Here's an old video I took after Doug and I hitched a ride across the Colorado River. Mostly, I'm just posting this to see how the YouTube embed code works.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Thursday, June 09, 2011
A Crazy Day With No Fish But Lots Of Action
Today was kind of a mess. First we got up early for 6:00 breakfast but nobody else was up, so no breakfast. Instead we headed out early for salmon fishing and trolled for 3 hours with nary a nibble (not really too surprising, they are hard to find). Then we went and fished for halibut and broke a rod. Then I snagged a hook on the bottom and spent 15 minutes maneuvering the boat to unhook it. Then dad snagged his rod and we did the same again. Then we moved and fished for a while with zero nibbles. So finally we came in for lunch.
In the afternoon we were going to go for a walk, but Kelly and Marv were going out for halibut so Dad and I decided to tag along and fish in the same area where Marv caught a 70 pounder last week. Very first cast, I hooked my bait again and we spent a bunch of time getting unhooked. There was so much wind that we drifted more than 2mph with the engine off. We had to put the boat in reverse to stand still. When I finally pulled up the snagged rig, there were two small rockfish on there but the bait was gone. With all the time the thing was stuck on the bottom all the fish were able to nibble away on the two fresh herring except the two unlucky ones who got hooked. So I spent more time getting them unhooked and releasing them. Then we moved to a spot where there was less wind, and almost immediately dad hooked his rig on the bottom. More maneuvering etc. to get it unhooked. Meanwhile Marv and Kelly had "nada" as they told us over the radio. We all moved to another cove across the strait. The wind was even stronger and there was no luck.
But wait, the best was yet to come!
Moving away from the windy cove, Marv and Kelly were headed around to the other side of the island. We were following, at about 25 mph in clear water well away from shore. BOOM grind grind, the boat shudders, I switch off the engine instantly and we slump to a halt. What was that? I look around and don't see anything, but we surely hit something, I was wondering if we were going to sink. I run to the front of the boat but there is no apparent hull damage. I get on the radio to Kelly who is headed into the distance: "Kelly, we have hit something and I've stopped to assess the damage." He turns around and we can see him coming back to our position. Dad and I look into the water, can't tell if the prop has been damaged. We start the engine, but the boat doesn't move and we don't see the prop turning. We turn the engine off. Then, Kelly pulls up: "Raise the engine." I had not realized the same motor that lets you trim the angle of the prop also lets you raise the engine completely out of the water. We raise the engine. There is no prop. There is, in fact, no bottom half of the engine assembly. It is completely broken off just below the water line: gears, prop and all are gone. After rigging up a tow line it takes us an hour and a half to get back to the dock. And of course, Kelly is going to be out $2500 in repairs which probably wipes out his profit from our week at the lodge. Dad, always the joker, suggests that since the boats are new, "maybe it will be covered under the engine warranty."
On the plus side: Dinner was delicious!! Also, I got a couple good scenic photos in the morning. And we saw a huge gathering of sea lions on and around a rock in a place where the currents from two inlets mix and create strange turbulence in the water. It probably messes up the fish and creates good feeding for the sea lions. There were also hundreds of seagulls there.
In the afternoon we were going to go for a walk, but Kelly and Marv were going out for halibut so Dad and I decided to tag along and fish in the same area where Marv caught a 70 pounder last week. Very first cast, I hooked my bait again and we spent a bunch of time getting unhooked. There was so much wind that we drifted more than 2mph with the engine off. We had to put the boat in reverse to stand still. When I finally pulled up the snagged rig, there were two small rockfish on there but the bait was gone. With all the time the thing was stuck on the bottom all the fish were able to nibble away on the two fresh herring except the two unlucky ones who got hooked. So I spent more time getting them unhooked and releasing them. Then we moved to a spot where there was less wind, and almost immediately dad hooked his rig on the bottom. More maneuvering etc. to get it unhooked. Meanwhile Marv and Kelly had "nada" as they told us over the radio. We all moved to another cove across the strait. The wind was even stronger and there was no luck.
But wait, the best was yet to come!
Moving away from the windy cove, Marv and Kelly were headed around to the other side of the island. We were following, at about 25 mph in clear water well away from shore. BOOM grind grind, the boat shudders, I switch off the engine instantly and we slump to a halt. What was that? I look around and don't see anything, but we surely hit something, I was wondering if we were going to sink. I run to the front of the boat but there is no apparent hull damage. I get on the radio to Kelly who is headed into the distance: "Kelly, we have hit something and I've stopped to assess the damage." He turns around and we can see him coming back to our position. Dad and I look into the water, can't tell if the prop has been damaged. We start the engine, but the boat doesn't move and we don't see the prop turning. We turn the engine off. Then, Kelly pulls up: "Raise the engine." I had not realized the same motor that lets you trim the angle of the prop also lets you raise the engine completely out of the water. We raise the engine. There is no prop. There is, in fact, no bottom half of the engine assembly. It is completely broken off just below the water line: gears, prop and all are gone. After rigging up a tow line it takes us an hour and a half to get back to the dock. And of course, Kelly is going to be out $2500 in repairs which probably wipes out his profit from our week at the lodge. Dad, always the joker, suggests that since the boats are new, "maybe it will be covered under the engine warranty."
On the plus side: Dinner was delicious!! Also, I got a couple good scenic photos in the morning. And we saw a huge gathering of sea lions on and around a rock in a place where the currents from two inlets mix and create strange turbulence in the water. It probably messes up the fish and creates good feeding for the sea lions. There were also hundreds of seagulls there.
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
More Alaska Fish Stories
Today we tried our hand at salmon fishing and frankly, we weren't very good at it. We struggled with the downrigger gear, struggled to maintain a consistent direction at slow speed, and generally failed. However, after lunch we tried a few possible halibut locations and did succeed at that. We caught our biggest halibut so far -- 29 lbs. -- as well as a very interesting rockfish called a Quillback.
Fishing in Alaska
Recently I had a great vacation with my Dad in Alaska. Here is the travelogue I wrote after the third day:
After flying from Seattle to Juneau on Alaska Airlines we transferred to Admiralty Airlines. Despite the really fancy name, Admiralty Airlines consists of a guy named Gary with a single Cessna 206 floatplane. A very well used floatplane. Room for four, including the pilot. In 35 minutes we were touching down in beautiful, tiny Elfin Cove, Alaska. We were greeted on the dock by the entire Northern Star Lodge family: Kelly, Mary, and kids Claire, Jake, Nick, and Paige. The oldest kid is maybe six years old. We transferred our bags to a boat and motored through a very narrow channel to the lodge. Along the way Kelly pointed out the boardwalk which runs all through the town, which is to say, perches on the shore of the channel all the way around in front of all twenty or thirty buildings that comprise Elfin Cove. OK, maybe forty, I didn't count. It's a small town. Kelly informed us that the boardwalk is an Alaska state highway, because by doing so the city was able to get state highway funds for its construction. Hilarious. It is basically as wide as a sidewalk. A suburban sidewalk, not a city sidewalk. You can walk from one end to the other in fifteen minutes. I know because I did.
Northern Star Lodge is a "self guided" fishing lodge which means there is no guide on the boat. Kind of like private vs commercial river trips, we can pay someone to provide all the gear and advice but once on the water we are on our own. So...
Monday morning they pointed us to an area about 20 minutes away by boat where the fishing should be good. They put us on a nice new boat with new equipment (GPS, sonar, rods, reels, etc.) and all the other things we need (bait, rain gear, lunch). We drove out there and baited our hooks and started fishing. Almost right away Dad got a hit and reeled in a halibut, about 10 lbs. Not too big but hey, the small ones are supposed to be more tasty (since then I have learned "small" in this statement means more like 50 lbs or less). At the same time I had a really hard resistance on my line. Then Marv (one of the lodge guys) came on the radio to ask how we were doing. I said "Dad has a fish and I have a snag". Marv said, "that 'snag' might weigh 200 pounds so you better make sure!". Unfortunately my first impression was correct. Then I stopped fishing to help Dad land his fish into the boat and subdue it to put it in a big cooler in the front of the boat. After getting me unsnagged, we then went back to the spot where we started fishing so we could drift back across the same area (halibut fishing is done with the boat turned off, in contrast to salmon fishing where you are trolling along slowly through an area). Again after just a few minutes Dad had another fish on the line. I stuck my rod into a rod holder on the side of the boat and went to help again. After that I went back to my rod. It seemed a little bit heavy. I started reeling it in slowly, and eventually felt a little something wriggling on the line. So I was excited, I had my first fish. When I finally got the thing reeled up to the boat (the fish are at 150 feet down) what a surprise, there were TWO fish on my rig (it has two hooks). So just like that I had caught my daily limit of two halibut. They were also about 10 lbs, but I was not about to throw them back. We headed home just after noon happy to have four fish in our cooler, even though they weren't especially big.
Almost back to Elfin Cove, we spied three whales spouting and showing their backs and tails in the bay just in front of the cove. We stopped to watch and to avoid running into them. Dad was keen to get closer and he took the helm but after approaching a bit closer, we stopped again and watched. After a while we thought they had moved off a distance so Dad fired the engine and turned left to pass behind their apparent path and head directly into the cove. Just a few moments later, I caught something out of the corner of my eye, turned and saw a whale's back RIGHT NEXT TO THE BOAT. I mean, reach out and touch close! Instantly I switched off the engine and as the whale dove back down his fluke splashed water all over Dad. Wow that was close! I am not sure the whale didn't brush against the side of the boat, it was that close. Thank goodness it wasn't any closer!
Thus entertained, we slowly made our way back to the lodge. At the dock Kelly and Marv met us to help unload, take photos, and do the other outfitter stuff. They clean and fillet the fish, then vacuum pack and freeze it. And they refit the boat so it is ready to go the next day. The rest of the afternoon we relaxed in the lodge, reading, going for a walk along the boardwalk, visiting the town, etc...
After dinner Kelly said "who wants to see bears?" I thought he was addressing his kids but it turns out he was addressing "anybody that's interested". That turned out to be me and Dad. So about 7 or 8 o'clock we got into the boat and headed out again. About fifteen minutes away was a cove that Kelly had heard might have bears. There was a meadow at the end of an inlet. We motored in and due to the tide being on the way out, it was fairly shallow. We inched along with Kelly watching the sonar depth gauge as it dropped to just 3 feet deep. I stood on the bow trying to indicate where the water was deepest and whether it was safe to proceed. Verrrry slowwwly we eased most of the way back into the inlet. Dolly Vardon fish were jumping in every direction. They are a little fresh water fish but can tolerate salt water too. There was a pretty stream flowing into the inlet from the woods to the left, and a broad meadow ahead. In the distance the low (notice I did not say "setting") sun illuminated the peaks of some nearby mountains with a bit of snow still in evidence on its slopes. Finally we had reached as far as we dared to go with the water just over two feet deep. Kelly was ready to back out, but I asked him to stay while I took some photos of the pretty scenery. As I was preparing a photo of the meadow, I noticed two brown bears grazing in the distance. They were too far away to get a really good photo, but we could see them quite clearly. We joked about landing the boat so we could approach on foot for a better photo, but decided it would be smarter just to come back another day when the tide was higher and we could get closer without leaving the water. On the way back we passed within 20 feet of a bald eagle sitting on a branch overhanging our little inlet. Then another eagle flew across in front of us with a fish in his talons. This was turning into a pretty cool nature trip! Just after that, a group of porpoises started playing around our boat, and as we continued toward the sea we saw a group of four sea otters floating near a tiny island. Passing them we saw and heard something squawking or screaming at us in the water a bit farther out, but it was directly into the sun and we couldn't make it out. As we approached, it went under water so we floated to its location and paused to watch for it to surface. Shortly, another sea otter surfaced not too far away, now the sun was behind us and we could see: it was a sea otter mom floating on her back with a pup on her belly. How cute is that? So our total for the day included halibut caught, and whales, bears, porpoises, eagles, and sea otters. Pretty awesome day.
This morning, we went out to the same fishing area as yesterday. There was more wind and waves and we were drifting faster (2mph) making it harder. Just the same Dad had a fish pretty soon, but it was the same size as yesterday's fish and he decided to throw it back (sorry, "release it gently into the sea"). Then we moved to the other side of the island (about five minutes) in hopes of finding a little less wind. Pretty quickly I had a hit on my line, and about the same time so did Dad. We had obviously happened into the right location. I could tell by my rod bending that this fish was bigger than yesterday's. Then I noticed, not only was the rod bending a lot but the fishing line was pulling out of my reel (there is a drag setting that prevents a fish from snapping your fishing line). So every time I would reel in six feet of line the fish would pull out three. Dad got his fish to the boat and it was a bit bigger than the first -- a keeper -- but I could not help him land it nor could he help me with mine, which I was still reeling in. So he kept his on the hook "swimming" next to the boat while I continued to reel. Finally it came into view -- big! Much the biggest fish we had seen so far. With one hand I held the rod and the other I reached for the gaffer, which is a big hooked spike on a stick. In a single stroke I was able to secure the fish with the gaffer. Then I pulled it up into the boat and removed the hook from it. I hoisted it into the cooler and it filled the length of the cooler. That was pretty cool. Then I helped dad land his. We circled back and tried again. No luck. We moved back to the front of the island and after maybe an hour I reeled in another fish, about 10 lbs. but I kept it. So now I had my limit. We fished that area for another hour and Dad had no luck at all, although we did get a visit from some dolphins who spouted and played about 15 yards away from us. One time Dad brought up his hooks and both herring (the bait) were completely gone and I found myself wondering whether the dolphins were smart enough to steal herring from a hook without getting caught.
We moved really close to shore for shelter from the wind and took a break for lunch. I think Dad was starting to be sorry he had released his first fish. We fished some more in a new area. Finally about 1:30 Dad said "one more try, then let's call it a day". About two minutes later I saw his rod bend and he pulled back hard. Yep, he had hooked a halibut on his last try. And it was bigger than the one he had released, so no regrets! We zoomed back to the lodge a little tired but happy, knowing that the total weight of our four fish was probably twice as much as yesterday's. There was not as much afternoon left as yesterday, we got back after 3pm I think, so we just relaxed until dinner.
Tomorrow we are going to try and find some salmon. This is harder... Kelly says to expect to troll for 10-15 hours to get one King Salmon. Hmmmm, we'll see how that goes. We might take a break at the tide change (around noon) to go after some halibut since that is prime time for them. (Salmon don't have a prime time.)
More to come!!
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Friday, December 10, 2010
Doodling around with Adobe Premiere 9
I was fortunate to arrange my camera on a balcony ledge where I could capture the entire performance. While setting up, I also recorded parts of the warm-up.
Here is part of the warm-up. I've used it to experiment with Adobe Premiere 9, which I'm thinking of using to edit AVCHD video. This particular video exploits a cartoon-look filter that creates, I think, an interesting effect. I'm also learning to use simple titles, as seen here.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Andrew is Singing at Stanford!
Andrew is singing with the Fleet Street Singers, Stanford's men's a capella group. Today he forwards two You Tube videos for our enjoyment. The first is the traditional Stanford hymn, "Hail Stanford, Hail". The other is an anthem that will bring back memories for many of us.
Serious:
Less so:
Serious:
Less so:
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
On the return from Cliff Dwellers, we encountered a large wildfire on the eastern slopes of the San Francisco Peaks outside Flagstaff. The fire had started within the past couple of hours, and the plume of smoke was impressive. As we passed to the south of Mt. Elden, the smoke gave the impression of a volcanic eruption.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Monday, April 06, 2009
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
SPAM BLOG???
OK, so a funny thing happened today. I thought it was either an April Fool joke or a spam to phish my blogger password, but it was neither. Google flagged my blog as "possible spam". I think this must be because I pasted the contents of EFF's April Fool newsletter into today's blog entry. Anyhow, hopefully they will see that this is a real blog and all that.
Chris
Chris
EFFector Newsletter, 4/1/09
EFFector Vol 22, No. 09 April 1, 2009 editor@eff.org
A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424
In the 1,000,000th EFFector:
* New Look for EFFector!
* Congress Passes "Mickey's Law"
* FBI Announces Operation Liar Liar Pants Oon Fire
* NSAdvice: Kinder, Gentler NSA Hires Advice Columnists to
Assist Spied-On Americans
* AP Sues Artist for Being Unable to Draw From Memory
* Google Offers Free, Ad-Supported Kitchen Appliances
* Amazon Gives in to Author's Guild -- Again
* EFF Offers Award for Large Composite Numbers
* PM Brown Announces the Permanent High Office of Hacking
and Tinkering in the Chancellory of the Exchequer
* minilinks
* Changes to EFF's Privacy Policy
* Administrivia and EULA
For more information on EFF activities & alerts:
http://www.eff.org/
Make a donation and become an EFF member today!
http://eff.org/support/
Tell a friend about EFF:
http://action.eff.org/site/Ecard?ecard_id=1061
effector: n, Computer Sci. A pretentious word you should
never use in conversation.
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* New Look for EFFector!
As part of our policy to keep on the "frontier" of exciting
new Internet developments, starting next week we'll be
sending a special "effktr" edition to all subscribers from
whose personal information we can derive their Twitter
accounts and/or cellphone numbers. Effktr has all the news
and analysis you expect from EFFector, but with most of the
vowels taken out and the remaining text compressed to 140
characters or less. To give you an idea of what to expect,
here's what our "beta" effktr readers received last week:
OMG EFF GREP FBI, TSA, NSL! NIX TOR JAIL +! NIX CELL LOG
GANK! CNET AX SGHN! AXL N /- WTF? WRNR DMCA KIDS LOL! NO
MIL CYBER! ATT GET ACTA!
Our new service is opt-out: if you'd like to not receive
our new format, please email "tl;dr" to april1@eff.org by
the end of today.
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* Congress Passes "Mickey's Law"
It was the story that stirred a nation: one mouse,
kidnapped from his corporate family and ruthlessly
exploited by infringers, pirates, and decorative birthday
cake designers.
But after an unprecedented campaign by concerned
rightsholders across the nation, Mickey's experience has a
happy ending of sorts: "Mickey's Law," a new bill that will
make children's media safe from our most despicable
elements in society.
The law will protect innocent cartoon characters by
creating a national registry of "copyright offenders" to be
run jointly by the RIAA and MPAA. Anyone accused of
repeatedly downloading copyrighted files without permission
will be required to register themselves immediately and
notify the registry within 2 weeks each time they move IP
addresses. The law also bars them from residing in any
domicile located within 1000 feet of an open wifi
connection.
Mickey's Law was passed with bi-partisan support. Harry
Reid, Senate leader, introduced the bill with a moving
description of its intent: "We're not just doing this for
Mickey. We're doing it for the children. No, wait, we're
doing it *to* the children, as a result of enforcing the
children's contractually limited rights to their purchased
media."
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
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* FBI Announces Operation Liar Liar Pants on Fire
Targeting Myspace Terms of Service Violators
Washington, D.C. - The Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) today announced action against untold numbers of
Americans who have violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse
Act by providing false information to ySpace, Facebook,
Match.com and other Web 2.0 companies. These companies
require users to click through an agreement obligating them
to provide accurate, current and complete information when
registering and using the services. Earlier this year, the
Department of Justice successfully prosecuted Missouri
resident Lori Drew in federal court in Los Angeles for
unauthorized access to MySpace for providing false
information. In the aftermath of that conviction, the FBI
learned that hundreds, or thousands, or potentially
hundreds of thousands, are defrauding social networks and
ripping the social fabric by lying about themselves online.
The ongoing initiative, known as Operation Liar Liar Pants
on Fire, "reflects the FBI's mission and effort to
identify, target, disrupt and dismantle criminal fraud
schemes that target our nation's social networks," said
Assistant Director Prudence Macgillicutty, FBI Criminal
Investigative Division.
From its inception until today, Operation Liar Liar has
successfully apprehended many offenders who have provided
false information in violation of terms of service. One
recent success put a 145 lb woman behind bars aftershe told
a potential suitor on Match.com that she only weighed 135.
Facebook user Joe Malone was sentenced to 16 months in
prison for fraudulently sending a chat message stating that
he could not attend a film date because he had to wash his
hair that evening. Subsequent investigation revealed the
truth -- he "just wasn't that into" his
"friend." Operation
Liar Liar also uncovered the latest chilling trend among
youth -- unauthorized access to the Google search engine,
which prohibits users under the age of legal consent. Even
the Obama administration has not escaped the fair
administration of justice. It turns out that Facebook's
"Barack Obama" was actually a junior aide in the White
House Communications Department.
For this complete press release:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* NSAdvice: Kinder, Gentler NSA Hires Advice Columnists to
Assist Spied-On Americans
Under the Obama Administration, the NSA hopes to soften its
image and improve public opinion concerning its warrantless
dragnet spying program--with a little help from Ann
Landers. The NSA has contracted with Landers and dozens of
other personal advice columnists, many of whom have been
laid off from their newspaper jobs as that media sector
continues to lag, to help provide advice to the millions of
ordinary Americans whose communications are continually
being intercepted by the secretive agency.
"Many Americans don't realize that the NSA is only
intercepting all of their phone calls, faxes, emails, IMs,
SMS messages, and web traffic in order to *protect* them,
and we hope that the new 'NSAdvice' program will help
educate the people about our protective mission," said NSA
Director Keith B. Alexander. "As our supercomputers sift
through all of your private communications for hints of a
terror plot, they can also spot when you're going through a
rough patch in your marriage, facing off with a serious
illness, or trying to decide whether to buy that new house.
Now, with our army of under-employed advice columnists, we
can act on that intelligence--and send you professional
advice targeted at your most private problems. Whether
you're struggling with personal debt, trying to lose
weight, or starting to suspect that your spouse may be
cheating, the NSA is here to help!"
For more on the NSA's illegal spying program:
http://www.eff.org/issues/nsa-spying
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
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* AP Sues Artist for Being Unable to Draw from Memory
The AP has brought a suit against the artist Shepard Fairey
for calling himself a political artist while being unable
to draw a realistic likeness of public figures from memory.
Fairey had previously sued AP to establish his fair use
rights to an AP news photograph he used as the basis for
his iconic "Hope" poster of then-presidential candidate
Barack Obama. AP has now filed counter-suit, claiming
Fairey has no right to produce posters in support of
politicians that he cannot draw without reference.
"Mr Fairey claims he is an artist with the right to comment
on public issues such as the presidential election," said
AP attorney Skip Stones. "But Mr. Fairey apparently
requires a photo to work from in order to create a lifelike
image of a public figure such as Mr. Obama. Clearly, he has
no business engaging in graphic political commentary of any
kind."
Mr. Fairey says that he attended the Pasadena College of
the Arts where he did in fact learn to draw from memory,
but his training was limited to Republican politicians then
in office. "I had never seen or heard of Barack Obama
before 2006, so I hadn't memorized his face yet," said the
artist.
However, Mr. Stones said Fairey was welcome to license an
image from the AP, so long as he could afford to do so.
"The next time he wants to comment on political events, he
should get permission from the subject of the work first
and request a photo shoot," said Stones. "If the politician
is somehow not available, Mr. Fairey can ask the AP
politely for permission to work from one of our photos --
along with a sizable licensing fee."
For more on Shepard Fairey and the AP:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/ap-uses-dmca-intimidate-hope-artist
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
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* Google Offers Free, Ad-Supported Kitchen Appliances
Google today announced a new line of high performance
kitchen appliances, available to US customers for free. The
catch? The announced range, refrigerator, and dishwasher
all include built in web-enabled cameras that monitor the
contents of each device and touch-screen LCD displays that
provide a stream of "relevant" advertisements. "Over the
lifetime of the appliance, we expect the advertising will
more than cover the cost of the product," said Google's
manager of advertising products Eileen Over. "Moreover,
because these are all Energy Star certified," added
Google's head of green initiatives Charlton Soylent, "this
new offering will move us toward the Obama Administration's
vision of a greener America."
When asked about privacy concerns, Ms. Over pointed out
that the cameras only monitor the contents of the
appliances (a camera-enabled range hood to monitor what's
cooking is reportedly in the works). As a result, no
information about what goes on in the kitchen would be
transmitted to Google. "This is no different than the
cameras we're putting inside the glove box of your
automobile," said Ms. Over. "Nothing to worry about."
For more on Google's behavioral advertising program:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/google-begins-behavioral-targeting-ad-program
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* Amazon Gives in to Author's Guild -- Again
Amazon's Kindle has once again stoked the ire of the
powerful Author's Guild with their recent addition of
public domain works to the list of titles now available to
Kindle readers. Lawyers for the Author's Guild said the
Kindle's ability to read non-copyrighted works is harming
the ability of living authors to profit from their works.
"If a Kindle owner can choose from the entire library of
human literature, with access to every book ever written,
how will living artists ever get read?" posited Author's
Guild lawyer John Dewey. "The Kindle's ability to read
works in the public domain is clearly a threat to living
authors' ability to make a living from their works."
Fortunately for living authors and the Author's Guild,
Amazon quickly backtracked. New versions of the Kindle's
operating software contain features that prevent works that
are not protected by copyright from being read on the
device.
Earlier this year, Amazon offered licensing fees to authors
whose works can be read by the the Kindle -- despite the
fact that no copyright laws were broken by the device's
text reading functions.
For more on Amazon's Kindle and the Author's Guild:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/02/does-authors-guild-want-sue-you-reading-aloud-your
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
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* EFF Offers Awards for Large Composite Numbers
Inspired by the attention its Cooperative Computing Awards
has brought to the power of collaboration to solve
difficult mathematics problems, EFF today announced a new
award. EFF will offer three increasing rewards of $6, $8,
and $12 to the persons or team who, working
collaboratively, can discover a world-record composite
number.
Composite numbers are those which are divisible by some
whole number other than themselves and one. Familiar
examples include 8, 100, 525, and 4294967296. Notably, all
even numbers greater than 2 are composite. Composite
numbers have important applications in engineering,
scientific research and even finance, where they are often
used to measure enormously large values with a high degree
of precision. Composite numbers are surprisingly common --
indeed, most numbers are composite -- but naming extremely
large composite numbers can become a daunting task.
However, throughout human history, the largest known
composite number has consistently been larger than the
largest known prime number. Indeed, this trend is likely to
continue. The world's largest known primes have for some
time been Mersenne primes; but to every Mersenne number
2^p-1 where p is a prime, there corresponds a larger
composite number 2^p-1+1.
In 2007, two philosophers competed in an event under the
auspices of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to
see who could name the largest number using only an
ordinary chalkboard. The winning number, found by Prof.
Adam N. Elga, was almost certainly composite.
"Huge composite numbers are all around us, but very few
people have ever even tried to name a number larger than a
googol," said EFF Staff Technologist Seth Schoen.
"Hopefully this contest will remedy that and maybe even set
a few records in the process."
A proof attributed to the Greek mathematician Euclid shows
that there is no largest composite number. Euclid suggests
multiplying all known whole numbers together and then
failing to add one. The result will be divisible by "lots
of stuff," and hence composite.
EFF's new awards program was established with funds found
under a couch cushion one day here at the EFF office.
Prospective claimants will -- as with EFF's Cooperative
Computing Awards -- need to publish their results in a
peer-reviewed scientific journal, including rigorous proof
that the numbers they are claiming are not prime. The proof
must also show that a claimed composite number is larger
than Prof. Elga's 2007 record. EFF also reserves the right
to require that claimants explicitly identity at least one
specific divisor of a claimed composite number.
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* Commonwealth of Kentucky Fails to Control Internet
The Commonwealth of Kentucky, rebuffed by a state court in
its unsuccessful attempt to assert control over the
Internet by trying to seize the domain names of
international web sites it doesn't like, has withdrawn its
lawsuit. This is the latest in a recent series of failed
technology-related initiatives by the Commonwealth,
including:
* An attempt to scuttle the rumored agreement that would
make the catalog of that hippie band "The Beatles"
available for digital purchase on iTunes.
* A proposed requirement that, for the love of God,
teenagers stop using confusing abbreviations and other
shorthand writing styles in their electronic communications
that state officials can't understand.
* A mandate that only one social networking site can be
"cool" in any calendar given year, and that state officials
be told by January 1st (a) what site that is, and (b) what
they should do with it.
For more on the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the Internet:
http://www.eff.org/cases/commonwealth-kentucky-v-141-internet-domain-names
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* PM Brown Announces the Permanent High Office of Hacking
and Tinkering in the Chancellory of the Exchequer
What with all the hubbub over President Barack Obama's DVD
box set naff gift to Prime Minister Gordon Brown being
region-coded and locked-out, Her Majesty's Government has
responded with the announcement of the Permanent High
Office of Hacking and Tinkering in the Chancellory of the
Exchequer (hereby known as PHOHTCE). Brown warned that this
was an urgent matter to be resolved by Thursday, at which
time the G-20 movie night will take place, adding
emphatically "and there's no need to bish bash bosh about
it."
The controversy made the papers when it was revealed that
"King Ralph," one of the classic American films included
in
the set, was not available in a Region 2 coded DVD, since
none of the discs were readable with the UK DVD players
available at 10 Downing Street. To avoid diplomatic
embarrassment as transatlantic relations grew tense over
differences in approach to economic stimulus, the Prime
Minister's office simply purchased new UK copies of all the
DVDs. Her Majesty the Queen's office, who had similarly
inquired about the availability of the movie in British
format when she was offered it as a gift from President
George W. Bush in 2004, had subsequently received a VHS
copy complementary from the London offices of the Motion
Picture Association (MPA).
Concerned about criticism over the narrow focus of the new
office, Prime Minister Brown reminded the press corps that
both Afghanistan and Iraq will be implementing
anti-circumvention provisions in their copyright laws in
the coming year as a priority of the United States Trade
Representative for the region. "This is the time for the
new generation to continue the heroic work of Bletchley
Park," referring to the World War II British codebreakers.
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
minilinks
~ YouTube Blocks China in Response to China Blocking
YouTube
According to YouTube general counsel Zahavah Levine, "They
started it!"
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
~ Uninteresting Boston Man Foils Google's New
"Interest-based Advertising" System
In a slow, lethargic deadpan, man claims to have seen only
one ad, stating "Error! Error! Does not compute!" prior to
a catastrophic computer crash in Mountain View, California.
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
~ ACTA "Laundry List" of Rightsholder Industry Demands Is
Actually a Laundry List
Items on the list include "plaid hipster jacket" and
"enormous brassiere."
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
~ Wikileaks Leaks All Over Itself
Staying true to its principles, the whistleblowing website
posted a link to a leak of its own sensitive donor
information.
http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/02/wikileaks-posts-leaked-list-of-wikileaks-donors.ars
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
Announcements
* Changes to EFF's Privacy Policy
To better serve our clients, customers, supporters, and
benefactors, EFF will from time to time alter our Privacy
Policy. As of April 1, 2009, the following minor changes
have been made:
1) In pages 1-30 of our Privacy Policy, delete "never" and
replace with "within a matter of hours."
2) For "sole and exclusive right throughout the universe,"
please substitute "multiverse" throughout.
3) Where "session cookie" appears, delete and replace with
"lloigor." "Deleted" should be replaced with "clumsily
re-animated."
4) In section 14.4, "shared with third-parties" should read
"sacrificed to Yog-Sothoth, Key and Guardian of the Gate."
"From time to time" is a typo and should read "For all ye
time immemorial."
5) Our Website no longer supports the Konqueror 3 browser.
Please update your own local copies, and destroy any
previous versions you may have made. If you have forwarded
our Privacy Policy and Website Terms of Service to other
individuals, please contact them and ask them to destroy
their outstanding versions. If they ask why, have them
killed. Our Privacy Policy and Website Terms of Service are
(c) 1989-2009 the Electronic Frontier Foundation AG
(Offshore Holdings), Principality of Liechtenstein.
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* Administrivia and EULA
EFFector is published by:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
http://www.eff.org/about
Editor:
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Membership & donation queries:
membership@eff.org
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End User License Agreement (EULA):
We've given up trying to explain the rules to you. Our team
of lawyers labors over every turn of phrase, deliberating
over each carefully chosen "if," "and," and "therefore" in
our EULA. But do you care? Do you even bother to read our
lovingly written fine, fine print? No, you don't.
Well, we're tired of it. It seems no matter how clear we
try to be with our long sentences and even longer
paragraphs in perfect legalese, you -- the public --
continue to ignore the small type and do whatever you damn
well please.
So if, after reading EULAs for most of your adult life, you
still believe you have the right to simply cut and paste
this text and use it for whatever devious purpose you can
come up with, then just go ahead. Really. GO RIGHT AHEAD!
We won't stop you. That's our new EULA. Just do it!
Were throwing in the towel. Because no matter how many
times we tell you that you CAN'T COPY, that it is ILLEGAL
to do so, that our ownership over the content covers the
work, secondary works, derivative works and all
interpretations of the work, throughout the universe in
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So just go ahead, copy this EFFector and paste the bits you
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ahead, take our ideas and run with them. Make them your
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A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424
In the 1,000,000th EFFector:
* New Look for EFFector!
* Congress Passes "Mickey's Law"
* FBI Announces Operation Liar Liar Pants Oon Fire
* NSAdvice: Kinder, Gentler NSA Hires Advice Columnists to
Assist Spied-On Americans
* AP Sues Artist for Being Unable to Draw From Memory
* Google Offers Free, Ad-Supported Kitchen Appliances
* Amazon Gives in to Author's Guild -- Again
* EFF Offers Award for Large Composite Numbers
* PM Brown Announces the Permanent High Office of Hacking
and Tinkering in the Chancellory of the Exchequer
* minilinks
* Changes to EFF's Privacy Policy
* Administrivia and EULA
For more information on EFF activities & alerts:
http://www.eff.org/
Make a donation and become an EFF member today!
http://eff.org/support/
Tell a friend about EFF:
http://action.eff.org/site/Ecard?ecard_id=1061
effector: n, Computer Sci. A pretentious word you should
never use in conversation.
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* New Look for EFFector!
As part of our policy to keep on the "frontier" of exciting
new Internet developments, starting next week we'll be
sending a special "effktr" edition to all subscribers from
whose personal information we can derive their Twitter
accounts and/or cellphone numbers. Effktr has all the news
and analysis you expect from EFFector, but with most of the
vowels taken out and the remaining text compressed to 140
characters or less. To give you an idea of what to expect,
here's what our "beta" effktr readers received last week:
OMG EFF GREP FBI, TSA, NSL! NIX TOR JAIL +! NIX CELL LOG
GANK! CNET AX SGHN! AXL N /- WTF? WRNR DMCA KIDS LOL! NO
MIL CYBER! ATT GET ACTA!
Our new service is opt-out: if you'd like to not receive
our new format, please email "tl;dr" to april1@eff.org by
the end of today.
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* Congress Passes "Mickey's Law"
It was the story that stirred a nation: one mouse,
kidnapped from his corporate family and ruthlessly
exploited by infringers, pirates, and decorative birthday
cake designers.
But after an unprecedented campaign by concerned
rightsholders across the nation, Mickey's experience has a
happy ending of sorts: "Mickey's Law," a new bill that will
make children's media safe from our most despicable
elements in society.
The law will protect innocent cartoon characters by
creating a national registry of "copyright offenders" to be
run jointly by the RIAA and MPAA. Anyone accused of
repeatedly downloading copyrighted files without permission
will be required to register themselves immediately and
notify the registry within 2 weeks each time they move IP
addresses. The law also bars them from residing in any
domicile located within 1000 feet of an open wifi
connection.
Mickey's Law was passed with bi-partisan support. Harry
Reid, Senate leader, introduced the bill with a moving
description of its intent: "We're not just doing this for
Mickey. We're doing it for the children. No, wait, we're
doing it *to* the children, as a result of enforcing the
children's contractually limited rights to their purchased
media."
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* FBI Announces Operation Liar Liar Pants on Fire
Targeting Myspace Terms of Service Violators
Washington, D.C. - The Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) today announced action against untold numbers of
Americans who have violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse
Act by providing false information to ySpace, Facebook,
Match.com and other Web 2.0 companies. These companies
require users to click through an agreement obligating them
to provide accurate, current and complete information when
registering and using the services. Earlier this year, the
Department of Justice successfully prosecuted Missouri
resident Lori Drew in federal court in Los Angeles for
unauthorized access to MySpace for providing false
information. In the aftermath of that conviction, the FBI
learned that hundreds, or thousands, or potentially
hundreds of thousands, are defrauding social networks and
ripping the social fabric by lying about themselves online.
The ongoing initiative, known as Operation Liar Liar Pants
on Fire, "reflects the FBI's mission and effort to
identify, target, disrupt and dismantle criminal fraud
schemes that target our nation's social networks," said
Assistant Director Prudence Macgillicutty, FBI Criminal
Investigative Division.
From its inception until today, Operation Liar Liar has
successfully apprehended many offenders who have provided
false information in violation of terms of service. One
recent success put a 145 lb woman behind bars aftershe told
a potential suitor on Match.com that she only weighed 135.
Facebook user Joe Malone was sentenced to 16 months in
prison for fraudulently sending a chat message stating that
he could not attend a film date because he had to wash his
hair that evening. Subsequent investigation revealed the
truth -- he "just wasn't that into" his
"friend." Operation
Liar Liar also uncovered the latest chilling trend among
youth -- unauthorized access to the Google search engine,
which prohibits users under the age of legal consent. Even
the Obama administration has not escaped the fair
administration of justice. It turns out that Facebook's
"Barack Obama" was actually a junior aide in the White
House Communications Department.
For this complete press release:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* NSAdvice: Kinder, Gentler NSA Hires Advice Columnists to
Assist Spied-On Americans
Under the Obama Administration, the NSA hopes to soften its
image and improve public opinion concerning its warrantless
dragnet spying program--with a little help from Ann
Landers. The NSA has contracted with Landers and dozens of
other personal advice columnists, many of whom have been
laid off from their newspaper jobs as that media sector
continues to lag, to help provide advice to the millions of
ordinary Americans whose communications are continually
being intercepted by the secretive agency.
"Many Americans don't realize that the NSA is only
intercepting all of their phone calls, faxes, emails, IMs,
SMS messages, and web traffic in order to *protect* them,
and we hope that the new 'NSAdvice' program will help
educate the people about our protective mission," said NSA
Director Keith B. Alexander. "As our supercomputers sift
through all of your private communications for hints of a
terror plot, they can also spot when you're going through a
rough patch in your marriage, facing off with a serious
illness, or trying to decide whether to buy that new house.
Now, with our army of under-employed advice columnists, we
can act on that intelligence--and send you professional
advice targeted at your most private problems. Whether
you're struggling with personal debt, trying to lose
weight, or starting to suspect that your spouse may be
cheating, the NSA is here to help!"
For more on the NSA's illegal spying program:
http://www.eff.org/issues/nsa-spying
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* AP Sues Artist for Being Unable to Draw from Memory
The AP has brought a suit against the artist Shepard Fairey
for calling himself a political artist while being unable
to draw a realistic likeness of public figures from memory.
Fairey had previously sued AP to establish his fair use
rights to an AP news photograph he used as the basis for
his iconic "Hope" poster of then-presidential candidate
Barack Obama. AP has now filed counter-suit, claiming
Fairey has no right to produce posters in support of
politicians that he cannot draw without reference.
"Mr Fairey claims he is an artist with the right to comment
on public issues such as the presidential election," said
AP attorney Skip Stones. "But Mr. Fairey apparently
requires a photo to work from in order to create a lifelike
image of a public figure such as Mr. Obama. Clearly, he has
no business engaging in graphic political commentary of any
kind."
Mr. Fairey says that he attended the Pasadena College of
the Arts where he did in fact learn to draw from memory,
but his training was limited to Republican politicians then
in office. "I had never seen or heard of Barack Obama
before 2006, so I hadn't memorized his face yet," said the
artist.
However, Mr. Stones said Fairey was welcome to license an
image from the AP, so long as he could afford to do so.
"The next time he wants to comment on political events, he
should get permission from the subject of the work first
and request a photo shoot," said Stones. "If the politician
is somehow not available, Mr. Fairey can ask the AP
politely for permission to work from one of our photos --
along with a sizable licensing fee."
For more on Shepard Fairey and the AP:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/ap-uses-dmca-intimidate-hope-artist
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* Google Offers Free, Ad-Supported Kitchen Appliances
Google today announced a new line of high performance
kitchen appliances, available to US customers for free. The
catch? The announced range, refrigerator, and dishwasher
all include built in web-enabled cameras that monitor the
contents of each device and touch-screen LCD displays that
provide a stream of "relevant" advertisements. "Over the
lifetime of the appliance, we expect the advertising will
more than cover the cost of the product," said Google's
manager of advertising products Eileen Over. "Moreover,
because these are all Energy Star certified," added
Google's head of green initiatives Charlton Soylent, "this
new offering will move us toward the Obama Administration's
vision of a greener America."
When asked about privacy concerns, Ms. Over pointed out
that the cameras only monitor the contents of the
appliances (a camera-enabled range hood to monitor what's
cooking is reportedly in the works). As a result, no
information about what goes on in the kitchen would be
transmitted to Google. "This is no different than the
cameras we're putting inside the glove box of your
automobile," said Ms. Over. "Nothing to worry about."
For more on Google's behavioral advertising program:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/google-begins-behavioral-targeting-ad-program
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* Amazon Gives in to Author's Guild -- Again
Amazon's Kindle has once again stoked the ire of the
powerful Author's Guild with their recent addition of
public domain works to the list of titles now available to
Kindle readers. Lawyers for the Author's Guild said the
Kindle's ability to read non-copyrighted works is harming
the ability of living authors to profit from their works.
"If a Kindle owner can choose from the entire library of
human literature, with access to every book ever written,
how will living artists ever get read?" posited Author's
Guild lawyer John Dewey. "The Kindle's ability to read
works in the public domain is clearly a threat to living
authors' ability to make a living from their works."
Fortunately for living authors and the Author's Guild,
Amazon quickly backtracked. New versions of the Kindle's
operating software contain features that prevent works that
are not protected by copyright from being read on the
device.
Earlier this year, Amazon offered licensing fees to authors
whose works can be read by the the Kindle -- despite the
fact that no copyright laws were broken by the device's
text reading functions.
For more on Amazon's Kindle and the Author's Guild:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/02/does-authors-guild-want-sue-you-reading-aloud-your
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* EFF Offers Awards for Large Composite Numbers
Inspired by the attention its Cooperative Computing Awards
has brought to the power of collaboration to solve
difficult mathematics problems, EFF today announced a new
award. EFF will offer three increasing rewards of $6, $8,
and $12 to the persons or team who, working
collaboratively, can discover a world-record composite
number.
Composite numbers are those which are divisible by some
whole number other than themselves and one. Familiar
examples include 8, 100, 525, and 4294967296. Notably, all
even numbers greater than 2 are composite. Composite
numbers have important applications in engineering,
scientific research and even finance, where they are often
used to measure enormously large values with a high degree
of precision. Composite numbers are surprisingly common --
indeed, most numbers are composite -- but naming extremely
large composite numbers can become a daunting task.
However, throughout human history, the largest known
composite number has consistently been larger than the
largest known prime number. Indeed, this trend is likely to
continue. The world's largest known primes have for some
time been Mersenne primes; but to every Mersenne number
2^p-1 where p is a prime, there corresponds a larger
composite number 2^p-1+1.
In 2007, two philosophers competed in an event under the
auspices of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to
see who could name the largest number using only an
ordinary chalkboard. The winning number, found by Prof.
Adam N. Elga, was almost certainly composite.
"Huge composite numbers are all around us, but very few
people have ever even tried to name a number larger than a
googol," said EFF Staff Technologist Seth Schoen.
"Hopefully this contest will remedy that and maybe even set
a few records in the process."
A proof attributed to the Greek mathematician Euclid shows
that there is no largest composite number. Euclid suggests
multiplying all known whole numbers together and then
failing to add one. The result will be divisible by "lots
of stuff," and hence composite.
EFF's new awards program was established with funds found
under a couch cushion one day here at the EFF office.
Prospective claimants will -- as with EFF's Cooperative
Computing Awards -- need to publish their results in a
peer-reviewed scientific journal, including rigorous proof
that the numbers they are claiming are not prime. The proof
must also show that a claimed composite number is larger
than Prof. Elga's 2007 record. EFF also reserves the right
to require that claimants explicitly identity at least one
specific divisor of a claimed composite number.
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* Commonwealth of Kentucky Fails to Control Internet
The Commonwealth of Kentucky, rebuffed by a state court in
its unsuccessful attempt to assert control over the
Internet by trying to seize the domain names of
international web sites it doesn't like, has withdrawn its
lawsuit. This is the latest in a recent series of failed
technology-related initiatives by the Commonwealth,
including:
* An attempt to scuttle the rumored agreement that would
make the catalog of that hippie band "The Beatles"
available for digital purchase on iTunes.
* A proposed requirement that, for the love of God,
teenagers stop using confusing abbreviations and other
shorthand writing styles in their electronic communications
that state officials can't understand.
* A mandate that only one social networking site can be
"cool" in any calendar given year, and that state officials
be told by January 1st (a) what site that is, and (b) what
they should do with it.
For more on the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the Internet:
http://www.eff.org/cases/commonwealth-kentucky-v-141-internet-domain-names
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* PM Brown Announces the Permanent High Office of Hacking
and Tinkering in the Chancellory of the Exchequer
What with all the hubbub over President Barack Obama's DVD
box set naff gift to Prime Minister Gordon Brown being
region-coded and locked-out, Her Majesty's Government has
responded with the announcement of the Permanent High
Office of Hacking and Tinkering in the Chancellory of the
Exchequer (hereby known as PHOHTCE). Brown warned that this
was an urgent matter to be resolved by Thursday, at which
time the G-20 movie night will take place, adding
emphatically "and there's no need to bish bash bosh about
it."
The controversy made the papers when it was revealed that
"King Ralph," one of the classic American films included
in
the set, was not available in a Region 2 coded DVD, since
none of the discs were readable with the UK DVD players
available at 10 Downing Street. To avoid diplomatic
embarrassment as transatlantic relations grew tense over
differences in approach to economic stimulus, the Prime
Minister's office simply purchased new UK copies of all the
DVDs. Her Majesty the Queen's office, who had similarly
inquired about the availability of the movie in British
format when she was offered it as a gift from President
George W. Bush in 2004, had subsequently received a VHS
copy complementary from the London offices of the Motion
Picture Association (MPA).
Concerned about criticism over the narrow focus of the new
office, Prime Minister Brown reminded the press corps that
both Afghanistan and Iraq will be implementing
anti-circumvention provisions in their copyright laws in
the coming year as a priority of the United States Trade
Representative for the region. "This is the time for the
new generation to continue the heroic work of Bletchley
Park," referring to the World War II British codebreakers.
For this complete post:
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
minilinks
~ YouTube Blocks China in Response to China Blocking
YouTube
According to YouTube general counsel Zahavah Levine, "They
started it!"
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
~ Uninteresting Boston Man Foils Google's New
"Interest-based Advertising" System
In a slow, lethargic deadpan, man claims to have seen only
one ad, stating "Error! Error! Does not compute!" prior to
a catastrophic computer crash in Mountain View, California.
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
~ ACTA "Laundry List" of Rightsholder Industry Demands Is
Actually a Laundry List
Items on the list include "plaid hipster jacket" and
"enormous brassiere."
http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01
~ Wikileaks Leaks All Over Itself
Staying true to its principles, the whistleblowing website
posted a link to a leak of its own sensitive donor
information.
http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/02/wikileaks-posts-leaked-list-of-wikileaks-donors.ars
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
Announcements
* Changes to EFF's Privacy Policy
To better serve our clients, customers, supporters, and
benefactors, EFF will from time to time alter our Privacy
Policy. As of April 1, 2009, the following minor changes
have been made:
1) In pages 1-30 of our Privacy Policy, delete "never" and
replace with "within a matter of hours."
2) For "sole and exclusive right throughout the universe,"
please substitute "multiverse" throughout.
3) Where "session cookie" appears, delete and replace with
"lloigor." "Deleted" should be replaced with "clumsily
re-animated."
4) In section 14.4, "shared with third-parties" should read
"sacrificed to Yog-Sothoth, Key and Guardian of the Gate."
"From time to time" is a typo and should read "For all ye
time immemorial."
5) Our Website no longer supports the Konqueror 3 browser.
Please update your own local copies, and destroy any
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End User License Agreement (EULA):
We've given up trying to explain the rules to you. Our team
of lawyers labors over every turn of phrase, deliberating
over each carefully chosen "if," "and," and "therefore" in
our EULA. But do you care? Do you even bother to read our
lovingly written fine, fine print? No, you don't.
Well, we're tired of it. It seems no matter how clear we
try to be with our long sentences and even longer
paragraphs in perfect legalese, you -- the public --
continue to ignore the small type and do whatever you damn
well please.
So if, after reading EULAs for most of your adult life, you
still believe you have the right to simply cut and paste
this text and use it for whatever devious purpose you can
come up with, then just go ahead. Really. GO RIGHT AHEAD!
We won't stop you. That's our new EULA. Just do it!
Were throwing in the towel. Because no matter how many
times we tell you that you CAN'T COPY, that it is ILLEGAL
to do so, that our ownership over the content covers the
work, secondary works, derivative works and all
interpretations of the work, throughout the universe in
perpetuity in any and all media, now known or hereafter
developed, you continue to trample on our IP rights.
So just go ahead, copy this EFFector and paste the bits you
want into your email browser or your blog or your Facebook
profile or what have you and share with your friends. Go
ahead, take our ideas and run with them. Make them your
own. See if we care.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Getting a HanDle on my video
Just discovered an online video-sharing site that can handle HD video. This will liberate the various AVCHD clips that have been imprisoned on my hard drive until now. Not least, I'll have a way to distribute them to my friends who have been patiently waiting for copies (Rich, this means you).
The only downside is that it'll take a while (days) to upload all the video I've already accumulated.
Here's the first of several... this is a silly little tour of the kitchen and family room taken on the first day I had my Canon HF10. Just testing the zoom and checking out the color fidelity and picture quality.
The only downside is that it'll take a while (days) to upload all the video I've already accumulated.
Here's the first of several... this is a silly little tour of the kitchen and family room taken on the first day I had my Canon HF10. Just testing the zoom and checking out the color fidelity and picture quality.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Electrical Trenching
Finally today the first work started that required a building permit. Since we don't have the full construction permit yet, only the electrical permit, that's what we started with. This works out fine since all the lines have to be in the ground before the hardscape (concrete, etc.) can go down. Detail Lighting with their usual good and friendly
crew trailered in a DitchWitch for the trenches.
The trick to this job was to avoid the underground irrigation pipe that runs across the back yard. When we got close we had to skip a few feet of DitchWitch-ing and dig by hand. Just for fun and a bit of exercise I got in there myself and did some digging and pickaxe work. We found an 18" diameter concrete pipe exactly 18" below grade (so 36" to the underside). Since additional clearance is required for the electrical lines, we had to dig down 48" to clear the bottom of the pipe before laying the conduit.
Brian also used the DitchWitch to trench in the shallower (12") runs for the low voltage landscape lighting.
City of Phoenix should be here tomorrow to inspect, then we can backfill and be ready for the next steps. Meanwhile the dogs have an obstacle course to run every time they go outside!
crew trailered in a DitchWitch for the trenches.The trick to this job was to avoid the underground irrigation pipe that runs across the back yard. When we got close we had to skip a few feet of DitchWitch-ing and dig by hand. Just for fun and a bit of exercise I got in there myself and did some digging and pickaxe work. We found an 18" diameter concrete pipe exactly 18" below grade (so 36" to the underside). Since additional clearance is required for the electrical lines, we had to dig down 48" to clear the bottom of the pipe before laying the conduit.
Brian also used the DitchWitch to trench in the shallower (12") runs for the low voltage landscape lighting.
City of Phoenix should be here tomorrow to inspect, then we can backfill and be ready for the next steps. Meanwhile the dogs have an obstacle course to run every time they go outside!
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