Phyrfight Intel

There was a recent protest at a Virgin Megastore, to inform consumers about Digital Rights Management (DRM). Check out the EFF for more info on DRM and all things legal.

Freeculture.org

The Broadcast Flag was struck down and now companies are beginning to
flood the market with HDTV tuners for PCs! This is good for all.

Read who’s putting out cards here.

This is an email from Daniel Miller

=======================

In the news today:

Iran, which insists its nuclear intentions are peaceful, remains unapologetic — and banners saying “Israel must be wiped off the map” were also seen outside Tehran University.

Other slogans used included “Peaceful nuclear energy is our legitimate right” and “The only way to combat the Zionist enemy is resistance and Jihad”.

But they promise they won’t use nuclear weapons. They’re calling it, “The Marshmallow Jihad”. They say they will wipe Israel off the map gently and peacefully.

OK, I made that part up.

D

_________________

Daniel Gene Miller

“The artist is not a different kind of person, but every person is a different kind of artist.” Eric Gill

This from Science@NASA is a risk analysis for a human mission to Mars. Very interesting.

NASA – Managing Murphy’s Law on Mars

Another Election Day in Iraq. Can Democracy defeat Terrorisim?

From Michael Yon

“I was in Baquba during the January elections. I’d hitched a ride with the US Army to a polling site. There were bombs exploding, mortars falling, and hot machine guns. The fact that the voting was going great despite the violence was something few people expected. When the soldiers dropped me off along with a CNN crew, they couldn’t believe we were willing to go alone. Neither could I.” (more)

The “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act” (S. 397) passed last week but the fight is far from over.

From the NRA

“S. 397 won’t become law until the House and Senate formalize their passage of the bill and send it to President Bush for signature. When he does, it will be the law of the land but just the beginning of another phase of the battle.

The gun-ban groups and their cronies in the courtrooms have vowed to fight this law, in the same courtrooms that have allowed their baseless lawsuits to proceed unchecked. They will search for the right judge and hand-picked jury, and they will attempt to have this law declared unconstitutional. The Brady Campaign has already announced its intention to challenge the law commenting “Congress can pass the bill, the president can sign it, but this shameful law will not stand.” If they succeed, all of our hard-fought progress will be immediately undone.

We must defend this law in every jurisdiction of the land. We must defend our gains from rollback. And we must continue our overarching mission, the defense of the Second Amendment, against new threats that have emerged.”

XBOX 360 at Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart is setting up XBOX 360 kiosks with playable games, and the link above will take you to a site listing XBOX 360 kiosk sightings.

IGN: Sony Announces PSP Giga Pack

That’s right. This November, the PSP will be available for purchase at $270 with everything that the current PSP bundle comes with plus, drumroll please…………………

A 1GB MEMORY STICK!

From the NRA-ILA

(Fairfax, VA) – Today the United States House of Representatives passed the “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act” (S. 397) by a bipartisan vote of 283-144. The legislation now moves to President Bush’s desk for his expected signature.

Commenting on the passage of this landmark legislation, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said, “This is an historic victory for the NRA. Freedom, truth and justice prevailed, and today S. 397 is one step closer to becoming the law of the land. No other industry is forced to defend themselves when a violent criminal they do not know, have never met and cannot control, misuses a legal non-defective product. American firearms manufacturers will now receive the same fair treatment.”

(more…)

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat Goes Gold

From EA
Monday 17 October 2005.

“This just in from the front lines, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat for the PS2 and Xbox has officially gone gold! The game will begin shipping to stores starting Tuesday, October 25, 2005.

The award-winning Battlefield franchise explodes onto the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, dropping players into the heat of battle with Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, an all original title in the Battlefield franchise. The game brings the over-the-top action and excitement of the Battlefield series into the modern era with a bleeding-edge arsenal of vehicles and weaponry allowing for the most extreme “Battlefield Moments” yet. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat features a propaganda-fueled single player campaign highlighting the new Hotswapping feature that keeps players in the middle of the action. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat also delivers the Battlefield franchise?s trademark multiplayer action, delivering fierce 24 player online battles. Fighting for one of 4 sides ? the , the European Union, the Chinese, or the newly formed Middle East Coalition -players armed with the latest modern weaponry can choose to control any of the 30+ vehicles in the game. “

Microsoft Announces Company’s First Cross-Platform Gaming Controller – Xbox

Teamxbox.com reported today that Microsoft’s soon-to-be-released Xbox 360 will feature a controller with a USB connector that will be interchangable with PCs running Windows XP.

New trucks that are extremely resistant to IEDs are replacing Humvees in Iraq. These are honkin’ pieces of equipment.

Wired

Injured Marine defies attackers
BY C. DAVID KOTOK
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
“RAMADI, Iraq – Once Marine Gunnery Sgt. Michael Burghardt realized he could wiggle his toes and fingers, he had one message for the insurgents who wounded him – defiance.

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Michael Burghardt "communicates" with his Iraqi attackers

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Michael Burghardt signals defiance at his Iraqi attackers after being injured by an improvised explosive device near Ramadi. Attending to the Marine were Nebraska 167th Cavalry members Spc. John Adams (far left, in front) of Hastings, Neb., and Pfc. Darin Nelson of Fremont, Neb.

Burghardt, of Huntington Beach, Calif., started his third tour in Iraq trying to beat the insurgents to the IEDs – improvised explosive devices – and disarm them before the insurgents could set them off.

As is often the case, Burghardt and his Explosive Ordnance Disposal team were accompanied to a bomb site Monday by the First Platoon, 167th Cavalry of the Nebraska National Guard.

One IED had blown up a Bradley fighting vehicle and killed a U.S. soldier. As often happens, the insurgents left behind more IEDs. Burghardt disarmed two bombs that were found – quick action that probably saved the lives of several Nebraska soldiers.

But he couldn’t get to a third.

When word spread that the third device had been found, 167th Capt. Jeff Searcey of Kearney, 1st Lt. Matthew Misfeldt of Omaha and their men hit the ground as a blast exploded skyward.

Burghardt was wounded.
(more…)

From Iran-Daily.com

SYDNEY, Australia, Aug. 24–Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told Wednesday to get out of Australia as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks, AFP reported.

A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown. Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state and its laws were made by parliament.

“If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you,“ he said on national television.
“I’d be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia, one the Australian law and another the Islamic law, that that is false.
“If you can’t agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country which practices it, perhaps, then, that’s a better option,“ Costello said.

Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked move to the other country. Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should “clear off“.

“Basically, people who don’t want to be Australians, and they don’t want to live by Australian values and understand them, well then they can basically clear off,“ he said. Muslim schools will have to denounce terrorism as part of an effort to stamp out home-grown extremism under measures announced after Howard’s meeting with 14 Islamic leaders Tuesday.

The prime minister called the meeting in the wake of last month’s London bombings by British-born Muslims, amid fears that Australia could be the target of a similar attack by disaffected members of its small Muslim community.

Wired 13.09: A Rotten Ruling

“…The Grokster ruling in June was just the latest example. The Court decided that “one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright … is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties.” Pundits bathed the Court in praise for its “sensible balance” between the demands of Hollywood and the pleas of technologists. The pundits are idiots. The Grokster case revealed the worst in Supreme Court ivory towerism. Astonishingly, hardly anyone noticed…

…Apple has sold about 15 million iPods, each capable of holding between 1,000 and 15,000 songs. Its iTunes music store has sold about 500 million songs for 99 cents each. That works out to only 30 songs or so per device. Does this surprise Apple? Did it really expect that people would buy a 60-gig iPod for $400 and then put $14,850 of music in it? No. Apple expected precisely what it advertised – that people would “Rip. Mix. Burn.” music from CDs to iTunes and, in turn, to their iPods. After all, as the ads say, “It’s your music.”

Well, is it? That’s still unclear. Congress passed a law to give consumers the right to copy music to analog devices – cassette tapes. But courts have held that that law does not extend to digital devices – iPods.And if it took a law (rather than the principle of fair use) to give you the right to make a mix tape, then, as many have argued, it takes a law to authorize transferring songs to an iPod…”

Wired 10.10: Lawrence Lessig’s Supreme Showdown
Lawrence Lessig helped mount the case against Microsoft. He wrote the book on creative rights in the digital age. Now the cyberlaw star is about to tell the Supreme Court to smash apart the copyright machine.

Once a “right-wing lunatic,” he’s become a fire-breathing defender of Net values.

FOXNews.com – U.S. & World – Program Teaching Kids About Guns Draws Fire

Australian scientists trap information in light.

Quantum Computers

Bungie.net : Top Story

“They’ve secured an Executive Producer to help guarantee the creative integrity and technical excellence of the Halo film.

And that Executive Producer’s name is Peter Jackson.

I’ll give you a second to process. If you’re having a strong, emotional reaction, don’t panic. When I heard the news it took me the better part of a day just to stop smiling.”

CNN Video confirms previous post about Lt. General Honoré at a New Orleans news conference.

From: The Political Teen

CNN video