]... The electronics industry's attitude toward the labels is summed
] up by an Apple slogan: Rip. Mix. Burn. Which, a music industry
] executive once told me, translates into "Fuck you, record labels"

A bunch of articles this month on this... the one on Sony is
particularly interesting -- the interests of its electronics and music units are inherently in conflict.

Apparently, Sony is getting ready to unveil a new version of
their OpenMG DRM tech at CES; they want to get some groundswell
and support from the rest of the industry before Palladium
gets into full swing. dmv notes that Sony has not been
really successful at this in the past.

CD sales were down 11% last year. I'd really like to see the
real breakdown as to how much is due to Kazaa and friends,
how much is due to the economy and how much is due to the
industry's product being increasingly poor.

Rip, Mix, Burn: The Fall of the Music Industry (Wired 11.02)

] "If having two discs filled with amazing special features
] wasn't enough, the four-disc Extended Edition of The
] Fellowship of the Ring features two very cool Easter Eggs
] that just add to the awesomeness of the set."

On Disk 1 of the 4-disc set, go to "Scene Selection", then "Council of Elrond," then press the down arrow to get to a special "ring" icon at the bottom of the screen. Select it to get a very funny spoof of the Council scene. :)

Two words: Prince Albert. This was hilarious. Go rent it if you don't own it yet.

LotR DVD Easter Eggs

Master of Orion III coming to a theater near you. Oh my god, this is going to waste my time....

Apolyton Civilization Site: Master of Orion III: In-House Preview: Page 1

] "The government is trying to paint a picture of
] terrorism, but these dentists, lawyers and high-tech
] workers are not the terrorists," she said. "Not the ones
] who willingly go the INS office for a six-hour
] registration process."

Fallout from last month's mass detention... 3 Canadians working in Silicon Valley were detained for a week because they got their dates screwed up. INS is catching a fair amount of hell in the press.

[ American Racism at work. --Rek ]

3 tech workers freed after INS detention / Bay Area men face deportation hearings

] "Jon Lech Johansen has been acquitted of all charges in a
] trial that tested the legality of the DeCSS DVD
] decryption utility he produced, Norwegian paper
] Aftenposten reports."

Jon Johansen Freed

Rock on Leonard!

The ballad of Bilbo Baggins

] ""The Defense Department claims 12 nations with nuclear
] weapons programs, 13 with biological weapons, 16 with
] chemical weapons, and 28 with ballistic missiles as
] existing and emerging threats to the United States. But
] only one of those countries sits atop the second largest
] oil reserves in the world."
]
] # Charles Peña, Senior Defense Policy Fellow of the Cato
] Institute, for The Chicago Tribune
]
] NEW YORK--The American invasion of Iraq promises to be a
] blockbuster. They've designed the logos, focus-grouped
] the test audiences, and run the trailers. At this late
] date Bush wouldn't dare disappoint us with a boring old
] peace agreement. There's just one thing still missing
] from the script: the happy ending."
]
] "What about oil?"

IRAQ: ANOTHER FAKE LIBERATION

Apple has just announced a number of new products, including 12 and 17 inch powerbooks (one too small, and the other too large?), updates for iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie which allow them to interoperate more easily, and a new web browser. The web browser, linked here, is the most important development IMHO, as the existing browsers all have various problems. Of course, I have yet to download it. I'll edit this comment when I've had a chance to try it out.

MacOSX & Apple Rock!

Apple - Safari

Decius wrote:
] Apple has just announced a number of new products, including
] 12 and 17 inch powerbooks (one too small, and the other too
] large?), updates for iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie which allow
] them to interoperate more easily, and a new web browser. The
] web browser, linked here, is the most important development
] IMHO, as the existing browsers all have various problems. Of
] course, I have yet to download it. I'll edit this comment when
] I've had a chance to try it out.

Wh00p! Hurray! I'd love a 17" powerbook. That's what I want out of a laptop: A portable desktop.

RE: Apple - Safari

] A Norwegian teenager who helped crack a code meant to
] protect the content of DVDs won full backing from an Oslo
] court on Tuesday. The court acquitted him on all charges,
] a ruling that comes as a crushing blow to public
] prosecutors and entertainment giants.

Aha! Take that MPAA!

'DVD Jon' Scores Huge Legal Victory