Interesting article on wealth. Read this.

http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMCA

I'm not sure if most of you know what this is. It is a copyright law that was passed in 1998 here in the United States of America. Uh, let me just copy the first paragraph from the wikipedia entry, to give you a feel for it:

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States copyright law. The act criminalizes production and dissemination of technology that can circumvent measures taken to protect copyright, not merely infringement of copyright itself, and heightens the penalties for copyright infringement on the Internet. Passed on May 14, 1998 by a unanimous vote in the United States Senate and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on October 28, 1998, the DMCA amended title 17 of the US Code to extend the reach of copyright, while limiting the liability of Online Providers from copyright infringement by their users.

Yeah, so that's about it. It is a huge "fuck you" to those of us who want the freedom necessary to make informed choices in the software-based marketplace. I firmly believe that if something is good enough, I'll buy it, but I'd rather try it first, because there's a lot of shit out there that's being boxed up, wrapped real pretty, and advertised on television as the second coming of whatever-god-you-believe-in. Also, the freedom to do as we please with products we've already purchased would be pretty nice, and I don't know, maybe even something they shouldn't be allowed to arrest us for.

Twenty die as historic seaplane crashes into water

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=2436252005

For some reason, I really liked the title of this story. It's Something about the release of twenty souls as a historic seaplane crashes into water, I guess.

When I clicked on the link, it became even more awesome because there was a public service announcement on the page done in flash that showed animated balloons made to look like a penis and a pair of testicles, and the penis balloon deflated. The ad then said not to use cocaine because it damages your sex drive.

A Boring Dream

I had a dream that I got three bags of groceries for less than five dollars. Good groceries, too. Actually maybe it was less than six dollars. Either way it was pretty cheap I'll tell you what. Finals are a good time.

Extremely intense French music video

http://www.icidailleurs.com/nonstop/devantmanuque.mov
Very intense indeed.

Coming Soon: Some Damn Good Reasons NOT to invest in Next-Gen Consoles

This means you, Xbox 360. WE COMIN' FOR YOU, NIGGA!

Recording Industry Out of Their Fucking Minds

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/81101/music-giants-bear-down-on-lyric-search-apps.html

Basically a couple of huge record companies are shutting down the programs that search the internet for lyrics you are listening to. How are such programs illegal? Is it wrong to want to know what the artists are saying? Ha. Do such programs facilitate illegal file sharing? Because I really don't think they do. I mean, a lot of albums don't even come with lyrics in the liner notes so you have to get them from outside sources, like the internet anyway. This is truly insane. I hope they can't get away with this shit for long. Freedom of speech lol

This is cool

Cool that is, until you realize it's part of what was used to train people to kill each other. So that takes away from the cool factor for a little while at least. Killing is inherently uncool in real life.



Graciously copied from http://www.cyber-heritage.co.uk/cutaway/
. Tons more of these can be found at that website.

The End Of The World As We Know it: Life-Changing Events Via Digg.com

As if a billion and one meaningless Web 2.0 entries weren't enough, Digg has been reporting on all kinds of bad news lately. The world is basically over, ladies and gentlemen.

Sharpies are bad for DVD and CDs. What the hell do we do now?

Macromedia is now Adobe. Who's going to compete with Adobe now?

Dogs laugh. Has your dog ever laughed at YOU? Check for disobedience.

X-Men 3. Oh great, we get to see Doctor Frasier Crane play as a mutant genius with blue skin and huge muscles. No one is excited about this.

At least we still have Google Calendar to look forward to in a few days.

Note: I'm actually a big fan of Digg. I'm not the biggest fan of every new website popping up promising ajax and ruby on rails based social networking, previews, betas, rounded borders, color gradients, MS Trebuchet font, and just generally looking like a piece of internet candy, though. I'm not a fan of the new X-Men movie (yet. I really liked the second one actually. It just seems like they're going to drag it into the ground). I am a fan of the idea of Dogs laughing. It is hilarious. I am not a fan of software companies buying up all of their competition. Adobe will really have to prove themselves on this one. It makes little difference to me because I don't use Windows right now, but I'd hate to see their new products become garbage and lack innovation just because they basically have a monopoly. I'm not a fan of the sharpie news. And of course, I am always a fan of Google. Except for that Web Accelerator bullshit. That thing needs to quit trying to come back from the grave. Not a great idea.

Hope the sarcasm wasn't too "advanced" for you guys.

Ohhhhhhh Man.

Brick by brick
the night eclipsed
Pricked by cuticle thorns
Dried the sleep
on nursery slits
Into this life I'm born

Heaven's just a scab away
I'd like to see you after just one taste

Q-Unit

http://members.home.nl/visionx/

Horrible mashups. I listened to a few and almost wished I hadn't. The picture is funny though. Very funny. I love Queen. Rest In Peace, Freddie.

Giant Prehistoric Scorpions...In Scotland?!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4486830.stm

Aside: I would be a lot less stressed for time if I started sleeping more normal hours. The semester is almost over...and I may quit the Geek Squad soon, just to try to enjoy free time again.