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| "The future masters of technology will have to be lighthearted and intelligent. The machine easily masters the grim and the dumb." -- Marshall McLuhan, 1969 |
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| Topic: Games |
1:14 am EST, Dec 23, 2003 |
Playing with a joystick is basically the same move as playing a piano; the thrill is not what you get from outside, but what you express from inside. Whether it's a piano or a chessboard or a joypad, that's your technology, and you express yourself through it. "The golden age of movies is gone. That's it. It's a fact." Has there ever been a cultural sea change as stealthy as the one represented by the rise of interactive entertainment? The gore and moral lassitude of games like GTA have given rise to a parental panic reminiscent of the early days of rock 'n' roll. Playing Mogul |
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Participants' Distrust Exposed in Piracy Battle |
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| Topic: Intellectual Property |
1:14 am EST, Dec 23, 2003 |
The gulf between the labels and the companies behind Kazaa, Blubster and other file-sharing networks seems as wide -- and impossible to bridge -- as ever. Cary Sherman: "It reminds me of negotiating with the mob. 'If you just pay us some insurance, your storm window won't break anymore.' There's an emotional reaction to that." File sharing executive: "... we're dealing with a bunch of idiots." Memo to Santa: these two need to find copies of "How To Win Friends ..." in their stockings. Allow me to cite one of Powell's Rules: Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it. Participants' Distrust Exposed in Piracy Battle |
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| Topic: Miscellaneous |
10:02 pm EST, Dec 22, 2003 |
This is a cool video clip to "See what happens when a power station's 500 KVA switch is thrown!" 500 KVA switch |
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| Topic: Surveillance |
2:54 pm EST, Dec 22, 2003 |
Chock full o' good "insider" informtion on the miltary and intelligence communities internationally. Cryptome |
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The RIAA Succeeds Where the Cypherpunks Failed |
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| Topic: Cyber-Culture |
11:47 pm EST, Dec 21, 2003 |
The most effective barrier to the spread of encryption has turned out to be not control but apathy ... [but now] the RIAA is succeeding where 10 years of hectoring by the Cypherpunks failed. The obvious parallel here is with Prohibition, where the essence of the game was hidden transactions,, and reversing the cause did not reverse the effects. The direct effects from the current conflict are going to be minor and over quickly, compared to the shifts in society as a whole. The most profound effects of the music industry's efforts are not about music. This is a proxy war. Ostensibly the fight is about music, but the veil is thin. This is Afghanistan in the 1980s. Are you mujahideen? The RIAA Succeeds Where the Cypherpunks Failed |
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| Topic: Technology |
11:47 pm EST, Dec 21, 2003 |
It's the FBIs, NSAs, and Equifaxes of the world versus a swelling movement of Cypherpunks, civil libertarians, and millionaire hackers. At stake: Whether privacy will exist in the 21st century. Cypherpunks write code. In the Los Angeles of the not too distant future, perhaps the hipster's first question will not be about your car; rather, it will be about your code. "V unir n qernz ..." Crypto Rebels |
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SF power outage may remain until evening |
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| Topic: Miscellaneous |
8:52 pm EST, Dec 21, 2003 |
] Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has moved back the estimated
] time that power will be restored to San Franciscans by
] several hours, according to PG&E spokesman Brian Swanson.
]
] Earlier in the day, PG&E officials said they expected
] power to be restored by 10:30 a.m. Now they believe that
] the outage will last until the evening for some
] customers. My power just came back on about 20 minutes ago.. SF power outage may remain until evening |
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Substation fire causes widespread power outage in San Francisco |
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| Topic: Local Information |
12:50 am EST, Dec 21, 2003 |
A fire at an electrical substation has caused a widespread power outage here affecting about 120,000 customers, the Pacific Gas & Electric Company said. The blackout, which started just before 6 p.m. Saturday, has affected many San Francisco neighborhoods, including parts of North Beach, Chinatown, Fillmore, Western Addition, the Mission, Sunset, Richmond and downtown, said PG&E spokesman Jonathan Franks. I am powerless! Substation fire causes widespread power outage in San Francisco |
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Slashdot | Perl is Sweet Sixteen |
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| Topic: Perl Programming |
1:49 am EST, Dec 20, 2003 |
] "Perl turned sweet 16 yesterday. 'Larry Wall released
] Perl 1 on this day in 1987, so today Perl is 16 years
] old. Happy birthday Perl! You can read more about the
] timeline of Perl releases in perlhist.pod and at
] history.perl.org.' Happy birthday Perl! You are now old
] enough to get a US drivers license." 16 is not old enough to get a drivers license in New Jersey. I had to wait till I was 17. More importantally, Perl has passed the age of consent almost everywhere. Slashdot | Perl is Sweet Sixteen |
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Economist.com | Coffee-houses |
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| Topic: Cyber-Culture |
12:49 am EST, Dec 20, 2003 |
] The coffee-houses that sprang up across Europe, starting
] around 1650, functioned as information exchanges for
] writers, politicians, businessmen and scientists. Like
] today's websites, weblogs and discussion boards,
] coffee-houses were lively and often unreliable sources of
] information that typically specialised in a particular
] topic or political viewpoint. They were outlets for a
] stream of newsletters, pamphlets, advertising free-sheets
] and broadsides. Depending on the interests of their
] customers, some coffee-houses displayed commodity prices,
] share prices and shipping lists, whereas others provided
] foreign newsletters filled with coffee-house gossip from
] abroad. Economist.com | Coffee-houses |
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