Need To Know 2003-08-29

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"The DVD Copy Control Association appealed this decision, arguing that the ruling gave criminals the go-ahead to use technology to copyright movies on a large scale..." - BBC really getting into that "Creative Commons" attitude http://www.ntk.net/2003/08/29/dohdecss.gif >> HARD NEWS << IP abused As we all know, those crazy deluded protesters never change anything. Which is was good news for the four hundred very sane demonstrators that went to Brussels this week to complain about the imminent adoption of software patents. While the banners - and, yes, mimes - clustered outside, the more besuited free software advocates nipped in to alert MEPs to the freedom-crippling nature of the evil they were about to unleash. Whatever they said, it was enough to get the Europarliament to withdraw Arlene McCarthy's pro-patent report and postpone discussion of the topic until the JURI committe has reconsidered their approach. As Irish campaigner Ciaran O'Riordan notes, the original report only nipped through the committee with a 64% vote, so there's a chance that some MEPs can be turned around to get the idea of software patents thrown out of Europe for good. http://belgium.indymedia.org/news/2003/08/72093.php - boo! http://lwn.net/Articles/46839/ - Ciaran's notes http://www.europarl.eu.int/committees/juri_home.htm - pick your rep What is about the Irish and their bolshy upstart actually-doing-something-about-the-problem ways? A bit confused about why they were supposed to be handing blood money to SCO for the One True Linux License, the IRISH LINUX USER'S GROUP have not idly sat back. They've been pestering SCO Ireland for an accurate description of what they're forking out for. And if SCO can't come up with one? Why, they're going to take them to the Irish equivalent of the Trading Standards people. Of course, not all of Ireland feels the same way: as subscriber JONATHAN BAKER-BATES notes, Dublin band The Thrills have apparently taken SCO's side with their "Santa Cruz" hit. The song commiserates with Santa Cruz against the "august [free software] cowboys", who, they say "stole your style [of C commenting and indentation]". Whether SCO's "train [of legal papers]" will indeed "roll in on time" might well be up to other Linux users kicking up a similiar fuss. http://ie.suberic.net/~kevin/cgi-bin/blog/random/sco.linux.license.2.comments - hullo, Steve, it's us - your future customers! http://www.poplyrics.net/waiguo/rock/thrills/001.htm - tell me where it all went wrong http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/smoking-fizzle.html - ... in great detail, please Thanks for all your suggestions to alleviate the commuter misery that is NATIONAL RAIL ENQUIRIES' online timetable. PETER MARTIN was one of several to praise the Teutonic efficiency of the national German rail site (available in entirely accent-free English, too), but only ANDREW DANCY noted that "the old [Railtrack] site lives on in the form of the Wandsworth Council travel planner", believed to use "the same data as the old Railtrack timetable site", which presumably originates from the German state railway, Deutsche Bahn again. Lone accessibility re-arranger MATTHEW SOMERVILLE has prepared his own "*very* rough first draft" rework of the National Rail site and, while nonetheless intrigued by the German and Wandsworthian versions, claimed that "they all give different answers", before being distracted by the fact that nothing was being done about the BT directory enquiries site. And still the crimes against usability trickle in, this week's most ironic being CAM MESIAS' spotting of ACCENTURE CAREERS' "Global Meritocracy Statement", explaining how they do not discriminate on the basis of "non-disqualifying physical or mental disability" - in a JavaScript pop-up window. http://bahn.hafas.de/english.html - Reisen zum Oktoberfest in Munchen gewinnen! http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/railplan/bin/query.exe/en - vs http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/railplan/bin/query.exe/de http://www.dracos.co.uk/railway/timetable/ - still needs "a lot" of work, he admits http://careers3.accenture.com/xd/uktsWeb/exp.asp - source code *does* discriminate for Macintosh users http://www.xcom2002.com/ntktext.cgi - CAMERON MACPHAIL: "the huge paragraphs are freaking me out" >> ANTI-NEWS << berating the obvious "I notice Sir has a preference for the more 'mature' formats": http://www.ntk.net/2003/08/29/dohmd.gif ... RAMBLERS revealed to be "single most important form of communication, education" etc: http://www.ntk.net/2003/08/29/dohram.gif ... "Teachers" viewers: http://www.ntk.net/2003/08/29/dohteach.gif - see me! ... a cry for help: http://www.designaid.co.uk/ ... (bottom of page) "Re-wrote copy within the site to expalin the OSF's core competanices": http://www.element12.net/html/casestudy_osf.htm ... GUARDIAN doesn't give away *all* answers in [Alt] tags: http://film.guardian.co.uk/quiz/questions/0,5952,1030334,00.html ... no wonder the internals of B&Q stores are so well fitted: http://www.diy.com/bq/category/category.jhtml?CATID=168708 ... puerile double-URLtendres: http://www.NewSexTracts.com/ , http://www.muffinthemail.co.uk/ , and the top 3 PDF links at: http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/corner/presentations.html ... B3TA.com finally fesses up to its secret EMAP-funded origins: www.bbc.co.uk/blackcountry/features/2003/08/rob_manuel/rob_manuel.shtml >> EVENT QUEUE << goto's considered non-harmful Even if you missed yesterday's BRIGHTON BLOGGERS MEETUP, it's surely worth clearing space in your diary for another seafront sojourn courtesy of C64 revivalists BACK IN TIME LIVE 4 (from 11am-11pm, Sat 2003-09-13, The Brighton Centre, BN1, UKP5 for exhibition until 6pm, UKP10 extra for concert in the evening). It's a rare opportunity to browse MARTIN GALWAY's "original computer and source disks", hear Danish Commodore games-music covers band PRESS PLAY ON TAPE, and witness ROB HUBBARD in an "unplugged" performance of some of his classic game themes on what is now regarded as one of the primitive predecessors of the SID chip, the piano. In short, it should be something of an eye-opener even if you're not as much of a Commodore devotee as reader MAT FLETCHER, who objected to our recent mention of the Vic-20 "heyday of the 20-column text adventure" with the succinct correction: "22 dear boy, not 20! That would have been unbearable!" http://c64audio.valuehost.co.uk/live/bitl4/ - shame they couldn't get a few more animated GIFs in there http://www.ironstonepartners.com/news.html - seems to have kept going longer than the Amiga, anyway http://homepage.ntlworld.com/speccyverse/orsam.htm - equally enthusiastic Speccy show in Norwich this Nov >> TRACKING << sufficiently advanced technology : the gathering Since sticking Flemming Frandsen's UserContent.css file into .phoenix/[foo]/[blah]/chrome/ we've really not had much problem with ads on the Net. But if you're stuck with IE or want to fine-tune your control over cookies and pop-ups, it'd be remiss of us not to (finally) mention PRIVOXY - the filtering Web proxy for MacOSX, Unixes, and Windows. It's all very simple: you install the program with a couple of clicks, type in the magic 127.0.0.1 numbers into your browser's proxy settings, and Privoxy will strip out anything that looks dodgy, from banner ads to nasty javascript. Privoxy has a wide range of built-in actions, from replacing ads with a customised graphics to sending rude messages in the headers of your Webpage requests. Apart from a barely noticeable delay at the start of every Webpage (which we now regret even mentioning to you), Privoxy is as good as invisible - and so are the ads. Install it, and undermine the precarious economy of new media today! http://www.privoxy.org/ - ... set it up for your whole network to use too http://dion.swamp.dk/stuff.html - search down for userContent.css >> MEMEPOOL << contains a source of http://snackspot.org/ best laughter = medicine: http://www.qfever.com/ ... THE TIMES calls on DJ, car buff, civil rights watchdog TONY BLACKBURN: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-790512,00.html ... at last - a Lileks' Gallery Of Regrettable Food that hasn't been compiled by an alarmingly right-wing warblogger: http://www.flaneur.org.uk/html/food.html ... new Madonna TV ad misses opportunity to use lyrics: "Get into the Gap/ you've got to sap/ your will to live"... spot the actual anti-piracy ad: http://static.hugi.is/video/fyndin/dctf-1.wmv vs http://overstated.net/media/RIAA_PSA.mpg (9 meg, sorry)... new thrill - the quest to find the DULLEST TITLED BOOK ON AMAZON: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471403911/ ... "[this] is the REAL best picture ever", demurs MAT BETTINSON: http://www.ntk.net/2003/08/29/best_picture_ever_2.jpg ... IMDB US "Showtimes" feature supports latitude/ longitude - in URL: http://www.imdb.com/showtimes/location/33.94,-118.4/10m ... >> GEEK MEDIA << get out less TV>> a week of military hypotheticals kicks off with WWII tanks Tiger vs Sherman in GREATEST MILITARY CLASHES (8pm, Fri, C5)... TIME COMMANDERS (8pm, Thu, BBC2) re-enacts Hannibal vs Scipio 218 BC using Creative Assembly's "Rome: Total War" engine http://www.totalwar.com/ - shame they didn't license "C&C: Red Alert", then they could loadout with Mirage tanks, Tesla coils and Chrono Legionnaires... and Francesca "Lady Jessica" Annis provides the Bene Gesserit commentary in weapons-grade talk-heavy Bohr vs Heisenberg nuke play COPENHAGEN (10.40pm, Sat, BBC2)... Robert "Begbie" Carlyle proves predictably unsuitable parent material in Oirish poverty porn ANGELA'S ASHES (9pm, Sat, C4) ... Geena Davis is understandably annoyed when Jeff Goldblum starts taking their relationship for granted, "lets himself go" a little, in THE FLY (11.40pm, Sat, C4)... and SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE JEWISH (7.30pm, Sun, C4) was a quote rarely attributed to Nazi apologist DIANA MOSELEY: ADOLF, OSWALD AND ME (8pm, Sun, C4) ... arch-enemies are pitted against each other once again in GLADIATOR: BENN V EUBANK (9pm, Sun, C5) - though clearly at least one of them survives to appear in "The Osbournes" knock- off AT HOME WITH THE EUBANKS (8pm, Tue, C5)... there's a double-bill of Bacon-bashing in SNORTING COKE WITH THE BBC (9pm, Sun, C4) and THE CURSE OF BLUE PETER (9pm, Mon, C5)... yet it's hard to care about SCREAM 3 (10pm, Sun, C4) since it's up against the untold "Omni" story in THE RISE AND FALL OF PENTHOUSE (10.35pm, Sun, C5)... even "Red Planet" is better than demented Connie "Gladiator" Nielsen "2001" wannabe MISSION TO MARS (11.30pm, Tue, ITV)... Katie "Dawson's Creek" Holmes and writer Kevin "Scream" Williamson fail to make the grade in TEACHING MRS TINGLE (11.15pm, Wed, BBC1)... but star- studded OAP astronaut comedy-drama SPACE COWBOYS (8.30pm, Thu, BBC1) is worth a look if you don't want to sit through FACE/ OFF (9pm, Thu, C5) again... TV>> more low-budget high-concept mind-bending from Vincenzo "Cube" Natali, as Lucy "Charlie's Angels" Liu and Jeremy "The Net" Northam satirise the unforgiving geometry of corporate conferences in limited-release short story scifi CYPHER (imdb: amnesia/ false-identity/ brainwashing/ conspiracy/ memory- loss/ flashback/ love/ psychological-thriller/ trust)... as Film Threat astutely pointed out, being variously marketed as "a hard-nosed detective story", "a laugh-a-minute buddy cop film", and "a character drama of two opposites learning to work together" http://www.filmthreat.com/Reviews.asp?Id=4627 isn't an good sign for grouchy Harrison Ford misfire HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE ( http://www.capalert.com/capreports/hollywoodhomicide.htm : misleading reference to spirituality; stereotyping of tolerance for homosexual practices; man and woman making out while nude, ostensibly for intercourse)... rather more basic thrills are on offer in rural "Worzel Gummidge: The Revenge" eat-'em-up JEEPERS CREEPERS 2 (imdb: scarecrow/ shot-in-the-eye/ sequel)... or limited-release French animated "Aeon Flux" lookalike BELLEVILLE RENDEZ-VOUS ( http://www.bbfc.co.uk/ : contains mild slapstick and nudity and moderate violence)... AVAILABLE IN A WIDE RANGE OF BLACK>> and if you're as enraged about the "retro gaming phenomenon" as embittered webzine UK Resistance http://www.ukresistance.co.uk/issue10.html , then you can now express your dismay with our latest co-production t-shirt: 10 PRINT "RETRO GAMES ARE SHIT" 20 GOTO 10, currently on sale at http://www.ntkmart.com/ for just 10.00 pounds Earth money. Also new this month: a sort of handwritten IF I HAD A LIFE I WOULDN'T BE HERE (a bit like the scene where "help me" appears on the kid's skin in "The Exorcist"), and the first official merchandising from acclaimed dance music education establishment THE MUSEUM OF TECHNO - UKP2.00 from each sale going to help fund their new project "to restore a recently uncovered Jin dynasty Roland 303 Bassline to full working order": http://www.museumoftechno.org/news/20030716.html . Oh, and Andy Brice's THAT'S WEIRD - IT WORKS ON MY MACHINE has sold out again, though fans of his work may also enjoy his Demotivators-But-Without-The-Sarcastic-Tagline-style digital photo prints available from http://www.andybrice.com/ ... a reassuringly deranged selection of reader designs, as ever, with DAN DUKESON's "uck SC" being perhaps the most topical http://www.ntkmart.co.uk/images/uckSC.png , and TOM DE MULDER's selection at http://www.furrfu.org/t-shirtideas/ the most prolific, though our "Do I look like a people person?" favourite is quite a popular t-shirt slogan already, we fear. AMANDA STONE kept the text-only entries self-referential with "ceci|n'est|pas|une|pipe", DANNY JONES mused "How many Slashdotters could Slashdot Slashdot if Slashdot could be Slashdotted?", and only ANDREW SMITH and MARTIN RODGERS let the side down with their not-particularly-subversive screen grab http://www.ntkmart.co.uk/images/assteroids.gif and "Colour coordinated chroma-coding is *so* gay" (in "black text on a white shirt"), respectively. LLOYD WOOD accurately anticipated we'd like some slogans having a go at bloggers, suggesting "Blogging - good! Journalism - bad! Bandwagons - excellent!" and "WE ARE THE BLOGS. JOURNALISM IS FUTILE. YOU WILL BE ANNOTATED", but we're still interested in variations on this theme (or indeed our own "Does my ass look fact- checked in this?")... "Buy One, Subvert The Mass Media, Get One Free" entries were particularly disappointing this month, with DAVE PHELAN pathetically listing 3 missed opportunities to have flaunted one during the blanket coverage of Brighton's PiertoPier wifi network http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/3068915.stm , so the winner has to be to TV's IAIN LEE for wearing an "Elite" shirt during "Big Brother's Little Brother" in July on Channel 4 http://www.ntkmart.co.uk/images/ . Iain receives a free t-shirt of his choice if he (or someone pretending to be him) would like to get in touch to claim it - please email tips@spesh.com with the subject line "I am Iain Lee (or someone pretending to be him)"... >> SMALL PRINT << Need to Know is a useful and interesting UK digest of things that happened last week or might happen next week. You can read it on Friday afternoon or print it out then take it home if you have nothing better to do. It is compiled by NTK from stuff they get sent. Registered at the Post Office as "relax girls, he's married" http://www.gnomedesktop.org/article.php?sid=1301 NEED TO KNOW THEY STOLE OUR REVOLUTION. NOW WE'RE STEALING IT BACK. Archive - http://www.ntk.net/ Unsubscribe? Mail ntknow-unsubscribe@lists.ntk.net Subscribe? Mail ntknow-subscribe@lists.ntk.net NTK now is supported by UNFORTU.NET, and by you: http://www.ntkmart.com/ (K) 2003 Special Projects. Copying is fine, but include URL: http://www.ntk.net/ Full license at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/1.0 Tips, news and gossip to tips@spesh.com All communication is for publication, unless you beg. Press releases from naive PR people to pr@spesh.com Remember: Your work email may be monitored if sending sensitive material. Sending >500KB attachments is forbidden by the Geneva Convention. Your country may be at risk if you fail to comply.