Tuesday, July 29, 2003

11:08:11 PM    

More Assholes Just read the comments and it's all you need to know about what we call "humanity." I hate to say it, but most people who "surf the web" are nothing but a bunch of fucking losers and should Get A Life. 11:08:11 PM    Go ahead, make my day  []

8:40:52 PM    

Fuck Orrin Hatch! It just felt good to say that. 8:40:52 PM    Go ahead, make my day  []

8:24:21 PM    

Here's Some Scary Stuff Newsweek's Stephen Levy: Capitol Hill P2P Prohibition craziness. In this week's edition of Newsweek, Stephen Levy reports on a Senate Judiciary Committee last week titled: "The dark side of a bright idea: Could personal and national-security risks compromise the potential of peer-to-peer file-sharing networks?" By the end of the session, the only committee member in attendance, chairman Orrin Hatch-himself a songwriter who sells CDs on his personal Web site-zeroed in on what really bugged him: people sharing copyrighted songs on the Internet without paying for them. Then he ran an idea by one of the panelists: what if you had a system that could detect whether people were getting songs without paying for them and could warn those infringers that what they were doing was wrong? And then, if they didn't stop, the system would remotely "destroy " their computers. "No one's interested in destroying people's computers, " said the panelist. "Well, I'm interested in doing that, "said the senator. "Warn them, do it again, and then destroy their machine! There's no excuse for anyone violating our copyright laws. " Fortunately Senator Hatch hasn't yet codified his Dr. Strangelovean no-due-process piracy antidote into upcoming legislation. But in the House, Reps. Howard Berman and John Conyers have introduced a bill that encourages a different approach: jail 'em! Among other provisions, the bill lowers the bar for criminal prosecution to the sharing of a single music file and allocates $15 million to go after copyright offenders. Representative Berman says that he anticipates that prosecutors will go only after someone who, knowing the consequences, uploads massive amounts of music. But the bill says in black and white that if you share so much as a single tune with your pals on the Internet-as millions do every day-you are a felon. Penalty: up to five years in jail. (Better fill up your iPod before you go.)  Courtesy of Boing Boing Blog 8:24:21 PM    Go ahead, make my day  []

8:19:03 PM    

Running On Empty I don't know what it is. Maybe I've developed a case of ADD, or maybe it's just the summertime blues, but I've just completely lost my focus and my momentum at work for the past 2 weeks. Maybe it's because I finished 2 trials and an arbitration in rapid succession and now that pressure is off and only the pressure to Bill The Hours remains. Maybe looking at the calendar will...oh, that's it! Maybe it's because I haven't taken any serious time off in a freakin' year! At least I'm going a way for a week in about a month, though that week will fly by I'm sure. Anyway, I feel freakin' burned out! I'm staggering toward that finish line. Then the gun goes off again. What's that Powerball jackpot up to? 8:19:03 PM    Go ahead, make my day  []

8:39:40 AM    

I'll Take Saddam To Show It doesn't get any weirder than this: Pentagon plans online terror bets. The Pentagon is to set up an online trading market for bets on future terrorist attacks or major political developments. [BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition] At least Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) stand out like a voice of reason in all this: "The idea of a federal betting parlour on atrocities and terrorism is ridiculous and it's grotesque," said Senator Wyden. Senator Dorgan said that it was "useless, offensive and unbelievably stupid". He said he had trouble in persuading other people that it was not a hoax. "How would you feel if you were the King of Jordan and you learned that the US Defence Department was taking bets on your being overthrown within a year?" he asked. The Pentagon defends this as a way to improve the prediction and prevention of events by using the expertise of the open market instead of relying on government agencies which have often failed in the past. I can't wait until Frank J. gets a hold of this one.   POSTSCRIPT: I think it's really a government attempt to put the Amish Dead Pool out of business. 8:39:40 AM    Go ahead, make my day  []