
] Smith, who voices young Lisa, the wise Simpson daughter.

] After all these years, Jean has developed his own script
] shorthand: a check mark for a joke that gets a laugh, an
] "X" for one that falls flat. "Something that's sweet but
] doesn't necessarily get a huge laugh will stay in," Jean said.

It would be interesting to see a store with more detail that follows the script creation process.

The making of a Simpsons episode