Sony Music Lobbies for Ban on Markers
Following up on a story on how markers can be used to defeat music CD copy protection:

Washington DC - Ralph Hughes of Sony Music testified in the Senate today urging lawmakers to enact legislation which would ban felt tip markers. "These innocuous looking writing instruments are the scourge of our society," he said holding up a Sharpie. "Not only can this black stick of death be used to violate the DMCA, but it could also be used to write the instructions to incubate the anthrax virus."

Remember, folks: it's only a joke until they do it for real.

Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics

Technonerds go to movies strictly for entertainment and, of course, the most entertaining part comes after the movie when they can dissect, criticize, and argue the merits of every detail. However, when supposedly serious scenes totally disregard the laws of physics in blatantly obvious ways it's enough to make us retch. The motion picture industry has failed to police itself against the evils of bad physics. This page is provided as a public service in hopes of improving this deplorable matter. The minds of our children and their ability to master vectors are (shudder) at stake.

Learn how the alien fleet from Independence Day would have destroyed the Earth without firing a shot, and why A.I. sucked in so many more ways than you thought. And if that doesn't do it for you, take this (ambiguously-worded at some points) Physics Savvy Quiz

CNN Again Proves Literacy, Cognition Not Required for First-Rate Journalism

Two generations after he played the Transylvanian terror in the classic Hammer horror films, [Christopher] Lee remains one of the most imposing heavies on the big screen.

In the past six months, he has appeared as the Osama bin Laden-like evil wizard in "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings" and the villain of "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones."

Excuse me. I'd just like to point out a matter of continuity here. If anything, Osama bin Ladin is Saruman-like. Not the other way around. Chicken and Egg, people. Duh.

Stop Disney and the entertainment industry from trampling your rights

A hilarious and righteous parody of Hollywood's plan to put the technophobes in charge of new technology (requires Flash 4 or higher).

Iranian hardliners end Barbie dolls honeymoon

Recently Moral Police have stepped up arrest and harassment of shopkeepers for selling Barbie dolls and whatever decorated with different shapes of Barbie and its image which are immensely used by school children.

Read that sentance again. That's a professionally written news article with an incomprehensible run-on sentance.

Navy Domain Hijacked By German Pornography Site

Network Solutions does it again!

Dave Berg, creator of Mad magazine's The Lighter Side Of dead at 81
Posted on behalf of Silent Bear.

Trooper Clerks
Join Darth Jay, Darth Bob, and the rest of the gang at the Death Stop -- and yeah, he's not even supposed to be there today. Scootches.

A Dip in Your Hip From the Music in Your Genes
Here's an interesting case of isomorphism: researchers have taken to encoding genetic sequences into musical compositions.Now, here's the trick -- some research companies are considering copyrighting this same music as a way to protect their economic interests in the benefits derived from that research. Go download some and enjoy.

They Tampered in God's Domain
The best news to come out of the Middle East in a long time - scientists in Tel Aviv have created the world's first pre-plucked chicken.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruely to Mulders
Because the X-Files will continue to live on... and on... and on...

It's also hard to imagine, when you see a Mulder on the television or in a piece of fanfiction, that some authors and screenwriters are less kindly disposed towards Mulders than you or I. Sadly, many of these people seem to regard these delightful creatures as little more than pests. Even more tragically, there are authors and screenwriters who go out of their way to gratuitously abuse the Mulders in their care.

Many hundreds of Mulders a year are injured, ill-treated or even killed by the very people who are responsible for them and who should be looking after them.

The ASPCM believes the time has come to say NO to this cruelty.

And in that vein - Muldertorture (Kids! Get your parents' permission before clicking!) Fan fiction is indeed a seedy underground...

Watch out behind you, hunter!
An... interesting online game. Funny, or just sick? Not safe for work.

More Summer Movie Madness
Heard this one lately? "Movie x has broken all previous box office records on its opening weekend..." Chances are you've heard it for, well, just about every movie that's come out in the past 5 years. But how do those new record numbers stand up when you adjust for inflation?

All I've Got to Say About That Movie
1: He finally figured out what a parsec is.
2: The Centauri Empire wants its hairstyles back.
3: Of *course* it's Jar Jar's fault.

Rip Taylor, International Weapons Mogul
NPR reported (over and over and over) this morning that a suicide bomber failed to blow anybody but himself up this morning while trying to catch an Israeli bus. During our migration to work, the wife suggested that they practice first, using confetti bombs.

Following the case for the Empire... this.

Ouch. Just... ouch.

The Twilight Zone is back.

The Case for the Empire
Everything you think you know about Star Wars is wrong.

The Brick Testament

The Bible. Done in Legos. Testify!!!

Something Wars, Something of the Thing
Alright, I can't quite bring myself to further push the Big Movie Coming Out Tomorrow. Except for this, which is funny, and this, which is doofy. And of course, this, which is about 3 years too late. Oh, and this, which is disturbingly on target in some ways and on targetly disturbing in others. Or something. Enjoy.

'Strangelets from outer space attacking Earth'
Scientists believe Earth is under attack from tiny cosmic missiles weighing tons and travelling at 900,000 mph.

They are only the size of a pollen grain but so dense they can rip through the planet and exit on the other side in seconds.

Glory be, the Internet may get a patron saint
On top of my monitor, I already have a Buddy Christ, a smiling Buddha with a cup of joe and a cell phone, Dexter (from Dexter's Lab), and a pair of large foam dice (d6s). Together, these represent Tradition, Balance, Knowledge, and Chance. That's pretty much my personal pantheon.

Next to the monitor are frame pictures of Albert Einstein, J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, and my wife. These are the coolest people in my reality.

If we need another patron saint, I'd nominate Dick Van Dyke with his pants down. That'd make a lovely figurine.

You Never Know What She'll Say Next
"Dick Van Dyke pulled his pants down to look like a penguin." -- My mother-in-law

Get the F Out

Yes, a rant here and not here. Because this pisses me off, and it's geek-related.

Someone explain this to me so that it makes sense. The World Wrestling Federation (call them WWF-1) was sued by the World Wildlife Fund (call them WWF-2) over an agreement they made back in 1994 over how the initials "WWF" could be used, where, when and by whom.

WWF-1 supposedly violated that agreement by using the initials in Europe, so WWF-2 sued. People could allegedly become confused, and being associated with wrestlers could damage the reputations of tree huggers, blah blah blah.

Except, in Europe, the World Wildlife Fund was known as the Worldwide Fund for Wildlife -- which DOESN'T acronym to WWF. So how the hell does WWF-1 hurt WWF-2 by using the initials in an area where WWF-2 doesn't even use the initials? I'll tell you... they changed the name of the organization to just the initials.

Sniff sniff... I smell money. Vince McMahon has it. The animalistas want it. So Vince said screw it and changed the name of the company rather than buckle to what amounts to extortion. Now the remaining WWF is pissed at the newly-christened WWE and aren't happy with the name change. Why, because now you can't get a big fat lawsuit check?

Vince McMahon is admittedly no saint, but when non-profit organizations start sharing behavior traits with corporations like Nissan and Microsoft, well, let me just say that my next $30 will be spent on a "Get the F Out" t-shirt and not on panda welfare.

Next up on Behind the Lawsuit: the WWF sues Ranma 1/2 because Genma looks too much like their logo. WWF claims all images of pandas are their intellectual property. Rumiko Takahashi changes Genma into a "very fat, tailless raccoon" until Michael Jackson, who owns the rights to the Beatles' Rocky Raccoon threatens to sue if Takahashi doesn't hook him up with some underage otaku.

Inversions by Scott Kim

An inversion is a word or name written so it reads in more than one way. For instance, the word Inversions above is my name upside down. Douglas Hofstadter coined ambigram as the generic word for inversions. I drew my first inversion in 1975 in an art class, wrote a book called Inversions in 1981, and am now doing animated inversions.

If you like calligraphy (or artistic-looking alphabets in general), symmetries, recursion, or synchronicity, give this site a look. So cool to do, I think it must have been one of the required disciplines of the ancient Samurai, along with origami and cooking. Also for your consideration: The Alphabet's Bastard Children.

...And now finally here is the answer to Oil Dependency.
I'm not going to preach.
I'm not going to rant.
I am simply going to make sure the next car I drive is a
diesel.

-Wasteland Man.

Students taught superheroes science

A physics professor at the University of Minnesota is teaching the science of superheroes.

Jim Kakalios explains how comic book characters like Spiderman and Superman do what they do and the consequences of doing it.

GI Joe as you've never seen him before.

Yeeeeeek
I just looked at the times of my past two posts. They're within 3 seconds of being precisely 24 hours apart. Am I really that regimentalized?

You're Listening to WRST, the Worst Hits of the '80's and '90's
And coming up next: The Top 20 Information Technology Company Anthems. And following that, our International Hour goes into full swing, featuring a tribute to latin pop sensation Menudo. Ay carumba!

What Would Jesus Postulate?
Following this rant by our own beloved Berin Kinsman, I was reminded of Battleground God. No, it's not a bad movie, a rip-off of certain clam-based cult systems, or the latest Conan the Barabarian epic. Sadly. But it does ask you some pretty reasonable questions about what you think of the God concept, and points out possible pitfalls in your reasoning - without preaching or comparing your response to other philosophies. It's all about the process of rational consistancy, folks, and I find that refreshing. Who cares what your answer is as long as the reasoning is sound... right? I myself managed one hit and two bites, and I'm led to understand that's not too shabby.

...So you've decided to be EEE-VIL?

This oughta help all those burdgoning super villians! (Hey, its been a slow month OK?)

-Wasteland Man.

The Kizombe Correspondence
If you've ever recieved one of those "Nigerian Scam Letters", read this and laugh your ass off.

I'm Doing My Part to Keep the Economy Strong
Some guys who specialize in pulling numbers out of thin air have estimated that it will cost the economy $300 million when all the geeks in the nation take May 16th off to get their place in line for Star Wars Episode II. Me, I'm more patriotic than that. I plan to take the 16th off so I can watch the two true Star Wars movies, and maybe the one with the ewoks too.

Ah, The Sweet Chorus of Democracy
Quick: What's the first thing that comes to your mind when I say, "The Two Towers?"

Buncha morons.