] "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

] "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.

...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...

] "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

] You are a member of the Settlement Group if you are a
] person (or entity) in the United States or its
] Territories and Possessions who purchased prerecorded
] Music Products, consisting of compact discs, cassettes
] and vinyl albums, from one or more retailers during the
] period January 1, 1995, through December 22, 2000.

The music industry might owe you $20, no joke.

(3) the social environment in which thoughts originate and evolve, and mindsets develop.

MemeStreams is not Yet Another Web Site.

Beyond 'Couch Potatoes' | First Monday

Comparing current government policy to bad television reception.

dubyadubyadubya.com - Technical Difficulties

BTW, this is why feds always advocate biometric technologies even though they aren't cost effective.

TIA Flowchart

] "If that assumption is correct, then only 2,480 out of
] 36,386 titles from 1927-1946 are available, or 6.8%.
] 93.2% are commercially dormant."

While this result is hardly surprising, its important, because the Copyright club has argued that copyright protection for old works is the best way to ensure their distribution. Obviously, its not working very well.

Proof that Valenti is wrong...

I figure a few people on this site might get a kick out of this. This is a talking Bush doll. He says things like "You're working hard to put food on your family."

"Gee.. What would Rattle want for xmass? What do you buy for the guy who used to have everything?" Now you know.

Talking Presidents dot com