The Null Device
2002/3/22
I saw Greg Egan's newie, Schild's Ladder, at Slow Glass Books today; however, so far it's only the $49.95 hardback. I'll probably wait until April when the trade paperback comes out. I did manage to pick up a copy of Ken MacLeod's The Cassini Division today, though.
More on semiopathy:
Advertisers seem particularly keen on getting the wrong message across. What proud parent would want to buy Boots' "Extra Thick Baby Wipes" for their little Einstein? And who would stop at the farm near Edinburgh announcing "Burning logs and peat for sale", unless they were really fed up with their car interior? And Janis Cortese was tickled by a spam e-mail promising that she could "attract men with larger breasts". However, she tells us she would generally prefer to attract men who have no discernible breasts of any kind.
Some things I'd like to see on DVD (though probably won't):
- Angels of the Universe
- Dogs In Space
- Heavenly Creatures
- The Cure's Standing on a Beach videos. (Yes, I know of the new video DVD; it doesn't have a few classic early videos though.)
Bend over America, here it comes: SSSCA introduced into US Senate, after being renamed to the "Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act". This exceedingly nasty bill will mandate copy-denial systems in all electronic devices (including your PC), and make it a federal crime to circumvent said systems; or, essentially, herding consumers where they may be more easily harvested by the content corporations, their own rights be damned. Needless to say, this poses a threat to the legality of open-source operating systems and commodity hardware. The House of Representatives hasn't yet introduced a similar bill, though it shouldn't be ruled out. If you're in the US, now is a good time to write to your Senator and tell them why the bill is a very bad idea.
Researchers get one step closer to growing meat in vats; now they have successfully made slices of fish muscle tissue grow in bovine serum (which they plan to replace with a vegan medium). Such a technique could produce much more efficient, and less ecologically expensive, ways of producing meat than by raising and killing animals.
Business models for the new millennium: I just got spam from some idiot announcing triumphantly that they just bought a mailing list, giving them the right to advertise to me, and ending with:
Thank you for your time and hope to see you order many things from us. This is a once a week mailing so you won't forget what we offer because I know that you will really love our things when you see what we have to offer! Also please do not try to hack into our web sites because we can hack back and we will destroy your computer with a super ping, you have been warned!
Needless to say, it's now in the hands of their ISP's abuse department. I believe this could count as a "terrorist threat" as well, something that the authorities don't take kindly to these days.
Sokoban in sed! And it's quite playable too, if you don't depend on advancing to the next level automatically. (via Slashdot)