They agreed to provide this information, and said they had no problem telling users how to solve the problem. I, in turn, provided webspace and bandwidth for them. The bottom line: after two days of lies and false starts, and milking my institution's generosity by providing almost 100,000 downloads and 0.7 terabytes of data transfer, they NEVER posted any information about how to solve the problem that they promised to post. Their agenda seems clear, and that's sensationalism, melodrama, and attention. The full email exchange is here:

[ insert Michael Moore joke here ]

via BoingBoing

more on ipodsdirtylittlesecret.com

] It's called the Segway Human Transporter, but
] the Pentagon is drafting the two-wheeled scooter
] as part of a plan to develop battlefield robots
] that think on their own and communicate with troops.

Just in case you were wondering; Yes, Virginia, they are making Terminators in a lab somewhere...

The Pentagon starts building Terminators

Nature 412 had an amazing article on very novel development, "Parasitic Computing". Simply put, some guys at Noterdame found a way to utilize/exploit the TCP error-checking algorithm to make users that you are communication with do useful computaitonal work for you. This is technique can be done effectively, we're talking about some very impressive computational resources at one's disposal.

Also of note.. Albert-László Barabási and Hawoong Jeong, two of the people behind this parasitic computing project, are also two of the leading authorities on self forming networks. Barabási authored a book called Linked: The New Science of Networks which is considered one of the "must reads" on the subject. Infact, its the book I was reading when I started work on the mapping the social network on MemeStreams..

New Technique: Parasitic Computing

You have the impression that the disasters of the world do not touch you anymore? You feel vaguely sorry for other people's misfortunes but you don't feel the inner urge which used to make you help your neighbour ? WiFi-SM is the solution !

WiFi-SM is an Internet connected wireless device that you can fix on any part of your body. It automatically detects the information from approximately 4,500 news sources worldwide updated continuously and analyses them looking for specific keywords such as death, kill, murder, torture, rape, war, virus etc.. Each time the text of the news contains one of these keywords, your WiFi-SM device is activated through the Wi-Fi network and provides you with an electric impulse. This impulse is calibrated so that you can feel a certain amount of pain, but is completely safe.

WiFi-SM: feel the global pain

Jon Johansen (of DeCSS fame) has released code that strips DRM from Apple ACC audio format.

Mac Rumors has the straight dope:

] The application clearly piggybacks off of Apple's
] Quicktime player and patches the "quicktimempeg4.qtx"
] file of Windows' Quicktime. It then outputs this "raw AAC
] data" to a file while the original AAC file plays under
] Quicktime. The proposed theory is that the application
] intercepts the Decrypted AAC data from Quicktime after
] authorization has taken place, and saves out the
] resultant decrypted (de-DRM'd) AAC data.
]
] Based on limited testing from one user with Quicktime 6.4
] under Windows... the application does create DRM-free
] ".aac" files when Protected AAC files are played through
] Quicktime. These output files, however, are unplayable in
] their raw form in most players. The reason for this is
] that these files represents the true "raw" AAC data that
] has been passed through to Quicktime to play. All header
] information has been removed. To create playable files, a
] further packaging of the files is required to add the
] appropriate MPEG headers. But the application does work
] as suggested -- stripping DRM from your protected AAC
] files (though is not of any practical use in its current
] form).

"QTFairUse" .. Great name. Very to the point.

Umm.. I think this is where I say "here we go again.." ??

It will be interesting to see how Apple reacts.. Between this and the current iPod dirty secrets thing, they have a fair amount of pressure on them. I hope they don't do something stupid.

They should have been expecting this to happen at some point.. They likely have a strategy thought out already for dealing with this.

Mac Rumors: QTFairUse - iTunes Digital Rights Management (DRM) Circumvented?

Ball's Deep wrote:
] A little video exposing the battery life and replacement
] policy of Apple's iPod.

Here is a link to an entry on Dan Gillmor's weblog that contains links and info on how to replace the iPod's batteries. It costs about $50..

Dan Gillmor - Hope My iPod isn't Like His...

Finally, I have to ask what these tools do to the old, low-tech concept of friendship. In some way, with their numbers and lists and classifications, these services can subtly make a social network into a trophy collection. Technology has made it easier than ever to count your friends -- but that doesn't mean you should.

Esther Dyson weighs in on the trends in social networking software.

Buying and Selling the Little Black Book

Your daily dose of evil for those of you that enjoy the more extreme sides of medical-related things -- with photos. I recommend especially the "Nevus pigmentosus (Mole)".

Rotten-esque medical photos

Apparently Vivendi plans to destroy (yes, destroy) all the data having to do with MP3.com now that they have sold the domain to Cnet.

Thats more then 1 million songs from over 250,000 artists. Here is where it gets evil:

] Many web sites cease operation but can still be found,
] captured for posterity, in the brilliant online library
] known as Archive.org, also called the "wayback machine."
] Here, massive servers and storage captures run by the
] visionary (and my personal friend) Brewster Kahle
] periodically take snapshots of the Internet as a means of
] recording history. Future generations can then look back
] at the evolution of the Net, of thought, trends, digital
] media and much more. It's a modern-day Smithsonian and
] Library of Congress, all in one. Unfortunately, Vivendi
] has not given Archive.org permission to capture the
] MP3.com site.
]
] My hope is that by writing this essay, others will see
] that we're about to lose a museum filled with digital
] antiquities that are every bit as meaningful as their
] physical counterparts filling today's museums. There is a
] glimmer of hope that those in charge at VU will grant
] permission to Archive.org to make a copy of the band
] pages, music and stations before they dissolve. Perhaps
] the new owners, Cnet, have rights over the content and
] can allow Archive.org to take a snapshot? I hope one of
] these things happens, otherwise we'll lose a major
] digital museum with no way to ever recover it, and the
] world will be a less musical place.

What can be said about this? Its just wrong.. It makes me angry as hell. The willful destruction of that much art is a crime against our culture. If Vivendi goes through with this, and destroys this without letting archive.org make a copy, it should not be forgotten. This better be their way of hanging a for-sale sign on the data..

If they don't want it in the market, fine.. Give it to the Internet Archive under terms that they will not make it publicly available for 20 years or something like that. I'm sure they would do that. Just don't destroy all that art!

Some snooping around Google News turned up a mention to Primetones.com was trying to make an offer to by the music collection from Vivendi. [update: Apple?] That would be fine.. But at the very least, they must allow archive.org to make a copy of this before destroying it.

I can't stress enough. This is one of those things that isn't a crime, but it might at well be. They own it, and they can destroy it if they want to, but its just wrong. Its the virtual equivalent of burning a million books in front of librarians begging for them. Evil.

A big fuss should be made over this. This should not be an acceptable thing to do in our society. If this doesn't piss people off, and they do not make efforts to stop this kind of thing from happening, our society is going to have a serious problem preserving itself.

Mike Robertson on MP3.com

The requirement, announced Friday by California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, applies to all electronic voting systems already in use as well as those currently being purchased. The machines must be retrofitted with printers to produce a receipt by 2006.

E-Votes Must Leave a Paper Trail