Category: Uncategorized

There’s been some interesting things happening on teh Intarwebs.

A while back, a guy who was pissed off that he couldn’t play his lawfully-purchased HD-DVDs on his Linux system due to a failure in the anti-copying system, did a bit of hacking and discovered a 16-digit hexadecimal code that unlocks the copy protection. He publicized the code on the internet, as a “fuck you” to BS antipiracy hysteria and crippleware.

The story would have gone away quietly. After all, the code requires specialized tools and technical knowledge to implement. It’s not something that Joe User is going to be able to use to bring about the End of Civilization As We Know It.

Yes, it would have gone away….except the AACS Licensing Authority, which controls the anti-copying technology underlying HD-DVD, sent out hundreds of legal threats, cease-and-desists, and nastygrams to sites that had posted the key, claiming violation of the DCMA over posting of a number which they own.

They OWN A NUMBER.

Sad thing is, the way the DCMA is written, it’s true. This is the purest example yet of why the DCMA needs to go. The MPAA and RIAA have pushed this through as law, and now we live in a country where a sixteen-digit number is illegal to possess, to discuss in class, or to post on a website.

Funny thing, though.

Since the legal threats where sent, people all over the internet have been posting the number. People have posted YouTube videos with the number. They’ve written jingles about the number. Most have just posted the numbers themselves. Over 590,000, according to the most recent Google search.

So much for putting the genie back into that particular bottle….

09-F9-11-02-9D-74-E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-88-C0

Enough with corporate feudalism. You can’t own a number.

had a meme suggestion: Ten books that influenced you as a young reader. Not only does it let folks in on your likes and dislikes, but also can be very revealing about us – if you accept the notion that what we read forms who we are.

Here are my ten:

1. D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire.

2. A Tolkien Bestiary by David Day

3. Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker by Alan Dean Foster (writing as George Lucas).

4. Dune by Frank Herbert

5. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

6. Monster Manual by Gary Gygax, Et. Al.

7. Buckaroo Banzai by Earl Mac Rauch

8. Conan of Cimmeria by Robert E. Howard

9. Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke

10. A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L’Engle

I’ve stretched the definition of “young reader” to as late as 15 in my case, but that’s OK, I think.

Non spoiler thoughts on both:

Doctor Who: Watched the second part of the two-parter. It didn’t get any better. The first true dud of the season. There wasn’t enough plot to merit a two-part story, and almost no utilization of the setting, apart from the Empire State Building as a plot device. Predictable story at every step of the way, and, as I said before, they’re overusing the Daleks.

Heroes: Last night’s episode was their homage to the classic X-Men “Days of Future Past” storyline, giving us a view of the dystopian future, which nicely serves to give personal stakes for failing to save the world. Brilliant acting from pretty much everybody, too — I had managed to suss out the big reveal simply because of the strength of Adrian Pasdar’s performance. I’m impressed as hell with this show….so much so that my Bittorrent-junkie self will actually be buying the first season DVD set when it comes out.