] In August, Buena Vista Home Entertainment--Disney's home
] video unit--will begin a pilot program using technology
] that renders discs useless 48 hours after being removed
] from packaging and exposed to oxygen, Reuters reported.
]
] The DVDs will play perfectly during the two-day period,
] Flexplay Technologies, which developed the technology,
] told Reuters.
]
] The discs cannot be hacked after 48 hours because the
] technology is based on chemicals and not computers, it
] was reported. But the disc can be copied before it
] oxidizes.
]
] The move allows Buena Vista to expand its market by
] "renting" movies from almost anywhere without having to
] provide a return point for the discs, Reuters said.

This is moronic. My first thought is, "Oh great, disposable DVDs. Wonder how much waste that will cause?" Well, my question was answered later in the article:

"Self-destructing DVDs would create considerable waste. A study conducted for Flexplay by environmental policy expert Jonathan Koomey found that if disposable DVDs made up 10 percent of all U.S. video rentals, an additional 350 million DVDs would be discarded, creating 5,600 metric tons of solid waste annually."

I'm glad Disney is so concerned about our world.

Also in the article is this tidbit of market research:

"The technology can also work on music CDs and software CD-ROMs, according to SpectraDisc, but movies are the target, since people generally buy music and software to keep."

Who are they talking about? I buy movies to keep, and so does everyone else I know. This is going to get mauled by the "video on demand" development going on in the cable industry.

Warning: This DVD will self-destruct in 2 days

] TO have any chance of making easy money on the Internet,
] computer geek Howard Carmack knew he had to send more
] than a million junk e-mails every day.
]
] And to avoid being detected by Internet companies that
] try to block the nuisance messages, he needed to become
] devious.
]
] So to keep his annoying spam flowing across the Web and
] into the in-boxes of hundreds of thousands of e-mail
] users, the 36-year-old stole the identities of strangers
] and hacked into their e-mail accounts, investigators have
] learned - and he also betrayed members of his own family.
]
] Carmack not only stole his uncle Joseph's identity; his
] mentally disabled brother, James Jr., was also a victim,
] according to court papers.

Ooh, this guy is a real winner.

NYPOST.COM Regional News: SPAMMER GETS MESSAGE By DAVID TOBENKIN

Oh, yeah, this was such a GREAT idea the first time around when it was called DIVX.

The discs stop working when a process similar to rusting makes them unreadable. The discs start off red, but when they are taken out of the package, exposure to oxygen turns the coating black and makes it impenetrable by a DVD laser.

Yahoo! News - Disney to Begin Renting 'Self-Destructing' DVDs

] A new global study concludes that 90 percent of all large
] fishes have disappeared from the world's oceans in the
] past half century, the devastating result of industrial
] fishing.
]
] The study, which took 10 years to complete and was
] published in the international journal Nature this week,
] paints a grim picture of the Earth's current populations
] of such species as sharks, swordfish, tuna and marlin.
]
] The authors used data going back 47 years from nine
] oceanic and four continental shelf systems, ranging from
] the tropics to the Antarctic. Whether off the coast of
] Newfoundland, Canada, or in the Gulf of Thailand, the
] findings were dire, according to the authors.
]
] "I think the point is there is nowhere left in the ocean
] not overfished," said Ransom Myers, a fisheries biologist
] at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia

SNIP

This is bad. This is really bad. "Eat mor chikin"

CNN.com - Study: Only 10 percent of big ocean fish remain - May. 14, 2003

] The music industry's antipiracy efforts took an
] embarrassing turn Tuesday when the Recording Industry
] Association of America acknowledged that it has
] erroneously sent dozens of copyright infringement
] notices.
]
] The RIAA said Tuesday that a temporary worker was
] responsible for firing off legal notifications last week
] that invoked the Digital Millennium Copyright Act without
] confirming that any copyrighted files were actually being
] offered for download. "We have sent two dozen withdrawal
] notices--all appear related to this particular temp," the
] RIAA said in a statement. "We apologize for any
] inconvenience this may have caused."

When all else fails, blame it on the temp.

RIAA apologizes for erroneous letters | CNET News.com

] Style is a personal thing, this is nothing new. But I've
] always found it fascinating how diverse opinions can be,
] especially in the same city, in a similar age range. One
] girl's turn-off may be another girls cat's meow.
]
] To determine if there were universal female gripes within
] NYC, I did some digging. A simple question to female
] friends and associates, "Is there something you see a guy
] wearing that turns you off, before you even know him?"
] turned into an endless barrage of answers. (You'll see
] that "shy" would not be the word to describe the
] participants.)
]
] But for now, here's what the girlies DON'T like:

There's a corresponding article for girls at http://www.nycpulse.com/web/articles/fashion/nov/112602a.htm

I find it amusing when there is a trend in modern society that most people don't find attractive or interesting, but it seems to be extremely popular nonetheless.

New York's guide to entertainment, restaurants, nightlife and events | nycpulse.com online

] O'Reilly & Associates is accepting entries for the
] second round of the Mac OS X Innovators Contest. The
] contest, sponsored by Apple Developer Connection, seeks
] innovative Mac OS X applications, plug-ins, user
] interface widgets, or other creative original
] software.Entries are judged on ease of use, adherence to
] the Mac OS X Human Interface Guidelines, use of Mac OS X
] technologies, and especially innovation.
]
] First prize, worth nearly $5,000 (U.S.), is an ADC
] Premier membership, a full pass to the O%u2019Reilly Mac
] OS X Conference in Santa Clara, Calif., from Oct. 27 to
] 30, and a one-year subscription to O%u2019Reilly%u2019s
] premium on-line book service, Safari. Entries must be
] submitted to O%u2019Reilly by June 16. The Round Two
] winners will be announced at the O'Reilly Open
] Source Convention in Portland, Oregon, from July 7 to 11.

C'mon, boys and girls, get cracking.

Put Your Gloves On - Mac OS X Innovators Contest, Round 2

] Civilians are continuing to disappear in breakaway
] Chechnya and nearly 250 people have gone missing since
] January, a Chechen official said Sunday.

I guess it's a way to convince states not to break away from your country... just make everyone disappear.

Where have all the Chechnyans Gone?

] I'm Saddam.
] Saddam I am.
]
] I do not like you,
] Uncle Sam.

Would you like to bomb Iran?

I love the expression on the cats face in the photo - "REEOOOW!" Sort of what I expect I'd look like if I suddenly had $160k dumped in my lap!

Laughing Boy

] LONDON, England (AP) -- Tinker really is the cat that got
] the cream.
]
] Thanks to his late owner, a wealthy widow, the former
] stray now lives in some splendor in his own house, valued
] at 350,000 pounds (US$560,000) and dines on fish bought
] from his 100,000-pound (US$160,000) trust fund.
]
] The will of Margaret Layne, 89, published in The Times
] newspaper on Tuesday, named Tinker as the beneficiary of
] a large chunk of her estate, including her house in
] Harrow, northwest London.

Cat inherits house, trust fund