"Two-thirds of US adults and nine million children are either
overweight or obese. This is the result of a fast-food
lifestyle, *increased use of computers* and less physical
activity..." [our emphasis]
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/3496918.stm
...you'd metabolise more glucose if you just used your brain
>> HARD NEWS <<
those fortuitous Fourtous
Well, it was a close thing - a switch of fifty MEP votes out
of seven hundred could have defeated the IP Enforcement
Directive. As it was, out of Lab, Con, and LibDems only one
MEP, LibDem Nick Clegg voted for the pacifying amendments.
The Tories muttered about it being flawed, but, well, one
must do something. Arlene McCarthy, leading the UK Labour
support, was as enthusiastic as ever. But then, she's still
convinced that nobody but those nasty online people (who
scuppered her patent directive) are against this perfectly
reasonable bill. "It is unfortunate that this proposal has
been treated with such hysteria by many in the online world.
It does not reflect well on their ability to look at the
facts and make a balanced judgement", she said. Those of
you in the online world can still press your faces against
the inside of the monitor screen, and mouth your complaints
when it comes to drafting the UK law. Plus there's those
Euro elections on June 10th, if you can sneak through the
ethernet port to get to the polls. The SNP and the Greens
were rather good, for the record.
http://ukcdr.org/lists/ukcdr/2004-March/005738.html
- the record
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3501964.stm
- the stuck record
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/36128.html
- Janelly Fourtou married to "the CEO of Vivendi Universal"
Also off the Free-sklyarov list - those CD anti-"copy
protection" activists have got a reply from someone at the
British Phonographic Industry regarding those pesky discs
that refuse to play in CD-ROM drives, some car stereos etc -
and while it clearly isn't an official BPI policy statement,
it's very tempting to read it out in the voice of David Brent
from The Office: "The industry has made extensive efforts to
communicate with manufacture[r]s so our CDs play on their
systems. Let's just say that some of our calls haven't been
returned." Auditioning for the role of Brent's exasperated
manager Neil is the Campaign for Digital Rights' Jim Peters,
patiently explaining: "Copy-controlled discs do not conform to
any known standard. In fact, if they conformed to a standard,
then they would no longer be effective, as everyone could make
their drives read them correctly." As the first part of Harry
Hill's TV Burp inevitably concludes - Fiiiight!
http://www.xenoclast.org/free-sklyarov-uk/2004-March/005735.html
- vs http://www.xenoclast.org/free-sklyarov-uk/2004-March/005744.html
>> ANTI-NEWS <<
berating the obvious
(as submitted by - everyone) Dasani not so "pure" after all:
http://www.ntk.net/2004/03/12/dohdas.gif ... the mark of good
health: http://www.ntk.net/2004/03/12/dohur.gif ... oh the
puerility: http://www.ntk.net/2004/03/12/dohurgay.gif ...
changes to Dept of Health travel advice "notified on PRESTEL":
http://qwer.org/DeptOfHealth.html ... Widdecombe of the week:
www.axelraben.com/sahihi/drugSeries/display.asp?ID=14040011&CAP=Constipation
... approximately half the random shuffles of FBI puzzle:
http://www.fbi.gov/kids/games/slidepuzzle.htm = impossible for
kids to solve: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/15Puzzle.html ...
double URL-tendres of the month: http://www.ChoosesPain.com/ ,
www.asscaffe.it , www.oldmanshaven.com , www.argoswine.co.uk
+ http://www.go2wasa.com/ - where the W stands for... "it
chooses pain - or some very reasonably priced Bangkok hotels":
http://www.ntk.net/2004/03/12/dohdone.gif ... with big brain-
needle?: http://www.ntk.net/2004/03/12/dohsow.gif ... show mum
you care: http://www.ntk.net/2004/03/12/dohmum.gif ...
>> EVENT QUEUE <<
GOTOs considered non-harmful
National Science Week brings the usual hard-to-browse array of
mad-sounding pseudo-edutainment, though ADAM PAGE thoughtfully
pointed out that it segues neatly into field trials of organic
alcohol delivery systems at THE 20TH LONDON DRINKER BEER AND
CIDER FESTIVAL (misc lunchtimes and evenings, Wed-Fri 2004-03-
17 onwards, Camden Centre, London WC1, UKP2.50, occasionally
free). After that, why not soothe your hangover at the SCIENCE
FICTION FOUNDATION'S ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING/ "REVELATIONS IN
FAIRYLAND" free event (10.30am, Sat 2004-03-20, Conway Hall,
25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R), avec Brit post-cyberpunker
PAUL MCAULEY and European-Space-Agency-astronomer-turned-
Greg-Egan-meets-early-Iain-M-Banks ALASTAIR REYNOLDS, author
of the noirish, realistically-restrained-by-light-speed epics
"Revelation Space", "Redemption Ark" and "Decoration Cake".
http://www.the-ba.net/the-ba/page.asp?selectPage=707
- "976 events found - showing event 1 to 5..."
http://www.londondrinker.org.uk/
- encouragingly, "beer is free" for event employees
http://www.sf-foundation.org/events/agm2004.htm
- good opportunity to reuse all those rented pewter tankards
http://www.internationalunity.org/
- also: Internet Commons Congress, from March 24, New York
http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/user/?region=uk&query=detail&event=89999
- Stew Lee, Paul "Curious Orange" Putner DJ midnight-3am
>> TRACKING <<
sufficiently advanced technology : the gathering
Back when Vim 6 was launched, we mentioned a ridiculously
ambitious project to use its basic folding functionality to
turn it into a groovy multi-coloured outliner doodad. You
know outliners, those things that ORGANISE YOUR VERY MIND?
Anyway, two and half years on, the VIM-OUTLINER team has
outlived our scepticism, and produced just that. Their
latest version installs quickly, the colours look good, and
for anyone who is accustomed to jumping on the "za" buttons
to do hide and reveal folds in Vim, it's a breeze. The
code is mature enough to have a (yay!) plugin structure,
which has already spawned a terrifying "to do"-style
checkbox feature which must, we think, be written in a
combination of Vim moon language and Satan's blood. But
then, the benefit of having an outliner format which is
really just a text file with tabs and the occasional colon
is that you can munge it with most anything, read it, even
write it with anything. Emacs, say.
http://www.vimoutliner.org/
- an outliner for outliers
http://www.troubleshooters.com/lpm/200310/200310.htm
- and how it got where it is
>> MEMEPOOL <<
contains a source of http://snackspot.org/
friends don't let furry friends use Photoshop (not especially
safe for work): http://www.xs4all.nl/~pwitteve/hybrid.htm ...
http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/whats_in_your_gadget_bag_cory.php
- what Cory's really packing: www.3drealms.com/duke4/ ... via
"The International Proceedings of Playstation Cheats Monthly":
http://www.dimacs.rutgers.edu/~graham/pubs/cormodelemmings.pdf
... Google Adsense lags behind hip new "Toothing" terminology:
http://qwer.org/ToothingGuide.html ... just in case B3ta miss
this one: http://www.angelfire.com/hiphop3/mcshona/ ... oh the
Nathanity: http://www.mikoishi.com/process.htm ... inevitably:
http://www.livinlondon.gov.uk vs http://www.livinlondon.co.uk
... http://www.suicidegirls.co.uk/ points to... Mozilla seen
in Scary Movie 3, aka "I Know What You Upgraded Last Summer":
http://nerv.cable.nu/mozillascary3/ ... new "Animatrix" shorts
marred by overt SiS chipset product placement (Flash, sorry):
http://www.sis.com/support/learn/animation/pk_1.swf ... can't
wait for the DVD: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187910/ ...
>> GEEK MEDIA <<
get out less
TV>> MY FAMILY RELOADED (8.30pm, Fri, BBC1) imports the
American sitcom schedule-filling tradition of the clip show...
Ben Miller and Sarah Alexander seem unlikely to reprise their
previous "Nude Practice" collaboration in vaguely "Meet The
Parents"-inspired smut-com THE WORST WEEK OF MY LIFE (9pm,
Fri, BBC1)... and is it just us, or is ZENTRIX (1pm, Sat, C5)
deliberately rendered to look like a heavily antialiased
Nintendo cut-scene?... the single male viewer is well catered
to on Saturday with a face-off between SPARTANS AT THE GATES
OF FIRE (7.10pm, Sat, BBC2) and an upbeat look at the F117
Stealth Fighter in BATTLE STATIONS (7pm, Sat, C4), plus two
very different romantic comedies: misogynistic mockumentary 20
DATES (2.45am, Sat, C4), and the career high of Natasha
Henstridge, Sometimes Credited As "The Chick From SPECIES"
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000449/ (10.50pm, Sat, BBC1)...
and more jokes than "A Mighty Wind" - and fewer actors showing
off about actually playing their instruments - makes a
worthier Spinal Tap sequel of BEST IN SHOW (10.45pm, Sat, BBC2)
... John Lennon's proto-iPod "personal jukebox" is rifled by
THE SOUTH BANK SHOW (11.05pm, Sun, BBC2)... Edward Woodward
discovers dark secrets buried in the revision history of THE
WIKI MAN (1.50am, Sun, C4)... and Julia Davis' "Previously
Debuted On Digital" week sees her in both THE ALAN CLARK
DIARIES (10pm, Wed, BBC2) and NIGHTY NIGHT (10pm, Mon, BBC2) -
"dark", yes - "funny", no... C5 hits the ratings jackpot with
the triple cherries of WEAPONS OF WORLD WAR II (7.30pm, Wed,
C5), INSIDE HITLER'S BUNKER: THE TRUE STORY (8pm, Wed, C5) and
THE GREAT ESCAPE: REVEALED (9pm, Wed, C5)... "What's red and
invisible? No tomatoes! What's got no charge, no mass, and
invisible? No neutrinos!" quips HORIZON (9pm, Thu, BBC2)...
while "from the madcap director of School Of Rock" isn't how
they're billing Richard Linklater's experimental Uma Thurman
indie chat TAPE (12.25am, Thu, BBC2)...
FILM>> purists won't like that they've both changed the title
of William Gibson's novel and set it in a '50s women's college
for Dead Julia Roberts Society feelgooder MONA LISA SMILE
( http://www.screenit.com/movies/2003/mona_lisa_smile.html :
[Maggie Gyllenhaal] wears a period style, midriff-revealing
top; We hear that [Julia Stiles] eloped; [Kirsten Dunst] plays
a bright but proudly old-fashioned young woman who discovers
that serving her husband isn't all that it's cut out to be)...
Jessica "Dark Angel" Alba learns she's been implanted with
hip-hop choreographer DNA in tame "Flashdance" retread HONEY
( http://www.capalert.com/capreports/honey.htm : woman
manually shaking her own anatomy during dancing; additional
vulgar dance moves, repeatedly, some mimicking intercourse;
many instances of below navel skin exposure, threatening to
expose pubic hair; "gay" bar)... while the most interesting of
numerous limited releases - a part-Spanish film unfortunately
titled "Carnages", primarily Scottish showings for ONE LAST
CHANCE - threatens to be the miniseries Paul Atreides, a bloke
out of "Hustle", and "freelance scientist" Julian Barratt -
together at last! - monkeying around with your peridontal
atrium in gritty Brit "Fight Club"-alike PRINCIPLES OF LUST
( http://www.cndb.com/movie.html?title=Principles+Of+Lust%2C+The :
At one point [Sienna "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" Guillory]
bares her bottom during a doggie-style sex scene)...
>> 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
"Jack's favourite"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1166309,00.html
NEED TO KNOW
THEY STOLE OUR REVOLUTION. NOW WE'RE STEALING IT BACK.
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