] A variant of the MyDoom virus has started spreading,
] albeit slowly, and security experts expect it to target
] the main Web site of the music industry.
]
] The variant, MyDoom.F, deletes several different types of
] files stored on an infected computer and aims to attack
] the Web sites of Microsoft and the Recording Industry
] Association of America with a flood of data, antivirus
] companies said Friday.

So we are up to MyDoom.F now? Its only fitting that the RIAA wind up on the other side of some remix culture. I still don't like this whole virus threat evolution thing though. Someone is going to make a bad judgment at some point and set off something that's going to cause real problems.

RIAA to face MyDoom's music? | CNET News.com

] iTunes fans have "hacked" a high-profile Pepsi promotion
] aimed at giving away 100 million songs through special
] codes marked on the underside of bottle caps. The codes
] can be entered on the iTunes site to download a single
] for free. One in three bottles is a winner, but it turns
] out that the markings can be read without removing the
] cap.
]
] CNET News.com confirmed that it is not only possible to
] pick out winning bottles in advance; careful scrutiny can
] reveal the full 10-digit redemption code, meaning no
] purchase is required to get a free iTunes single courtesy
] of Pepsi.

So that qualifies as stealing music, right?

Low-tech 'hack' takes fizz out of Pepsi-iTunes promo | CNET News.com

] mozCC is an extension for Mozilla-based browsers,
] including Mozilla Firebird, Mozilla and Netscape, which
] provides a convenient way to examine Creative Commons
] licenses embedded in web pages. It's at least twice as
] good as View Source.
]
] When license RDF is detected, mozCC does two things.
] First, it scans for license information pertaining to
] the current web page and places relevant icons on the
] status bar. Second, it enables a button on the toolbar
] which allows you to explore the parsed licensing
] metadata.

Browsers that understand content licensing are on the way. This type of licensing is great, but I fear the day my browser tells me I can't copy text from a page because I'm not permitted by its license. I have a feeling it will be Microsoft that brings me that nightmare.

mozCC - Mozilla Creative Commons Extension

OhMyNews has started an English language section.

OhMyNews English Edition

] The content available online is much less important than
] the manner in which it is delivered, indeed, the way the
] Web is structured. Its influence is structural rather
] than informational, and its structure is agnostic. For
] that reason, parental controls of the sort that AOL can
] offer gives no comfort to conservatives. It's not that
] Johnny will Google "hardcore" or "T&A" rather than
] "family values;" rather, it's that Johnny will come to
] think, consciously or not, of everything he reads as
] linked, associative and contingent. He will be
] disinclined to accept the authority of any text, whether
] religious, political or artistic, since he has learned
] that there is no such thing as the last word, or indeed
] even a series of words that do not link, in some way, to
] some other text or game. For those who grow up reading
] online, reading will come to seem a game, one that
] endlessly plays out in unlimited directions. The web, in
] providing link after associative link, commentary upon
] every picture and paragraph, allows, indeed requires,
] users to engage in a postmodernist inquiry.

The media is the message.

CTHEORY.NET : Why the Web Will Win the Culture Wars for the Left by Peter Lurie

] Today, the big issue is Java. Sun's insistence on
] continuing tight control of the Java code has damaged
] Sun's long-term interests by throttling acceptance of the
] language in the open-source community, ceding the field
] (and probably the future) to scripting-language
] competitors like Python and Perl. Once again the choice
] is between control and ubiquity, and despite your claim
] that "open source is our friend" Sun appears to be
] choosing control. Sun's terms are so restrictive that
] Linux distributions cannot even include Java binaries for
] use as a browser plugin, let alone as a standalone
] development tool.

Sun screwed up Java because they were trying to use it to become Microsoft. Java would have been much more successful as a programming language had Sun not made these dumb business decisions.

Many entities depend on Sun like a pillar when it comes to managed environments. Certain concepts of managing systems, are tied to closed source approaches. They can't jump in with both feet. Its not possible. They can stick one foot in at a time. By holding back Java, sun is polarizing the language situation in the way ESR describes, while we have Opportunity and Spirit going on over on our side. Maybe someone wants our work going on in the open..

The Open Source Community should keep casting clue at Sun. Sun will catch on, and believe me, Sun will stick around either way. In the meantime, it seems RedHat is becoming the new Solaris. Take note, I mean that in a good way for both RedHat and SunOS/Solaris.

And where the hell is perl6 anyway? :)

ESR to Sun: Let Java Go

This is a gallery of different images of human social networks.

Gallery of network images

In the US, some of the most influential work is being done by Janet Murray at Georgia Tech and by MIT's Henry Jenkins.

Game Theory Evolves With Mouse, Click, PhD

A female Samurai who dresses only in black and admires Hillary Clinton is running for president in Russia next month.

A Samurai Fighter, Clad in Jeans, Takes On Putin

I got this sinus infection thing that is really annoying the hell out of me. I have sickness angst. What makes it worse, is that in the mist of a point when I had a fever like thing happening, I pull out my best joke-fu, try to compose the ultimate troll, and I get nothing. Nada. Not one damn response. Not even a good "screw you Rattle". You are all no fun. Really. There are so many ways to cut at that one. It was a good setup. I really wanted to see how people would approach/attack it.

So yeah, the people on the DiseaseSter message boards are _not_ cool. They take everything way too seriously. Can't say a damn thing to these people!

I know what we need.. We need some site that integrates a "Screw You" button into the browser. When you are on an article/post/site/page that you don't like, you hit the "Screw You" button, and it doesn't do anything to "screw" the person, it just keeps a public log of what you think sucks. After you configure your friends, It can act as a collaborative filter, building an exclusive community. Or maybe it could just import FOAF and leverage other sites...

Someone just smack me already. Really? Please?

Temperature at posting time: normal
Temperament at posting time: still not happy about being sick

DiseaseSter - Now I'm just annoyed