Tuesday, May 21, 2002
Lazy days of Summer Faithful readers will note: katecohen.com is slowing down the publishing pace for May and June. Just got to be out in it for a while. Occasional posts will give way to daily entries again sometime in Mid-Summer. Thanks for reading.
Thursday, May 16, 2002
The latest lame-o to bitch about deep-linking: Rodale Press joins the ranks of publishing corporations displaying a profound and embarassing lack of understanding of the internet. The special twist of this story: The Rodale Press site in question actually contains deep links to the site of the guy they're threatening to sue. *sploink*
In case you didn't know seeing is no longer believing. MIT develops "video-realistic" technique for putting words in people's mouths.
Monday, May 13, 2002
The little humouse makes the elephantine patent office dance. A New York medical professor and his tech-critic partner force the US Patent Office to take a definitive stance on patenting human embryos.
Sunday, May 12, 2002
"State-of-the-art Internet skulduggery" Salon takes a twisted trip into the world of "malware," ads that actually install spyware on your pc without a single errant click.
Salon: How do you design a "keep out" sign that will last 10,000 years? Douglas Cruickshank muses about the government's monumetal plans for Yucca Mountain.
Wednesday, May 8, 2002
Rem Koolhaas designs a new flag for the EU. [via nwd]
Call forward In the next few years, hundreds of millions of discarded cell phones will introduce toxic metals and other harmful compounds into the environment. AP reports, these include persistent accumulating toxins – including arsenic, antimony, beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc – which have been have been associated with cancer and neurological disorders.
Don't want to be part of the problem? At Call To Protect, you can donate your de-activated phone to victims of domestic violence, providing them with a lifeline to emergency help. Collectivegood.com sends refirb-ed cell phones to third world countries or sells them for parts-harvesting with the proceeds going to a participating charity of your choice. You can mail in the goods or, in some instances, you can leave the phone at a local drop off. In any case, the cell phone donation is tax deductible. The recyclers/reusers provide a reciept.
Tuesday, May 7, 2002
Deregulation Death Star: An Enron memo describes strategies for The Empire's exploitation of California's energy market.
The real Axis of Just as Evil U.S. expands its list of evil states.
Monday, May 6, 2002
Bush administration to "unsign" International Court treaty.
Don't touch that dial! II - they're watching. Judge in copyright case orders Sonic Blue to spy on users by recording every click of Replay TV 4000 remotes.
Don't touch that dial! Jamie Kellner, Chairman and CEO of Turner Broadcasting says if you skip the ads in that television show you're watching (like for a bathroom break or to take a peek at what's going on at Food TV), then you're a thief. Lawmeme chimes in with a list of 10 new-century copyright crimes while covering more of Kellner's dangerous ideas.
Friday, May 3, 2002
Oldest known flower fossil found in China.
Ratbots. The Pentagon is developing remote controlled mine-sniffing/casualty recovery rats. [via fark]
F5 tornado swath as seen from space. Wow.
McDonald's cunning plan in Egypt: avoid a boycott by changing the chain's name. They love to see us smile. Hoist by its own uber-brand petard, what cloaking device could possibly hide a behemoth like Micki-D? [via new world disorder]
Thursday, May 2, 2002
ND(EC)P They call it a National Day of Prayer, but it reads a lot more like the National Day of (Evangelical Christian) Prayer. On this government-sanctioned day of intercession, Americans are expected to appeal to The Almighty for the good of the country. Can't come up with a prayer of your own? That's fine, former TV-minister – now Chaplain of the US Senate – Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie, is happy to step up to the plate to offer a prayer that calls on God, our nation's "sovereign" and "personal Lord and Savior," to bless the President and Congress with "supernatural power."
Ogilvie's God not your personal Lord and Savior? Supernatural power for government officials not number one on your prayer priority list? Brother, you are out of luck. Ogilvie's is the prayer that will be intoned from the steps, foyers and meeting rooms of government buildings in all 50 states today. The lion's share of these events -— like the one attended by members of the government in the Cannon Office Building in Washington DC -— are coordinated by the National Day of Prayer Task Force, a conservative Christian group housed at Focus on the Family offices in Colorado, which openly states that its efforts are "executed in alignment with its Christian beliefs." Jim Weidmann, vice chairman of the organization is frank about the group's Christian-only adgenda. He told The Los Angeles Times today, "If you mix [faiths], you are not holding true to the expressions you believe and we are trying to hold true to the Christian expression."
So what's the problem if these industrious and organized Christians have gone out and commandeered the governmental pulpit for the day? Let's look all the way back to the Founders as quoted this week by The Nation's James Corn:
... some founders were not keen on this sort of government promotion of religion. James Madison opposed governmental "religious proclamations" for several reasons, including, "They seem to imply and certainly nourish the erroneous idea of a national religion." And Thomas Jefferson, in an 1808 letter to the Reverend Samuel Miller, said, "Certainly, no power to prescribe any religious exercise, or to assume authority in religious discipline, has been delegated to the General Government." He was even against recommending a day of fasting and prayer. Doing so, he explained, would "indirectly assume to the United States an authority over religious exercises, which the Constitution has directly precluded them from." He was worried that even a suggestion from the government could be taken the wrong way: "It must be meant, too, that this recommendation [of a day of prayer] is to carry some authority, and to be sanctioned by some penalty on those who disregard it; not indeed of fine and imprisonment, but of some degree of proscription, perhaps in public opinion."
Risking a degree of proscription, I have to say, I don't talk to God anymore. Still, my completely un-sanctioned prayer for the nation would go something like this:
Gratitude fills my days in a country where I am not required to pray, where I might speak my mind, read what I wish, change the course of my life, move freely. Today, let me exemplify the best of the American Spirit in all that I do. Be smart, energetic, compassionate, engaged in civic life. Let me be ready and able to do my part.I embrace my fellow citizens as brothers in the Great Democratic Dream. In every instance let me concentrate on our human similarities, to respect our cultural differences.
I honor the Framers of the Constitution and I offer my support to our elected officials. May they have wise counsel, just hearts, able assistance, broad vision, unflagging energy, and hope for the future. Let power rest lightly upon them and be used always for the good of The People who invest them with authority. Let the knowlege that a prosperous nation must not be built on the de-humanizing suffering of others be universal in government. Together, let us show by bright example, that people from across the world can live together in peace, prosperity and freedom.
Can I hear an Amen from my evangelical brethren? (Don't worry, faithful readers, I am not holding my breath on this one.)
Wednesday, May 1, 2002
Backward Belo wants to block deep links to its Dallas Morning News site. This, despite good common sense and a U.S. District Court ruling that websites can legally provide links to any pages on all other sites. Belo is apparently upset that they can't force deep-linked readers to get the full-on, super exciting pop-under advertising experience provided when entering the DMN home page.
May Day Hooray! Over 1 million in France march against ultra-nationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen.