Adventures in My Mind
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Sep 27, 2002
It's rainy and grey here in Pittsburgh today. The rain started yesterday and hasn't stopped for 24 hours; and isn't expected to stop for another 24.
What's amazing is that it's all coming from Tropical Storm Isidore, which is nearly 1,000 miles from here. After coming ashore in Louisiana, it has charted a course right up the Appalachian Mts. That type of power is incredible--that a storm that far away could give us bad weather here.
I just read yesterday that a hurricane gives off more energy in 10 minutes than all the nuclear weapons in the world. How's that for a statistic?
Don't forget your umbrella!
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 9:24 AM
Sep 25, 2002
In our ever vigilant search for the antics of the thought police:
Ark. School Can Expel Boy for Threat
Key facts in the case:
A teenage boy wrote a letter in which he threatened to rape and murder his ex-girlfriend He wrote this letter during summer vacation, while school was not in session The letter was never sent to the girl
No actual threat ever took place, but a thought crime did and the boy was expelled. Not sent to counseling to deal with his obvious anger issues, but expelled, making him feel further ostricized and angry at the girl. Can you say knee jerk?
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 4:03 PM
Sep 24, 2002
In the last several days, I've had a couple of conversations about the increasingly abysmal state of the American press, mostly as a result of a decrease in the number of voices that we can hear from. This comes as direct result of merger mania, as monster media corps like Clear Channel, Disney, Viacom, News Corp, AOL Time-Warner, and Vivendi purchase everything in site. Nearly everything we read, hear, and see comes from one of these massive conglomerates.
FCC chairman, Michael Powell, son of Secretary of State Colin Powell, seems to be on personal campaign to ensure the reign of big media. Here is yet another example:
Talk of CNN-ABC News Merger
I'm sure that the FCC will have no qualms about permitting this merger, thus further reducing the number and variety of voices in the American press. It's bad enough that television news has long since abandoned any real news reporting in favor of infotainment. Do we really have to have a merger between Disney and AOL, two companies renowned for the ability to cater to the lowest common denominator? This continued distillation of the news airwaves is a danger, especially since 3 times the number of Americans get their news from TV than newspapers, not that the mega-mergers in the print world have any less deleterious effects.
A while back, I asked what happened to the old grizzled, cigar chomping newsie who cared about the story and the people in it. Well, I think I finally have the real answer, he's waiting for payday now that he's been promoted to VP of International Media at AOL Time-Disney Corp.
Today's blog has been sponsored by Budweiser, the King of Beers and the Iraqi Visitor's Bureau, Sun Sand and Xyclon-B!
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 9:58 AM
Sep 19, 2002
On October 9th, the Supreme Court will hear the case of Eldred v. Ashcroft. Probably the single most important case ever heard on the issue of intellectual property and copyright law. At the heart of it is the Sonny Bono Act, which extends copyrights on intellectual property to 70 years past the death of the author.
Initially, the idea of copyright protections were seen as a way to promote innovation. Authors were given exclusive rights to sell and market their creations as an incentive for creating them. Eventually, the copyright would lapse and the idea would enter the public domain, allowing others to use or reinterpret the idea.
In more recent years, however, Congress has had a rather broad view of the Constitutionally used word "limited." With the backing of mega-corporations like the Walt Disney Company, copyrights are now weapons wielded against would-be competitors and rural junior high schools. (Several years ago Disney attorneys forced a junior high school to remove Christmas-time paintings of Disney characters from its doorways as they were a violation of Uncle Walt's trademarked creations.) This has resulted in huge pay days for said corporations, and very, very little innovation.
If these proposed rules had been in effect years ago, Mickey wouldn't own quite so much of what see and hear on TV and radio and at the movies. No Snow White. No Hunchback of Notre Dame. No Beauty and Beast. No Treasure Island. No Peter Pan. Etc. Etc. Etc. None of these works would not have been in the public domain; therefore Disney would not have had the right to reinterpret them in animated movies. It's rather ironic that a company that uses so much of public domain literature would be pushing so hard to have the idea of public domain nearly obliterated.
This is the crux of Digital Rights Management and the Hollywood crush to push this dispicable idea down our throats. The former goal of giving incentives for creativity has been coopted by radical capitalism, with Congress on the payroll. Given his years in the entertainment industry, is it any surprise that the latest copyright landgrab is named after Sony Bono? The access that Hollywood lobbyists had to his office must have been unprecedented.
The RIAA, MPAA, and their multi-billion dollar constituents are making a powerplay to have ironfist control over what we can and cannot see, hear, and create.
Enter our Hero ...
Wired Magazine's An Unlikely Net Freedom Fighter is a great look inside the huge mind of Larry Lessig, the very unlikely Don Quixote of the digital world. His battle against the sledgehammer tactics of the copyright cabal is one that will have huge ramifications for all of us.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 10:20 AM
Sep 18, 2002
Sex sells, but in this case who's buying?
An Italian coffin maker takes the route of the Snap-On toolbox pinup calendars with Coffin pinups (See products under Cofani funebri e fascino).
And your life--or is that death?-- will take on new meaning when you see Sexy Calendario!
Some of those products are really quite beautiful. And the coffins aren't bad either (rimshot!).
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 9:23 AM
Sep 17, 2002
Today, I would like to wish my mother a very happy birthday.
One often hears of the person who would give you the shirt off of their back. Well, my mother is that person. Never have I met anyone who gives more of themself without thought of effort or gain than she. My brother and I and all of her friends have been gifted with an extraordinary person. The giving is constant and without motive. Selfless to a fault, she is always there.
On behalf of myself and those who don't say it often enough, thank you, Mom. We love you.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 2:08 PM
Sep 16, 2002
We made another $92 today on eBay. That puts us well over $500 for the month. We've put quite a bit of effort into that 500+ but its been fun. Garage and estate sales are fun to go to. Often just to see some nostalgic junk that you had in your own house as a kid. The beauty, of course, is to find the valuable nostalgic items. And then, eBay here I come! So far, Sami has a real eye for those kinds of things.
Other news: The state has sent me my wholesaler's certificate. That means that I can deal with wholesalers and resell their merchandise on eBay. I don't exactly know what I want to do, but I'm looking into several options right now. The sky's the limit!
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 4:35 PM
Sep 13, 2002
Finally, a Fair Fight with Big Music
I thought you'd be able to spank my ass and call me Shirley before I would've ever wished well upon Verizon. Having been a customer of their's for a number of years, I had my fair share of poor service and missed opportunities. But I will swallow my sourgrapes and wish them all the best as they battle an even bigger ne'er-do-well than themeselves: the RIAA.
Verizon has entered a court battle with RIAA over whether or not Verizon should hand over subscriber information for individuals suspected of so-called illegal file sharing. And, yes, I did say suspected. There have been no criminal charges filed. There is no investigation by anyone other than the RIAA, as they attempt to use the U.S. court system as way to hammer home their draconic ideas of DRM.
Verizon has thusfar refused all requests for the subscriber information. Let's hope that they pursue that tact throughout. They certainly have the legal and financial power to deal a blow the out of control RIAA on this one. Good luck. Yet again, our online privacy is at stake.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 11:17 AM
Sep 11, 2002
On 9/11 ...
I wish peace to the victims; comfort to their families and loved ones; restraint upon the media; rationality upon the government; and, above all, enlightenment upon the breeders of hate.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 9:07 AM
Sep 9, 2002
First lady: Turn off TVs on 9/11
This article is geared specifically toward keeping children from seeing the images, but I've read a couple of other articles that say the same thing for adults, including the writers themselves. As we all know, the airwaves will be rife with repeat viewings of first the plane impacts and then the mindbending collapse of the collossul towers.
I for one will watch as little as possible. I saw the buildings collapse live on TV the first time around and hundreds of times since. I have very little interest in seeing it again. I am filled with an indescribable heartbreak over the events of that day. The thought that I witnessed the death of nearly three thousand people in just a few seconds is haunting. That, for me, has been the hardest thing to accept.
At first, however, it was the imagery itself: the too low planes disappearing into one side; the flames shooting out the other; the collapse of the towers from the top down, the predatory clouds of dust chasing lookers on down the street of lower Manhattan. All these images seemed unreal and quite out of place. My sense of reality felt distorted. Maybe a movie with state of the art effects, I thought, but the CNN bug in the bottom right of the screen denied that less painful alternative.
Eventually, however, the strangeness of the imagery wore off. The monotony of the 24 hour news cycle and video replay claimed another victim. I was no longer horrified to watch it. Thinking about it, however, is another story.
The raw nerves touched by the initial viewing have never stopped tingling. "There are so many people in that building," I thought as the first tower collapsed. "I am watching people die in mass!" When the second tower fell, it was almost like a sick joke told by someone with no taste, no sense of decorum, no idea that his audience has had enough.
I don't care for a repeat performance. So the TV will be off limits for me.
What about you?
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 3:59 PM
Sep 6, 2002
A Tower in Oz to Touch the Sun
The Aussies are proposing a 1 kilometer high and 7 kilometer wide solar tower. If built it will be more than twice as tall as Cananda's CN Tower, the tallest structure on Earth. The concept is very sound. It's based on using convection currents to turn turbines to create electricity--enough to power 200,000 homes. But is it practical?
I am a huge proponent of renewable energy resources, but a structure that is nearly 2/3 of mile high and 4.4 miles wide at the base? Is this a realistic approach to renewable energy or just a huge case of bombast on the part of the projects proponents, including the Australia government.
Of course, the PR from building this structure could result in a world-wide boom in research and development money for renewable resources. Or, it could result in more of the earth's pristine landscapes being littered with behemoth-like towers--certainly safer than greenhouse gases and nuclear waste, but not really much of an improvement.
Research has shown that massive centralized energy structures like the one proposed, and our current system of coal-burning and nuclear power, are outdated modes. Personal power generation, with the ability to sell excesses to local utilities, is the way to go. Small scale wind farms and commercially available fuel cells and solar collectors present the cleanest and cheapest path to green energy sources. Decentralization decreases demand, cost, and reliance on inefficient fossil fuel systems.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 9:19 AM
Sep 4, 2002
Are we looking at another Richard Jewel here?
Scientist in Anthrax Probe Fired
Is Johnny A. on a witchhunt? Or is there a compelling case as to why someone who has not been charged with a crime be under such strict scrutiny that it robs him of his livelyhood? Obviously only Mr. Ashcroft and Mr. Hatfil can answer those questions to satisfaction.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 1:18 PM
Sep 3, 2002
There is nothing worse in the male wardrobe than denim pants, not jeans, mind you, but pants. Denim pants. They are the epitome of a fashion faux pas. Nothing says "I'm uptight and can't relax" more than denim pants. And I don't mean denim work pants either. I mean the kind of pants that could be khakis or chinos but for the fact that they are made of denim. Often these pants come with elastic wastes and the "mini-belt"--usually of a braided rope or imitation leather--built right into the pants.
This is casual wear for the Milburn Drysdale set. The man who can't let go. The man for whom relaxation is just not an option. Business is paramount; you just never know when a business meeting will break out. And as we all know, you can't be professional if you wear jeans.
Interestingly, though, they are also for the man who just can't get over the fact that he isn't in high school anymore and he actually has to get dressed to go to work. I'm sure the thought goes something like this: "They're dress pants and jeans! It's like the best of both worlds!" The dress pants racks at K-Mart and WalMart are filled with denim pants.
If I am ever caught wearning a pair of these abominations, please shoot me.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 1:59 PM
