List of English bloggers in Iran

E:M | Almost the most complete list

] HR-2517, the Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2003,
] instructs the FBI to develop a program to deter online
] traffic of copyrighted material. The bureau would also
] develop a warning, with the FBI seal, that copyright
] holders could issue to suspected violators. And the
] bureau would encourage sharing of information on
] suspected copyright violations among law enforcement,
] copyright owners and ISPs (Internet service providers).

New bill injects FBI into P2P battle | CNET News.com

From Elonka:

I spent days scouring the web trying to find some sort of comprehensive list of James Sanborn's artwork, but no dice (Sanborn, btw, is the sculptor that made "Kryptos"). I even contacted his agents and asked for a list, but they said that there wasn't such a thing, and that if they were to ask the artist for a complete list of his sculptures, he'd probably laugh at them since there were so many.

So, I went ahead and made my own list. I guess this makes me the self-appointed head of the Jim Sanborn fanclub. ;)

Artist/Sculptor James Sanborn

] On Tuesday, the United States and Singapore signed a
] trade agreement that affirms both nations' commitment to
] punishing people who bypass copy-protection
] technologies--such as those used in most DVDs, a small
] number of CDs and some computer software.

] "We're working together to meet the threats of a new era,
] and we share a belief in the power of free enterprise and
] free trade to improve lives," President George W. Bush
] said during a Tuesday ceremony in Washington to mark the
] signing of the trade agreement. "The U.S.-Singapore Free
] Trade Agreement marks a crucial step forward for both our
] countries. And with the approval of the Congress, this
] agreement will help generate well-paying jobs and
] opportunities for people in Singapore and in the United
] States." The agreement is the first between the U.S.
] and an Asian nation.

] The agreement "breaks new ground in emerging areas like
] e-commerce," Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said.
] "It also establishes high standards in intellectual
] property, transparency and customs. The FTA will expand
] opportunities for American businesses in Singapore. More
] importantly, the U.S.-Singapore FTA can be a model for
] other FTAs."

U.S.-Singapore trade pact echoes DMCA | CNET News.com

] A tv image shows an Iranian protester engulfed in flames
] after he set himself alight in Berne, Switzerland June
] 19, 2003 during a demonstration to protest the arrest of
] Iranian exiles in France on Tuesday. Police said the man
] had been taken to hospital suffering from burns.

Damn, this is hardcore.

Yahoo! News Photos - Iran Protesters Set Fire to Selves

] Smartmobber Rob Zazueta writes: I read about the smart
] mobs in Manhattan and figured San Francisco simply
] shouldn't be out done. So I've set up a spot on my site
] where folks can join a list (NO spam, no non-mob related
] stuff, etc) and be part of a Bay Area Mob. I'm trying to
] get some folks signed up to gain critical mass and get
] the ball rolling.

East coast vs. west coast.. How hip-hop is that?

Smart Mobs | Inexplicable Mobs, San Francisco Style?

] pajamacore writes "It's worth noting that 20 June 2003 is
] GIF Liberation Day, the day on which US Patent 4,558,302
] expires. The patent describes the LZW compression
] algorithm used in .gif files. That said, maybe the prices
] of image editing applications will drop slightly when
] corporations don't have to pay fees to Unisys."

I find it amusing that Slashdot posted a troll as a story. Noone is going to drop prices, they are just going to have one less expense and be happy about it. Free software is going to be the cheif benefactor as far as end users are concerned. Troll.

The insightful question to ask would be, what will Unisys do in the next few days? Something similar to what RSA did when RSA expired? That being, toss the patent into the public domain a few days before it expires, turn the whole thing into a big press marketing event, give away some tee shirts, build brand, etc. One way or another, mention of the patent expiring will wind up in every tech mag in the planet, because gif is used all over.. If they do nothing those articles are all going to be "haha!", "gif patent expires, helps open source", and "Unisys loses gif revenue". If they do something smart they can get whatever their thing is talked about in every tech mag on the planet at once for free as a consolation prize..

Slashdot | GIF Patent Prepares to Expire (Troll)

] Scientists have created the ultimate pet: genetically
] modified fish that glow in the dark. In future, there
] will be no need for aquarium lights - fluorescent fish
] will provide their own illumination.

Oh yeah, I would buy glowing fish. No question. I will own these some day. If there is someone out there tracking market for this kinda thing, mark me down as saying "i'll buy".. Hell yeah.

] Scientists have not restricted their GM work to
] aquarium creatures. In other experiments, scientists
] have attempted to engineer cats that do not produce
] allergens.

I'd buy that too! I'm allergic to cats.. Aside from that, cats are alright. And I'm sure they could make it piss less ammonia, glow, etc.. Sweet..

I'd save up for this shit. After the cat and the fish, I'd just need something that flys. Something can be done with the parot.

However, I don't think its a good idea to make any new animals that are capable of surviving in nature on their own. But I have no doubt that the comercial world will tackle these problems. There are simple and elegant solutions possible. You just have to make sure the thing can't possibly survive or breed without constant human intervention.. Kitty gonna need something in her water or .. Fishy gonna need some mad UV.. etc.. Unless that can be pulled off, no way. And maybe some kind of virus kill switch, "just in case". And screw Jurassic Park and "life can find a way" and all that crap. Thats Hollywood. There are solutions for this kinda thing damnit, there have to be. I want value added to my pets!

There is a service end to the business. Thats a good thing. When I get my consumer pet, I don't want to have to go through picking up supplies all the time, they have to be custom anyway, with this kinda investment, they are going to control that suckers whole life cycle. They can mail me whatever I need. I want to order it like a laptop. Select boxes for configuration, pick accessories, get a support contract, etc..

Pets.com might have been a flop, but when the shit glows, its going to be a different story.

'Fluorescent fish' give the green light to GM pets

] There are now 16 versions of the star wars kid video,
] include a Terminator and Matrix version. Enjoy.

Ok, I'm 100% positive I'm tired of the Star Wars Kid stuff now.

But it just damn keeps on going, and going, and going.. So, I have to comment on it.. 16 versions? It brings several completely tangental things to mind..

First off, I feel so bad for this kid. I completely understand why he is trying to stay off the radar. This isn't exactly the kinda fame that anyone wishes for. I could see potental for something really bad happening, like this kid committing suicide or something. It wouldn't suprise me. Ya' wonder how the guy is taking all this? I hope he has a serious sense humor, or he is fucked..

Second. This site, jedimaster.net, might be interesting to keep an eye on. The cabal of blood sucking lawyers over at Lucas have a bad record for going after _anyone_ who so much as touches one of their trademarks in a domain name in a way that dosen't sell toys or something. So.. Er. Whatever.

Third. All these video files are small enough to be within that range where (lame) people would feel "ok" emailing them around the office.. I immagine there are many poor corporate IT guys that look just like older versions of this kid, all with overloaded Exchange servers pushing around emails containing the various 16 remixes of this slop..

Fourth. I recently finished reading Pattern Recognition. If you read that book, this amuses you more. Real life sucks. When mysterious film footage surfaces on the net and spawns a cult following, its just not as cool. You don't get weird Russan mob twins and cool hunter, you get a fat kid in Canada and a bunch of bloggers.

Fifth. This is an amusing example of how "art" in the public domain can breed very spontanious and unexpected forms of creative expression. We have some raw footage, that for some mostly inexplicable reason, touches people. Boom! 16 different derivative works based on it appear in "Internet Time". It could be argued that due to the void of "art" that both inspires, and is free to use, we are forced to endure the likes of Star Wars Kid for lack of something better to serve as a muse/source for the new technology empowered video artist type people.. There are clearly a lot of them, enough to make 16 versions of Star Wars Kid in a very short period of time. Farking remix culture..

Just watch.. Lucas decides to start going after all the people distributing the films because of its trademark, causing a bad reaction from its cult following.. The mortified Ghyslain will come out and say he supports what Lucas is doing. The cult will go rabid, and turn on him. This will push him over the edge and he will commit suicide.. The Paypal fund will be used to bury him and build a memorial.. Gibson will comment on his blog that he never saw this coming, and as a side note, that he wishes he thought about Paypal at some point when writing Pattern Recognition.. It will never end.. "All your star wars kid are belong to us" will become the biggest, and most email distributed net-meme ever, surpassing the Star Wars Kid Memorial Project videos. All this will cause me to move to a place with no Internet or computers..

All your star wars kid are belong to us

] Moving with unusual speed, the Senate began today the
] legislative process of reversing the recent decision by
] the Federal Communications Commission to loosen media
] ownership rules and enable the nation's largest newspaper
] and broadcasting conglomerates to grow larger.
]
] A broadly bipartisan group of the Senate Commerce
] Committee approved legislation by voice vote to restore
] the previous lower limits on the number of television
] stations a single company can own and to reimpose most of
] the restrictions that prevent a company from owning both
] a newspaper and a radio or television station in the same
] city. The vote was a stinging rebuke of the F.C.C.'s
] chairman, Michael K. Powell, the architect of the
] deregulation.

Senate Begins Process to Reverse New F.C.C. Rules on Media