Year: 2004

Today on Slashdot there’s a discussion about a web log authored by a guy who found a digital camera memory card in a New York City taxi. There are 277 pictures on the card, spanning the course of exactly one year. So, in a fit of creativity, this guy decided to create an online photo album with the pictures, including fictional stories about the people and places shown. From the beginning, the web log is clear that the project is pure fiction, and even discusses its roots.

However, in this age of copyright fascism, there are of course legal issues surrounding the project. By posting photographs taken by someone else, this guy is technically violating copyright law. Any pictures you take or words you write are immediately and automatically copyrighted by you– and this is no exception. So, is he liable for damages under copyright law? Moreover, could he be charged with libel or slander because he’s inventing the people in the pictures (“This is Susan, from Amsterdam…”)?

Two points of interest have arisen: first, at least a few of the people in the pictures have been positively identified; second, no one has come forward to say they’re the owner of the card. It’ll be interesting if and when that happens.

In the meantime, it’s a pretty funny idea. Too bad we can’t just enjoy a good joke sometimes.

With the recent 1-2-3 hurricane knockout in Florida, who can resist a great postcard like this one?

I’m sitting here clicking away on the ol’ laptop, pretty much waiting for Laralee to finish writing in her journal (and occasionally cursing at the computer for shifting the photos around on the page when she doesn’t want it to). Thus, as often happens in such times, I’m surfing for weirdness on the web. And, ahoy! I think I found one.

Take a look at this picture. A close look.

1) A guy holding an accordion.
2) Wearing a yarmulke.
3) A portly woman with a huge flower-like headpiece.
4) And leather biker gloves.
5) A table covered with an assortment of cheeses.

Methinks it would make an awesome album cover. Now I just have to think of the band name. And a song.

Ahh, crap! Today was Talk Like a Pirate Day and I completely forgot until now (10:19pm). That means I completely missed my chance to toss out such things as “arr, matey” and “batten the hatches, me pretties” during church.

Obviously I need to put this in my planner for next year. No, wait– perhaps I should demand that Franklin Covey add that to their list of holidays and print it in their planner pages. The “celebration” is international in scope, for crying out loud!

For some reason, this RIAA poster continues to crack me up. Maybe it’s the hammer and sickle in the corner, but it’s probably the evil guy with the furry hat.

I made some chocolate-chip cookies this afternoon, and after dumping in an unspecified amount of chips I noticed there was still some bare dough (“whitespace” as a geek would say). So I added another generous handful of chips, and the result was chip saturation. I baked them anyway, but I’m not sure how some of those cookies are held together– they’re pretty much masses of chocolate lumps with a bit of dough between them.

This morning I was putting in my contacts and dropped the case into the sink. When I picked it up, the ol’ left lens was simply gone. I didn’t see it on the floor, in the sink, anywhere. I crawled around on hands and knees, squinting at the rug and the linoleum, but didn’t see it. Yikes, it must’ve fallen down the drain.

Twenty minutes later I’d disassembled most of the sink and was rewarded with a pile of muck from the drain. Wow, to think I brush my teeth above something so nasty! That single ten-inch section of drain pipe would’ve made a fascinating (but gross) science project for someone. Sadly, despite digging through the goop very carefully, I couldn’t find the contact lens.

Disappointing thoughts of trying to set up an appointment with an eye doctor were floating through my skull when I finally found the thing– stuck to the side of the faucet on the bath tub. The tub is just to the right of the sink, although how the lens popped that far is anyone’s guess. I suppose the manufacturers build in some “evasion” technology because the more lenses you lose, the more money they make.

So happily, I’m seeing with two eyes again.

Now that’s a pumpkin! It’s in our garden, and it’s at least a half-meter across. In another month, when it’s time to pick it for Halloween, it’ll probably weigh fifty pounds. Whee!

When I wash the dishes each evening, I tend to crank up some tunes on the stereo in the family room. The other night I was listening to some great music, and all three kids ran into the room and were jamming to it.

The funny part was the music was the likes of Queensryche, Van Halen, Lillian Axe, Tesla, and other assorted hard-rock bands. Strange that a three-year-old would enjoy a rousing rendition of, say, “Operation Mindcrime”…

From today’s New York Times:

MOSCOW (AP) — Responding to a spate of deadly terror attacks, President Vladimir Putin announced a series of anti-terror initiatives Monday that would strengthen the Kremlin’s grip on every layer of Russian political life. Putin told Cabinet members and security officials convened in special session that the future of Russia was at stake, and called for creation of a powerful anti-terror agency.

“The organizers and perpetrators of the terror attack are aiming at the disintegration of the state, the breakup of Russia,” he said. “We need a single organization capable of not only dealing with terror attacks but also working to avert them, destroy criminals in their hideouts and, if necessary, abroad.”

Funny thing is, this sounds a lot like what Bush and Ashcroft did three years ago. While one could say that the U.S. was “caught sleeping” and didn’t really know what to do after a terrorist attack of such magnitude, it’s a little surprising the Russian government was as unprepared as it was. Bush has been tromping over the globe proclaiming how his War on Terror will shut down the bad guys everywhere, and surely all of the major world leaders have heard the rhetoric by now. Coupled with the rise in international terrorism incidents, I would expect the Russians to have put into place at least some rudimentary measures to handle an attack like the Chechan one a few weeks ago.

Instead, the pessimist in me feels like governments use major terrorist attacks as justification for increasing their own power. Why worry about handling the problem before it occurs when you can consolidate more power afterward? While I’m not suggesting Bush or Putin knowingly allowed the attacks to occur, they sure jumped at the chance to take away a few more liberties…