On the centenary of George Orwell’s birth, author William Gibson says that 1984 is not about the future. It’s not about the present. It’s about 1948. Technology delivers us away from Oceania towards a state of absolute informational transparency where invasion of privacy is democratised. Here, even the powerful find it difficult to keep secrets
TechTV, a United States-based cable television channel, is in talks with Foxtel about bringing its geeky content to Australia. Foxtel will need about 50 new channels for the network after it converts to digital transmission next year
For those of you who can’t wait for Saturday, 21 June for the fifth Harry Potter book to come out, amazon have whacked a free audio excerpt for you to listen to.
It’s 1:45 mins long so it’s a small excerpt and you’ll need a Real player. Yes there is a free version
Oscar-winning actor Gregory Peck, who just recently topped the American Film Institute’s list of all-time cinematic heroes for his portrayal of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, died overnight of undisclosed causes at his home in Los Angeles; he was 87
I was looking at my mate Ray‘s reading list today and noticed that he has some mighty fine and weighty tomes awaiting his attention. Mine, on the other hand, is more eclectic, quite likely to scare people on public transport and mostly full of crap.
I recently discovered two books that stopped most people from reading over my shoulder. The first was Jhonen Vasquez’s ultra cool Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. I also got a copy of Squee the other day but am yet to get stuck into it. I don’t know if it’s that I’m reading a graphic novel — bound collection of comics for the uninitiated — or the rather violent nature of the content that proves the perfect train neighbour foil.
The other title that causes people to cease eye contact and back away slowly is Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition by Barry Burg, a rather heavy going, but interesting, thesis about homosexual society in the seventeenth century. I found it in the bargain bin at the Co-op and couldn’t resist the title. I bought Howling Mad by Peter David and One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night by Christopher Brookmyre for the same reason. Give me a title that amuses me and I’ll buy your book.
Another reason I grab books is the artwork; To Reign in Hell by Steven Brust ended up in the collection that way, as did Catspaw by Joan Vinge and Roofworld by Christopher Fowler.
Despite the random nature of picking new books by their title or artwork, it has never led me wrong and has ensured that I will likely end up in debt as it keeps adding amazing authors like Chris Brookmyre and Chris Fowler to my must have reading list. Unlike some scary encounters that were recommendations by friends; Bloody Bones by Laurell Hamilton was dross made even more unbearable by never ending wardrobe descriptions, A Song of Stone by Iain Banks was self-obsessed waffle, but the most god awful thing I ever read was Grunts! by Mary Gentle which led me to believe that Americans understand neither parody nor satire. Fortunately recommendations are usually of the good kind and have led me to brilliant authors like Neil Gaiman and William Gibson.
Movies are another source of reading material. Queen Margot made me curious enough to seek out the little known La Reine Margot by Alexandre Dumas — I liked the darkness and the violence of the film over the politics and social niceties of the book. Roman Polanski’s gorgeous The Ninth Gate made me hunt down Arturo Perez-Reverte’s The Club Dumas, which I couldn’t find locally. I kind of lost the plot at the end of the film, so I’m hoping the book will fill in the blanks when I’ve finished it.
Then there’s always the piles of reference books kicking around my place, the last two were Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL by Kevin Yank and Inkle Weaving by Helene Bress. Make of that pairing what you will.
I really really need more bookshelves.
George Ziemann’s last installments of his series on Thomas Edison, Intellectual Property and the Recording Industry
show that the controllers of the media bullied folk back then as they do now — and it didn’t work; The Industry Evolves, Copyright and the Grand Illusion and Bringing the Past Into the Present
A shot-for-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark was filmed in Biloxi, Mississippi between 1982 and 1988 by Eric Zala, Jayson Lamb and Chris Strompolis. What’s particularly amazing is that the trio began filming the project when they were twelve and finished six years later when they were eighteen. The complete film isn’t available online, but a trailer that gives a bit of the feel of the finished project is available — via Slashdot
Unable to sue file-sharing networks into submission, the music industry is stepping up its campaign to instil fear and frustration among the people who use them to copy songs free
Simone Pain will not be appearing tonight as mentioned in previous entry today.
Ms Pain will be doing her thing on 16 June at the Empire Hotel, 8:00pm.
So don’t turn up tonight if you want to see her. Because she won’t be there. But there will be other australian female artists to see.
Empire Hotel, Cnr Parramatta Rd and Johnston Street, Annandale.
George Ziemann has two excellent articles that explore the early days of the recording and music industry and how their attempts to monopolise their respective mediums in the past failed. The Dawn of Recorded Music and the First Pirates focuses on early collusion in the phonograph industry and Music, Movies and Monopoly on Thomas Edison’s failed attempts to restrain fair trade in the two new media he gave commercial rise to — via Slashdot
For those looking for some kick arse live entertainment tonight I recommend you get yourself to the Empire Hotel for it’s Pop Tarts
show, showcasing australian female artists/musicians. More specifically 8-ish to 8:30-ish to see Simone Pain whose musical style is so very not pop — and she herself is not a tart.
So go see Simone Pain, 2 June 8:00pm ’til 8:30 at the Empire Hotel, corner Parramatta Road and Johnston Street, Annandale.
The man behind the no-frills airline easyJet is opening a low-cost cinema — easyCinema — along the same lines. But you won’t be able to see the hotly-awaited Matrix sequel there, yet
Imagine if superheroes insisted on weekly production meetings before saving the city…
ADV Films has just announced the production of a live action movie based on many people’s favourite anime series of all time, Neon Genesis Evangelion. Special Effects will be developed by Weta Workshop — via Slashdot
Sometimes life imitates art, well, Red Dwarf at any rate:
Rimmer: We can’t afford to take any chances. Jump up to red alert.
Kryten: Are you sure, sir? It does mean changing the bulb.
Perhaps the US government should put more thought into the message they want to convey with their terror alerts. Maybe a nice magenta or chartreuse would do the job.
Or maybe I watch way too much television.
Blockquote from William Gibson’s blog:
WASHINGTON POST STYLE has a contest in which readers submit instructions for doing various things, their choice, as written by famous authors. Jeff Brechlin of Potomac Falls recently won for the following, for wonderfully obvious reasons:
The Hokey Pokey (as written by W. Shakespeare)
O proud left foot, that ventures quick within
Then soon upon a backward journey lithe.
Anon, once more the gesture, then begin:
Command sinistral pedestal to writhe.
Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke,
A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl.
To spin! A wilde release from Heavens yoke.
Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the poke — banish now thy doubt
Verily, I say, ’tis what it’s all about.
Mac users rejoice: as my first experiment with Java, I’ve written a half-arsed port of the classic Windows game Minesweeper.
You can download the source as a zip archive here, or post a comment if you’d prefer a tarball.
It’s not an applet, so you might need a JDK to run it. Have fun.
Interesting case. Pete Townshend had informed authorities about what he was doing and why before he checked out the site and they didn’t give a shit until someone in America at a later date busts the company involved and trolls through their records.
He went about it the wrong way, but is there anyone else bothering to even check these sites? The cops are underfunded, poorly equipped and rarely have the manpower — let alone the appropriately trained personnel — to do it properly.
Without signing in there is no way of knowing anything about the site. Are the photos real? Are kids being abused and, if so, do the photographs provide clues that could help find the children? Are they photoshopped images? Are they just photos of kids playing in the park? Was it a scam to part you from your money? Is it a sting operation?
As signing up for the service would almost certainly direct to another domain, it may be the only way to connect to the people behind the operation. And naming these people publicly may be enough to stop them.
As I said, not the smartest thing to attempt. But there is no public record I know of — haven’t bothered looking — notifying everyone that your neighbour Bob is running a kiddie porn operation from his basement.
A dangerous thing to do if you happen to get the details wrong and Bob is just the unlucky guy who inherited an old phone number or domain from the real perpetrator. It also puts you in the same league as the brain donors who publicly list the details of doctors they believe perform abortions in the hope some loose cannon will off them.
Tangentially, I was channel surfing last night and ran across The Tin Drum, a world renown film about a boy whose response to the passive acceptance of Nazism in Germany by those around him is to refuse to grow up. Amazing movie. Interestingly enough, this film has at times been banned in parts of the US for obscenity and child pornography.
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