spielberg interview in wired.
kirks
chair up for auction.
Still
getting his war on. "Goddamn! I'm sick of these fake-ass terrorist alerts."
What's up with the Dick Armey reference. I missed that. A little help?
'Copy-Proof' CDs Cracked with 99-Cent Marker Pen
Mon May 20, 1:14 PM ET
By Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent
LONDON (Reuters) - Technology buffs have cracked music publishing giant Sony
Music's elaborate disc copy-protection technology with a decidedly low-tech
method: scribbling around the rim of a disk with a felt-tip marker.
Internet newsgroups have been circulating news of the discovery for the past
week, and in typical newsgroup style, users have pilloried Sony for
deploying "hi-tech" copy protection that can be defeated by paying a visit
to a stationery store.
"I wonder what type of copy protection will come next?" one posting on
alt.music.prince read. "Maybe they'll ban markers."
Sony did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Major music labels, including Sony and Universal Music, have begun selling
the "copy-proof" discs as a means of tackling the rampant spread of music
piracy, which they claim is eating into sales.
The new technology aims to prevent consumers from copying, or "burning,"
music onto recordable CDs or onto their computer hard drives, which can then
be shared with other users over file-sharing Internet services such as Kazaa
or Morpheus MusicCity.
SONY AGGRESSIVE ANTI-PIRACY PUSH
Monday, Reuters obtained an ordinary copy of Celine Dion (news - web
sites)'s newest release "A New Day Has Come," which comes embedded with
Sony's "Key2Audio" technology.
After an initial attempt to play the disc on a PC resulted in failure, the
edge of the shiny side of the disc was blackened out with a felt tip marker.
The second attempt with the marked-up CD played and copied to the hard drive
without a hitch.
Internet postings claim that tape or even a sticky note can also be used to
cover the security track, typically located on the outer rim of the disc.
And there are suggestions that copy protection schemes used by other music
labels can also be circumvented in a similar way.
Sony's proprietary technology, deployed on many recent releases, works by
adding a track to the copy-protected disc that contains bogus data.
Because computer hard drives are programmed to read data files first, the
computer will continuously try to play the bogus track first. It never gets
to play the music tracks located elsewhere on the compact disc.
The effect is that the copy-protected disc will play on standard CD players
but not on computer CD-ROM drives, some portable devices and even some car
stereo systems.
Some Apple Macintosh (news - web sites) users have reported that playing the
disc in the computer's CD drive causes the computer to crash. The cover of
the copy-protected discs contain a warning that the album will not play on
Macintoshes or other personal computers.
Apple has since posted a warning on its Web site at:
kbase.info.apple.com/cgi-...KC.106882.
Sony Music Europe has taken the most aggressive anti-piracy stance in the
business. Since last fall, the label has shipped more than 11 million
copy-protected discs in Europe, with the largest proportion going to
Germany, a market label executives claim is rife with illegal CD-burning.
im proxying for john s. on this question. hes leaving for three weeks in europe on sunday. any restaurant selections for this itinerary? he thanks you in advance.
"Can you forward that I will be in Venice, Sienna, Florence, Random parts of Tuscany, Monaco, and London."
had some fab mussels at Le Zinc but had trouble finding anything fun to drink (but i am sure the wine list is "good")...Ubol's Kitchen had some great dishes but a couple were off, not sure if the new chef is as good as last or just getting going....another yummy meal at Al Di La, this is one of my favorite spots....a pasta at lunch at Felidia that melted in the mouth (swiss chard ravioli with a light creamy pesto sauce)...we finally made it to 5* Punjab, and we had a fine meal, people complain its inconsistant but our first try was good, clean...
So I’ve got
this cat here. Polly the cat. I’m putting her up while Ruth & Nicholas are in Germany. Seems their other cats don’t tolerate her, but she’s been a model citizen here. We had cats when I was a kid, and I had my own, Kitty, for 17 years. She died four years ago, and I’ve been petless since. It’s good to have a cat around. This one is really sweet, with an even temperament. She does all those cat things: chases a toy; rolls on her back; sits in my lap purring. And sleeps a lot. It’s reassuring to see that cats are the same as ever. I’m not planning on getting one myself just now, (too little time, too little space, too much hair,) but somewhere down the road I see myself with another cat. Not Polly, though. She’s moving to Montana soon. Can’t integrate here, so she’s heading west to the RenHillWalls’. Probably a good deal for her.
My only problem is with her name. Everyone knows
Polly is a bird’s name; this must be an embarrassment for a cat. So I’ve taken to calling her Poly, as in “many”. After all, the cat is a many-lived creature. Having been rescued from the street, she’s got to be on her second life, and heading for a third, so she’s a Polycat for sure. The names sound the same, so she’s not confused, and I hope this distinction will be observed in Montana. I’m sure you guys will love her out there.
Did I mention she sheds and claws the furniture?
Stephen Jay Gould, the evolutionary theorist at Harvard University whose lectures, research and prolific output of essays helped to reinvigorate the field of paleontology, died today at his home in Manhattan. He was 60 years old. The cause was adenocarcinoma, his wife, Rhonda Roland Schearer, said.
Audubon on view; catch the show, 'cause the
website took up too much bandwidth.
ludology.org:
videogame theory
I went to see
Gary Wilson (front row center) last Wednesday at Joe's Pub and also caught a set recorded last tuesday for broadcasted on
Scott William's show last night (Friday May 17th 8-10 pm) on 91.1 wfmu.
Check the above link to the archive for a relisten. He had one shoe on and one shoe off, flour on his face and black stuff on his lips, an oversized blazer with no shirt and two pairs of criss-crossing glasses / 3-D and regular cat style sunglasses. There were two sexy manacins
on stage that he rolled around with while a guy sprinkeled flour all over them and the stage. There was also a video moniter that showed old video proformances projects from the 70's of similar and even more over the top behavior (which is somthing else to look into). It was high proformance art with a brilliant musical aspect. His band back in the 70's was called The Blind Dates.
A google search on for GW and the BD's provides this solitary and pathetic account of
them opening for the Tom Robinson Band back in the day:
"I still remember sitting in the theatre in the near dark waiting almost and hour for the opening act a horrible synthesizer band called Gary Wilson and the Blind Dates. They came out with flour sprinkled all over themselves and played with a dim blue light on. Very depressing. Finally they cleared off the stage and roadies hauled away their gear. More waiting."
I've been working out by the lake (Ponchartrain). At the corner of Warbler and Warbler, you know, off of Warbler, past Swallow.
This year's
Summerstage schedule.
I've seen some good shows here, though they can also be a pain if too crowded. You have to go early if you want a decent seat to see the stage from, but it can be pleasant to just sit on the grass outside and let the music mingle with the rest of the Park. Most shows are free, though goodies like Lucinda Williams are ticketed "benefits". Now they've even got "suggested donation" benefits, like a
Paradise Garage 25th anniversary show. Looks like less hiphop and more techno this year. Beth Orton, Sonic Youth, Dave Brubeck, Conershop, more…
I noticed in our park the day before yesterday, the arrival of grazing season for the squirels. Little tips (sometimes bigger tips) of tree branched littering the ground all over the area.
yossi
lemel -- israeli poster artist
the dove lives!!!, i took the slightly bloddy busted winged birdie outside and it after resting it flew off....:>):>)...i guess it will may not set a record for long life but its not dead yet....:>):>)
you
know your a yooper if...
If the sky clears, you can
plan-it.
another installment of "theyve got way too much time on their hands." new york city map
reimagined as if the nazis had won world war 2.
meanwhile, texas reimagines its own history in light of its current ethnic make-up.