NPR Reviews Year Zero

Day to Day, April 25, 2007 · The original industrial rock band, Nine Inch Nails, is back. Creator Trent Reznor has put out a concept album, Year Zero. The CD is an expression of Reznor's view of the world as amoral and doomed.

To listen to the review click on the title above....

Kryptonite is Real!

From Digg...

"A mineralogist at London's Natural History Museum was contracted to help identify an unknown mineral found in a Serbian mine. While he initially thought the miners had discovered a unique compound, after its crystal structure was analyzed and identified the researcher was shocked to find the material already referenced in literature. Fictional literature. Dr. Chris Stanley, from the BBC article: 'Towards the end of my research I searched the web using the mineral's chemical formula — sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide — and was amazed to discover that same scientific name, written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luthor from a museum in the film Superman Returns ... I'm afraid it's not green and it doesn't glow either — although it will react to ultraviolet light by fluorescing a pinkish-orange.'"

Beyounce Forced to Stop Selling New Album

Beyonce has been forced to delete a special version of her current album - following legal problems.

As previously reported the singer is in the process of being sued by singer Des'ree following allegations that she did not get permission to cover a song called 'I'm Kissing You' on 'B Day - Deluxe Edition'.

Allegedly a deal to use the song did not come to fruition, but Beyonce re-recorded the song as 'Still in Love (Kissing You)' and made a video.

Beyonce's legal team state that it was only a month before 'B Day - Deluxe Edition''s release - on March 3 - that they had a "confirmation letter and license request".

Roscoe Lee Browne: May 2 1925 - April 11 2007

Browne was the son of Baptist minister Sylvanus Browne and his wife Lovie (born Lovie Lee). Born in Woodbury, New Jersey, Browne first attended historically black Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1946. He undertook postgraduate work at Middlebury College in Vermont, Columbia University in New York City, and at the University of Florence in Italy. Also an outstanding middle distance runner, Browne won the Amateur Athletic Union 1000-yard national indoor championship in 1949. He occasionally returned to Lincoln University between 1946 to 1952 to instruct classes in comparative literature, French, and English. Upon leaving academe he earned a living for several years selling wine for Schenley Import Corporation. Despite his limited amateur acting experience, in 1956 he stunned guests at a party — among them opera singer Leontyne Price — when he announced his intention to quit his secure job with Schenley to become a full-time professional actor. - Wiki

Rush Limbaugh iPod Offer!

Phillip Torrone of Make magazine and Adafruit Laser Services, a laser-etching etching service for iPods and MacBooks, has kindly offered to etch OxyContin pills for free onto any Rush Limbaugh iPod. If you recall, Limbaugh is offering eight free iPods engraved with his signature as an incentive for his email newsletter (see here).

Phil writes: "If any of your readers wins one, I'll etch pills all over it for free with my laser. We can then auction it off and give the $ to a group Rush hates."

Send mail to Pete or I at the email addresses listed at right. Also include suggestions for a suitable charitable organization.

!!!

The Wow Starts Never!

"According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a lawsuit alleges that Microsoft engaged in deceptive practices by letting PC makers promote hardware as 'Windows Vista Capable' even though they knew it could not run most of Vista's widely-promoted features. Microsoft responds by saying that the differences have been promoted with one of the most extensive marketing pushes in company history. 'In sum, Microsoft engaged in bait and switch -- assuring consumers they were purchasing Vista Capable machines when, in fact, they could obtain only a stripped-down operating system lacking the functionality and features that Microsoft advertised as Vista ... As a result, the suit said, people were buying machines that couldn't run the real Vista.'"

Get A Physical Copy Of An Email w/ Google Paper!

"Everyone loves Gmail. But not everyone loves email, or the digital era. What ever happened to stamps, filing cabinets, and the mailman? Now with Gmail Paper, you can request a physical copy of any message with the click of a button, and it'll be sent to you in the mail. Photo attachments are printed on high-quality, glossy photo paper, and secured to your Gmail Paper with a paper clip. And it's totally free: the cost of postage is offset with the help of relevant, targeted, unobtrusive advertisements printed on the back of every print."

Covering Up The Truth!

CNN reports that images of lands devastated by Hurricane Katrina have been replaced on Google's map service with pre-Hurricane Katrina imagery. Now a subcommittee from The House Committee on Science and Technology has asked CEO Eric Schmidt for Google's motivation behind the imagery switch. '[Congressional subcommittee chair Brad] Miller asked Google to brief his staff by April 6 on who made the decision to replace the imagery with pre-Katrina images, and to disclose if Google was contacted by the city, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey or any other government entity about changing the imagery. "To use older, pre-Katrina imagery when more recent images are available without some explanation as to why appears to be fundamentally dishonest," Miller said.' It is worth pointing out that images from Google Earth have not been changed."

No More Shitty Connections?

Google TiSP (BETA) is a fully functional, end-to-end system that provides in-home wireless access by connecting your commode-based TiSP wireless router to one of thousands of TiSP Access Nodes via fiber-optic cable strung through your local municipal sewage lines.

FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!

(for those of you with no idea what this is about, you might want to read the bottom part of this page first)
12.20pm update

Thank you all for your overwelming support and offers of help - I really do have faith in humanity now! I'm just heading downtown now to try and find a Kinkos, and I'll be back with scans (and hopefully some photos) this evening. Oh, BTW, some of you have said you've been "giving McCain a piece of your mind". Please don't - he is just a symptom of this oligarchy dressed up as democracy, and deserves your wrath no more than any other politician that can afford to play the "let's be president" game. If you really feel you need to vent, please contact a local news organization and get the word out. Thank you. I love you all!!

FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!

OK, there, I got that out of my system. I tried to think up a better title, but that's all I'm thinking right now.

Obviously some people don't share my sense of humor. This afternoon I was happily geeking away when I heard a knock at the door. I went to answer and was presented with a local sheriff and two FBI agents holding a lovely search warrant (scans coming when I can get down to Kinko's in the morning). Apparently, WITHOUT BOTHERING TO ASK A FUCKING PROGRAMMER WHETHER IT'S POSSIBLE OR NOT, I'm being accused of unlawful entry to the Senator's official web site!!! Anyone with HALF A FUCKING BRAIN will know that I did NO SUCH THING.

This is what the warrant allowed them to take:

Documents (handwritten or typed), printouts, video tapes, audio tapes, electronic data processing and storage devices, computers and computer systems including central processing units; internal and peripheral storage devices such as fixed disks, external hard disks, floppy disk drives and diskettes, tape drives and tapes, optical storage devices or other memory storage devices; peripheral input/output devices such as keyboards, printers, video display monitors, optical readers, and related communications devices such as modems; together with system documentation, operating logs and documentation, software and instruction manuals, computer disks, computers, computer storage devices, passwords or other items which are or contain evidence of violation of the above-described violations including the following:
(1) items which contain or refer to the Internet address "http://myspace.com/JohnMcCain"
(2) items which contain or refer to protest movements or anti-government activities or organizations...

It goes on for about another half a page, but you get the idea...

Basically, I'm fucked. As a programmer, my whole fucking life revolves around computers, so they've basically taken my life away. Sure I'll get it back eventually, but it's still going to be hell trying to work Monday - and exactly how I'll explain the loss of two VOIP phones to my boss I have no idea. Anyone got a cheap laptop? Oh, and get this - they even took my Year Zero lithos!!!

Anyway, when the dust settled this evening, I managed to persuade a neighbor to let me use her PC to get this out to you all. I am OK (so don't worry), and I already have a very good lawyer. I'm really tired right now, but will update you all in the morning at some point.

Oh, and here's a picture another neighbor took on her cell phone this afternoon - a little embarrassing, yes, but the neighbors have actually been very supportive, bless 'em - once I explained what happened they realized immediately how STUPID the whole thing was.

[ IMAGE REMOVED BY IPW TO PRESERVE BANDWIDTH ]

Hey kids, be careful out there when spreading the word - never assume THEY won't care!

love hippygeek (aka cLive ;-)