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walktalker · 10-05-02, 03:38 PM

Hey, Who's That Face in My Song?
Back in the old days of vinyl records, pop groups like The Beatles and Black Sabbath were accused of sneaking satanic messages into songs, which could only be heard when the music was played backward. Now it seems one of the world's most popular electronic musicians has discovered the modern digital equivalent. Aphex Twin, who has been described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music," appears to have sneaked the digital image of a devilish face into at least one of his songs.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,52426,00.html

A Wearable Aid for Special Kids
Jeremy Rossiter was not able to speak when he first entered Lisa Zverloff's class for the multiple-handicapped. The third-grader, who is autistic, communicated by hitting and biting. His success story propelled Xybernaut, the manufacturer of the wearable computer, into a new market. But with the help of a wearable computer, Jeremy learned to mimic, then utter, words and small phrases.
http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,52148,00.html

Call His Testimony a MStake
What a difference a word makes. As nine states press for stronger antitrust penalties against Microsoft, the embattled company has staunchly maintained that its fiercest rivals -- such as AOL Time Warner, Palm and Sun Microsystems -- essentially "developed" many provisions of the states' 42-page proposed sanctions (PDF) for their own benefit. But University of Virginia professor Kenneth Elzinga, whom Microsoft summoned for its defense, dismissed that longstanding argument in federal court on Thursday. Under cross-examination from states' attorney Steven Kuney, Elzinga downplayed the role that Microsoft's competitors may have played in developing the proposed sanctions.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,52439,00.html

Dirty Sites Jittery After Ruling
A federal court judge is sending shockwaves through the cyberporn industry by suggesting the companies that limit access to dirty pictures on the Internet could be held liable for illegal content on the websites they protect. Adult Check, which bills itself as the world's largest "adult verification system," (AVS) followed an order by U.S. Federal Court Judge Lourdes Baird on Monday and dropped support for thousands of nude celebrity websites. Other AVS companies are expected to follow in the wake of a lawsuit that puts Adult Check on the defensive against a high-toned porn magazine and its unlikely ally, Britney Spears.
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,52429,00.html

Amy Grant Spams a Sour Note
Jesus preached the gospel of turning the other cheek, but what would he have said about spam? Fans of superstar Christian singer Amy Grant have been eagerly awaiting the release of her 17th album, Legacy, Hymns & Faith. What they haven't been eagerly awaiting is the marketing campaign that Grant's record label, Word Records, is unleashing upon them.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,52435,00.html

Pop-Pop-Pop-Pop-Culture Video
Jimi Hendrix plays guitar, Meryl Streep's on violin, Ella Fitzgerald sings and someone's playing piano, but only his hands are visible. They're just a few of the hundreds of actual and acting musicians who appear, however briefly, in artist Christian Marclay's Video Quartet, a new digitally synchronized DVD installation that's currently enthralling art mavens and music lovers alike at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The concept is simple -- four simultaneous clips of music making sampled from Hollywood movies are projected on the wall, their combined sound forming a new piece of experimental music, with an inextricable visual component.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,52031,00.html

Europe's MS sanctions to be wide-ranging, long-taking
Europe is likely to impose tougher measures on Microsoft than those proposed in last year's MS-DoJ deal in the US, according to a story in today's Financial Times. Citing "people familiar with the case" the piece claims regulators are studying "wide-ranging" measures to be taken against the company. It's not entirely clear what these measures are, but they would appear to include the unbundling of Media Player and substantial disclosure of technical data on Windows. If the former is required, then presumably the Competition Commission will demand it as a part of a more general removal of middleware. Removal, rather than simply hiding, has been one of the things Microsoft has fought hardest against in the US case.
http://www.theregus.com/content/4/24916.html

Tiny Triumph for Science
Scientists have for the first time used the power of light to create mechanical energy for a microdevice, making a single molecule of plastic drive a tiny machine. The experiment could have important implications for the field of nanotechnology, which seeks to miniaturize machines and mechanisms to an atomic or molecular scale. "We know [the machine] works pretty well," said researcher Hermann E. Gaub. "Miniaturization drives progress."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...-2002May9.html

Britain faces TV test of IQ
The UK's IQ will be tested via interactive television and the internet on Saturday night. The BBC hopes millions of people will watch and participate in the Test the Nation programme. The results, along with those from studio-based tests of population sub-groups, will reveal, the BBC says: "where the cleverest people in the UK live. Who are the brainiest football supporters? Are blondes really dumb? "However Colin Cooper, an expert on psychological testing at Queen's University, Belfast, who created the 70-item IQ test for the BBC, told New Scientist: "They have to do that sort of thing for televisual appeal - but I wish they weren't."
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992270

In Artist's Freeway Prank, Form Followed Function
What more could an artist want? An unusual medium. A chance to take a jab at the establishment. An almost endless audience, speeding to see the work. Richard Ankrom created that enviable milieu above an unlikely canvas -- the Harbor Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. For two years, the rail-thin artist planned and prepared for his most ambitious project, a piece that would be seen by more than 150,000 motorists per day on the freeway, near 3rd Street.
http://latimes.com/news/local/la-050902artist.story

LSU Sues Law Student Over Web Site
Douglas Dorhauer has a tiger by the tail. The second-year student at Louisiana State University's law school is the target of a trademark infringement lawsuit by the school because he operates a Web site called LSULAW.com. The school's lawsuit, which is documented on Dorhauer's site, alleges that his use of the registered mark "LSU" creates a "mental association" with the school.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176519.html

AOL Follows Trillian's Lead In Encrypted Messaging
Imitating a competitor it has attempted to block customers from using, America Online said it will soon add a new security feature to its AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) product. The feature will enable encryption of the messages sent between users of a new premium AOL service called "Enterprise AIM," a test version of which will be rolled out soon, according to AOL officials.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176517.html

Jupiter Analyst, RIAA Trade Barbs Over P2P Findings
The industry group representing the five major music labels this week blasted a Jupiter Media Metrix report on peer-to-peer file sharing, issuing its own data to "refute" Jupiter's conclusion that Internet song-swapping, on balance, is good for the music industry. Jupiter reported in late April that experienced online song-swappers are more likely to buy new music than average music fans, not less. The data was culled from a June 2001 survey of more than 3,000 adult online music listeners.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176497.html

Man Gets 12 Years In 'Candyman' Child-Porn Sweep
A Georgia man who photographed his sexual molestation of young boys and then distributed the images on the Internet has been sentenced by a federal court to more than 12 years in prison. The punishment meted out Wednesday to 19-year-old Robert William Burford of Lawrenceville brought an end to a case that was part of an ongoing Internet child-pornography sweep federal officials call 'Operation Candyman.'
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176496.html

House Panel OKs Morphed Kid Porn Ban
A House subcommittee today approved legislation that would criminalize the distribution of images that have been digitally "morphed" to look like child pornography. By voice vote, the Judiciary Committee's Crime Subcommittee passed the "Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act of 2002." Proposed by Crime Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and backed by Attorney General John Ashcroft, the legislation was introduced in response to a Supreme Court ruling that voided a 1996 prohibition on morphed child porn.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176495.html

Patent Office Battles Paper Tiger
By necessity, electronic government means less reliance on paper. But as one federal agency that's taken the lead in e-government is learning, offloading the stuff can be as difficult as curbing dependence on it. Fresh from its transition to an electronic filing system, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is embarking upon a controversial plan to dispose of an estimated 135 million documents - literally tons of paper - chronicling more than 200 years of innovation.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176493.html

More news later on

10-05-02, 03:38 PM	#2
walktalker The local newspaper man Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Montreal Posts: 2,036	Hey, Who's That Face in My Song? Back in the old days of vinyl records, pop groups like The Beatles and Black Sabbath were accused of sneaking satanic messages into songs, which could only be heard when the music was played backward. Now it seems one of the world's most popular electronic musicians has discovered the modern digital equivalent. Aphex Twin, who has been described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music," appears to have sneaked the digital image of a devilish face into at least one of his songs. http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,52426,00.html A Wearable Aid for Special Kids Jeremy Rossiter was not able to speak when he first entered Lisa Zverloff's class for the multiple-handicapped. The third-grader, who is autistic, communicated by hitting and biting. His success story propelled Xybernaut, the manufacturer of the wearable computer, into a new market. But with the help of a wearable computer, Jeremy learned to mimic, then utter, words and small phrases. http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,52148,00.html Call His Testimony a MStake What a difference a word makes. As nine states press for stronger antitrust penalties against Microsoft, the embattled company has staunchly maintained that its fiercest rivals -- such as AOL Time Warner, Palm and Sun Microsystems -- essentially "developed" many provisions of the states' 42-page proposed sanctions (PDF) for their own benefit. But University of Virginia professor Kenneth Elzinga, whom Microsoft summoned for its defense, dismissed that longstanding argument in federal court on Thursday. Under cross-examination from states' attorney Steven Kuney, Elzinga downplayed the role that Microsoft's competitors may have played in developing the proposed sanctions. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,52439,00.html Dirty Sites Jittery After Ruling A federal court judge is sending shockwaves through the cyberporn industry by suggesting the companies that limit access to dirty pictures on the Internet could be held liable for illegal content on the websites they protect. Adult Check, which bills itself as the world's largest "adult verification system," (AVS) followed an order by U.S. Federal Court Judge Lourdes Baird on Monday and dropped support for thousands of nude celebrity websites. Other AVS companies are expected to follow in the wake of a lawsuit that puts Adult Check on the defensive against a high-toned porn magazine and its unlikely ally, Britney Spears. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,52429,00.html Amy Grant Spams a Sour Note Jesus preached the gospel of turning the other cheek, but what would he have said about spam? Fans of superstar Christian singer Amy Grant have been eagerly awaiting the release of her 17th album, Legacy, Hymns & Faith. What they haven't been eagerly awaiting is the marketing campaign that Grant's record label, Word Records, is unleashing upon them. http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,52435,00.html Pop-Pop-Pop-Pop-Culture Video Jimi Hendrix plays guitar, Meryl Streep's on violin, Ella Fitzgerald sings and someone's playing piano, but only his hands are visible. They're just a few of the hundreds of actual and acting musicians who appear, however briefly, in artist Christian Marclay's Video Quartet, a new digitally synchronized DVD installation that's currently enthralling art mavens and music lovers alike at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The concept is simple -- four simultaneous clips of music making sampled from Hollywood movies are projected on the wall, their combined sound forming a new piece of experimental music, with an inextricable visual component. http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,52031,00.html Europe's MS sanctions to be wide-ranging, long-taking Europe is likely to impose tougher measures on Microsoft than those proposed in last year's MS-DoJ deal in the US, according to a story in today's Financial Times. Citing "people familiar with the case" the piece claims regulators are studying "wide-ranging" measures to be taken against the company. It's not entirely clear what these measures are, but they would appear to include the unbundling of Media Player and substantial disclosure of technical data on Windows. If the former is required, then presumably the Competition Commission will demand it as a part of a more general removal of middleware. Removal, rather than simply hiding, has been one of the things Microsoft has fought hardest against in the US case. http://www.theregus.com/content/4/24916.html Tiny Triumph for Science Scientists have for the first time used the power of light to create mechanical energy for a microdevice, making a single molecule of plastic drive a tiny machine. The experiment could have important implications for the field of nanotechnology, which seeks to miniaturize machines and mechanisms to an atomic or molecular scale. "We know [the machine] works pretty well," said researcher Hermann E. Gaub. "Miniaturization drives progress." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...-2002May9.html Britain faces TV test of IQ The UK's IQ will be tested via interactive television and the internet on Saturday night. The BBC hopes millions of people will watch and participate in the Test the Nation programme. The results, along with those from studio-based tests of population sub-groups, will reveal, the BBC says: "where the cleverest people in the UK live. Who are the brainiest football supporters? Are blondes really dumb? "However Colin Cooper, an expert on psychological testing at Queen's University, Belfast, who created the 70-item IQ test for the BBC, told New Scientist: "They have to do that sort of thing for televisual appeal - but I wish they weren't." http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992270 In Artist's Freeway Prank, Form Followed Function What more could an artist want? An unusual medium. A chance to take a jab at the establishment. An almost endless audience, speeding to see the work. Richard Ankrom created that enviable milieu above an unlikely canvas -- the Harbor Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. For two years, the rail-thin artist planned and prepared for his most ambitious project, a piece that would be seen by more than 150,000 motorists per day on the freeway, near 3rd Street. http://latimes.com/news/local/la-050902artist.story LSU Sues Law Student Over Web Site Douglas Dorhauer has a tiger by the tail. The second-year student at Louisiana State University's law school is the target of a trademark infringement lawsuit by the school because he operates a Web site called LSULAW.com. The school's lawsuit, which is documented on Dorhauer's site, alleges that his use of the registered mark "LSU" creates a "mental association" with the school. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176519.html AOL Follows Trillian's Lead In Encrypted Messaging Imitating a competitor it has attempted to block customers from using, America Online said it will soon add a new security feature to its AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) product. The feature will enable encryption of the messages sent between users of a new premium AOL service called "Enterprise AIM," a test version of which will be rolled out soon, according to AOL officials. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176517.html Jupiter Analyst, RIAA Trade Barbs Over P2P Findings The industry group representing the five major music labels this week blasted a Jupiter Media Metrix report on peer-to-peer file sharing, issuing its own data to "refute" Jupiter's conclusion that Internet song-swapping, on balance, is good for the music industry. Jupiter reported in late April that experienced online song-swappers are more likely to buy new music than average music fans, not less. The data was culled from a June 2001 survey of more than 3,000 adult online music listeners. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176497.html Man Gets 12 Years In 'Candyman' Child-Porn Sweep A Georgia man who photographed his sexual molestation of young boys and then distributed the images on the Internet has been sentenced by a federal court to more than 12 years in prison. The punishment meted out Wednesday to 19-year-old Robert William Burford of Lawrenceville brought an end to a case that was part of an ongoing Internet child-pornography sweep federal officials call 'Operation Candyman.' http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176496.html House Panel OKs Morphed Kid Porn Ban A House subcommittee today approved legislation that would criminalize the distribution of images that have been digitally "morphed" to look like child pornography. By voice vote, the Judiciary Committee's Crime Subcommittee passed the "Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act of 2002." Proposed by Crime Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and backed by Attorney General John Ashcroft, the legislation was introduced in response to a Supreme Court ruling that voided a 1996 prohibition on morphed child porn. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176495.html Patent Office Battles Paper Tiger By necessity, electronic government means less reliance on paper. But as one federal agency that's taken the lead in e-government is learning, offloading the stuff can be as difficult as curbing dependence on it. Fresh from its transition to an electronic filing system, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is embarking upon a controversial plan to dispose of an estimated 135 million documents - literally tons of paper - chronicling more than 200 years of innovation. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176493.html More news later on __________________ This post was sponsored by Netcoco, who wants cookies, cookies, cookies and, you guessed it, more cookies