] "I have long maintained that we are headed to a future of
] completely transparency, where both personal privacy and
] institutional secrecy would vanish and we would be
] forced, as are people in small, gossip-y towns, to create
] societies tolerant enough to accept an certain amount of
] personally eccentric behavior and even private, though
] widely-known, scandals. Instead, we know seem headed into
] a future where The All-Seeing Eye can know everything
] about us and we can know - or say - nothing about It. I
] can't imagine leaving a less promising future to my
] descendents. Nor can I imagine why the American people
] are so willing to inflict such a future on their kids
] that driving a few blocks to vote against it was too much
] trouble."

There is alot I want to say about both these articles. I'll likely revisit this.

Highly recommended read.

Another Barlow Rant about TIA

] "Thanks to a newly found flaw in Windows XP, two of the
] most popular audio file formats can be used by crackers
] to take control of remote PCs. Users only need to hover
] their mouse pointers over the icons for malicious MP3 or
] Windows Media files to execute the attacker's code,
] Microsoft Corp. said in a bulletin published Wednesday.
] The vulnerability lies in the Windows Shell, which is the
] portion of the operating system responsible for defining
] the user's desktop as well as organizing files and
] folders and enabling the OS to start applications. An
] unchecked buffer in a function used by the shell to
] extract custom attribute data from audio files enables an
] attacker to create a malicious MP3 or Windows Media file
] and use it to run code on a remote user's machine. "

Downright scary considering all the talk out of Microsoft about abandoning the traditional filesystem. There is no way in hell its going to be secure. Not with their coding pratices anyway. Trojans using MP3s, PNGs, etc, as vectors.. Completely ridiculous.

I've been _really_ enjoying watching Microsoft shoot themselves in the foot over and over the past year or so. Between the failure of many parts of their .NET product line, the steady flow of security problems like this, and changes in their license structure, its becoming obvious to even the casual consumer and non-hardcore-tech CIOs that Microsoft products cannot be trusted or depended on.

XP Flaw Puts MP3, Windows Media Files at Risk

] "Hundreds of Iranian and other Middle East citizens were
] in southern California jails on Wednesday after coming
] forward to comply with a new rule to register with
] immigration authorities only to wind up handcuffed and
] behind bars."

If this dosen't wind up in the TV news rotation by the end of the day, our media isn't functioning properly.

I'm pissed. I feel the comparisons people are making to Japaneese internment are valid. Our justice dept cannot be allowed to go off half-cocked. I better be seeing some sort of statement from Ashcroft before lunch tommorow. This is something that needs to be explained and justified, not just happen without anyone noticing.

I want to detailed breakdown of what the people were arrested for. This will have a backlash. They better be prepared. They better be transparent in their handling of this.

If I had to guess at the near-future outcome at this point, based on the two articles I have read thus far... Optmistic: Next week we hear in the sweep they caught a few people with terrorist ties, they release everyone else, and appoligize for the nature of the sweep but claim it was necessary. After, a program for speed up naturalization starts to aid these people attain their citizenship. Given the timeframe of several months, its viewed as part of a critical restructure of the INS's handling of foriegn nationals. Pessimistic: We just don't hear about it again or its the first of many, and many immigrants get the shaft.

I am keenly aware of the effects of immigration in America. I do not have to look any farther then my granparents to see where half my blood line entered this country. No farther then my great grandparents for the other half. I am an average American in that respect. Even people such as the creator of MemeStreams would not be in the US if not for our open immigration and borders.

Here in Jersey, we have a downright huge Middle Eastern population. Ironicly, they tend to work in all the gas stations and its the brunt of many jokes. They view Jersey as a good place to "start in America".. They live and work here for a few years, save up money, and move elsewhere. Its the modern American Dream for the immigrant. This is a critical part of New Jersey's heritage. If I see this type of shit going down here, you can be assured I will be one of the people holding a sign in front of a jail.

Yahoo! News - Hundreds of Muslim Immigrants Rounded Up in Calif.

] Long-rumored and written off by many as an urban legend,
] J-List is happy to report that we've obtained stock of
] the infamous Hello Kitty vibe shoulder massagers. A
] really cool battery-operated vibrating stick that's made
] for massaging the neck and shoulder, this licensed Sanrio
] product (intended for sale in Japan only) comes in an
] attractive display box so you can display it as an
] "object of bizarre Japanese pop culture" if you don't
] want to use it for any other purpose. The top of the unit
] features a very cute, bulbous Hello Kitty, holding her
] teddy bear. A very fun item from Japan. Comes with
] battery. Goes great with loose socks!

J-List -- Hello Kitty Vibrator

...by taxing all computer equipment... its not the best idea I've heard, but it is significant to hear this kind of thinking coming from someone like this.

] The problem is that we can’t give consumers
] what they want. The symptom is that they can
] get it without our help. We can either engage
] in futile attempts to eliminate their supply,
] or we can monetize their demand.

] The 2002 SOFA report found that 49% of Americans
] now think the first amendment goes too far in the
] protections it provides. This compared to 37%
] a year ago and 22% the year before that. Fred
] and I believe this is in no small part an
] unintended consequence of the various wars we have
] declared on various symptoms of various problems.
] The entertainment industry, largely a beneficiary
] of the protections afforded by the First Amendment,
] should buck this trend, and embrace freedom.

Will Smith's lawyer wants to allow p2p music swapping...

Rant time!

(Nick's joke of the day: Difference between a rant and an essay? You edit essays! Haha!)

This story has been all over the place the past few days.. Infact, I blogged one of the articles in this story a few days ago. There was also a Slashdot story earlier this week talking about a boycott of media outlets that back the RIAA/MPAA and their attacks on the information enabled public. Numerous articles detailing the RIAA's bullshit number analysis have popped up all over the place.

This all falls in line with what I've been saying for at least three years now.. Comsumers have found their channel for feedback to the media outlets.. Piracy. Boycott.. Whatever you want to call it, its taking form as we talk, type, and sleep. Slowly..

The messages the consumer is trying to convey are simple in many ways, yet they rarely come across clearly or directly. There are several things this can be blamed on, not the least of which is the complex nature of the situation. We can't expect the media to educate the public about it, its not in their intrest. So its all grass roots. It takes large numbers of people a fair amount of time to come to the same conclusions, given the same stimuli. Thats what we are seeing now. Only its faster then in the past, because the people pissed off are the information warriors. Us. We communicate wider and more frequently (and less formally, like this), hence our grass roots resistance to the tyranny of the big media is coming together in a mere several years, not several decades.

Normally, when we discover a problem, the media talks about it, educates the public, the public thinks about it, and eventually the public acts. Look at the way we tackle problems like environmental pollution, drunk driving, civil rights, drug use, etc.. The media has played a large role in driving the public to the conclusions they came to and acting the way they acted. Its not a mirror to mirror relationship, as we might believe. There is a degree to which those who program, determine the direction of the public's opinion and angst. You are what you eat. The media probably has more effect on the public then the school system. In American culture, the media is important. In a way, its a central part of our governmental structure. Often, its what drives our government's actions. Whats going to cause Lott to give up his seat? Congress or Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC? (Ok, the people will.. But who lead them?) There is alot to go into here, but its digression..

Right now the messages are a jumble.. We want the media to operate on our terms, not theirs. We are unwilling to ignore technology advances because they screw up someone's business model. We value our tools more then your profits and we will create, evolve, and maintain them regardless of persecution. Decentralization, decentralization, decentralization. Open tool chains and the power of shared knowledge.. Openness of co... [ Read More (0.6k in body) ]

Rattle rants up a storm on media revolution (Link: Slashdot | Still more RIAA news)

] "In his experiment, Potter places a droplet of solution
] containing thousands of rat neuron cells onto a silicon
] chip that's embedded with 60 electrodes connected to an
] amplifier. The electrical signals that the cells fire at
] one another are picked up by the electrodes which then
] send the amplified signal into a computer. The computer,
] in turn, wirelessly relays the data to the robot.

Yes, you read that correctly.

This is good. Bio/computer integration is progressing at an acceptable rate. If things go according to my great plan, when my body is too frail to continue living, I will be able to implant my brain into a giant robot body with photon blasters and shit. Kind of like RoboCop, only not lame. I'm not thining human profile here. Being able to fly would be good, but not with some dorky jetpack like at the end of RoboCop 3, that was st00pid. Maybe like a transformer or something. Yeah.. And don't worry, none of that shit that happened at the beginning of RoboCop 2 would be an issue.. I will be _happy_ as a giant robot. I will roam the streets of America fighting corrupt corporations. And help old ladies cross the street and shit. Really.. I can code, so I will be able to preform improvments on myself. I can see this working out..

Technology Review - Rat-Brained Robot

A list of the symbols that hobos would write in chalk or charcoal, to signal other hobos about what they could expect in that area (such as "Good place for a handout" "Watch out, they have a gun in this house" "You can camp here," and so forth).

(Rattle's evil tip of the day) Now you can preform hobo DoS attacks on people you don't like. Just chalk a "Religious talk will get you a meal here" or "Owners will give to get rid of you" sign in front of their home.

Hobo Signs & Symbols

] In one skit, former Administrative Executive Peggy
] Menchaca played the part of Kinder as he received a
] budget report from then-President Jeff Skilling, who
] played himself, and Financial Planning Executive Tod
] Lindholm.
]
] When the pretend Kinder expressed doubt that Skilling
] could pull off 600 percent revenue growth for the coming
] year, Skilling revealed how it could be done.
]
] "We're going to move from mark-to-market accounting to
] something I call HFV, or hypothetical future value
] accounting," Skilling joked as he read from a script. "If
] we do that, we can add a kazillion dollars to the bottom
] line."

The video even contains a skit with both George Bush v1 and v1.9a.

Feds Want To See Enron Videotape

] Research by George Zieman gives the true reason for
] falling CD sales: the major labels have slashed
] production by 25 per cent in the past two years, he
] argues.
]
] After keeping the figure rather quiet for two years, the
] Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) says the
] industry released around 27,000 titles in 2001, down from
] a peak of 38,900 in 1999. Since year-on-year unit sales
] have dropped a mere 10.3 per cent, it's clear that demand
] has held up extremely well: despite higher prices,
] consumers retain the CD buying habit.

The Register: Missing RIAA figures shoot down 'piracy' canard