crankymessiah wrote:
] ] LONDON, England (Reuters) -- An armada of small, faded
] ] yellow toy ducks is expected to make landfall in Britain
] ] within weeks at the end of an epic 11-year voyage from
] ] the Pacific Ocean.
] ]
] ] They are the survivors of a consignment of 29,000 bath
] ] toys washed overboard from a container ship in 1992 that
] ] have since floated across the ocean, round the United
] ] States, through the Arctic and past Greenland.

My first reaction when I saw this was, "hoax?" But I dug into it, and it seems to be real. There's a webpage here with links to the various stories about the ducks:
 http://www.seabean.com/duckies/

And a "beachcomber" site that even has an executable which tracks the locations of the ducks over time (it ran in full-screen mode on XP, though your mileage may vary on other OSes):

 http://www.beachcombers.org/images/images.htm
(click on North Pacific Toy Spill)

And here's a pic of one of the washed ashore ducks:
 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/31/eveningnews/main566138.shtml

In my mind's eye, I was picturing a flotilla of rubber ducks dotting the waves as far as the eye could see, but it's actually probably more like an asteroid field, where you could go days without seeing one, even if you're right in the center of "duck-density". ;)

Fun story!

RE: CNN.com - England braces for rubber duck invasion - Jul. 26, 2003

] The parents of Ghyslain Raza, the Quebec teenager who
] became a celebrity this spring after classmates posted on
] the Internet a video of him mimicking a Star Wars
] character, allege that their son was so humiliated by the
] experience that he had to get psychiatric care.
]
] The revelation is made in a lawsuit his parents have
] filed against the families of four classmates they accuse
] of maliciously turning their son into an object of
] mockery.
]
] The video of Ghyslain, a portly 15-year-old pretending he
] is wielding a double-bladed light sabre, has been
] downloaded millions of times from several Web sites,
] which dubbed him Star Wars Kid.
]
] Many other pranksters have created their own versions of
] the clip, with added video effects and sounds. One has
] him moving at fast-forward speed to goofy music from the
] Benny Hill Show. Other parodies were made with
] unflattering titles, such as Dork Clones, or mixed in
] with sounds of flatulence.
]
] In a statement of claim filed last week in their home
] town of Trois-Rivières, the Razas say that Ghyslain was
] so widely mocked at his private high school that he
] dropped out.
]
] He had to finish the session at Pavillon Arc-en-ciel, a
] ward specializing in child psychiatry at the
] Trois-Rivières Regional Hospital Centre.
]
] Ghyslain "will be under psychiatric care for an
] indefinite amount of time," the statement of claim says.

I didn't think the 4 kids should probably have been sued until I read the end of the article.

"While the video of Ghyslain's antics generated some derisive Internet comments, others felt bad and started raising money for him. One group collected more than $3,000 (U.S.), which they used to buy him an Apple iPod portable music player.

In the excerpts from Internet chats filed in court, the four appear to be plotting ways to get the gifts sent to another address so they can keep the iPod for themselves."

Little brats. Send 'em down the river.

Globetechnology

] With the record labels at war with online song swappers,
] PC users who wanted to go straight and do the right thing
] had no inexpensive, easy-to-use way to buy songs
] legitimately until today.
]
] Online retailer Buy.com, which sells computers, books,
] gadgets, CDs and DVDs, adds downloads to its mix today.
] BuyMusic.com will stock 350,000 songs for as little as 79
] cents each, though most sell for 99 cents or $1.19. All
] can be transferred to portables or burned to CDs.

But I hear the encryption scheme sucks, and if you make a coaster with Windows Media Player, which is what you have to use if you're not doing anything 'illegal' to the data you receive, you've used up one of your optional burns for that track. All in all it needs some work to be more user friendly.

Unlimited downloads are now PC

] The following questions and answers are being presented
] as a public service of RattleHead Records, to help people
] understand the New World Order as it is being created by
] the Universal Artists Group. The questions below seem
] irrelevant only because it is not the current reality;
] but sometime in the very near future, if these people
] remain unchallenged, it will be the reality.

Anyone want to comment on how true these statements may/may not be?

SDMI and You

] The movie industry announced a broad new anti-piracy
] public education campaign today, with commercials set to
] appear on all six broadcast television networks, more
] than two dozen cable channels and in 5,000 movie theaters
] nationwide.
]
] The ads are scheduled to launch at the same time on all
] participating channels during prime-time telecasts on
] Thursday. They also are slated to run between previews
] showing before Friday night's movies. Encompassing one
] 30-second and five 65-second spots, the campaign asks
] consumers not to digitally download unauthorized versions
] of movies they may find on the Internet.
]
] The spots feature actor Ben Affleck and "Titanic"
] director James Cameron, but they focus on
] behind-the-scenes movie employees, such as set painters,
] security guards, costumers, editors and theater
] concessionaires who make up the bulk of the industry's
] 580,000 workers. The point of the campaign is to persuade
] illegal downloaders that they are stealing paycheck money
] not just from multi-millionaire stars but from regular
] working folks -- folks like them.

Now, I understand that this may be the case. I sympathize with "the little guys." And when Hollywood puts out a film I like, I go to the theatre and see it, and later I buy it on DVD - I don't get a crappy pirated copy, I want quality. But if they're putting out the same old crap, well, I'm not going, and I'm not buying.

But this blatant heart-string-ing makes me ill. "Aw, look at these poor guys... but don't mind us millionaires/billionaires over here, though." If they really felt so bad about the little guy, they wouldn't fight union contracts so hard, and they'd be more open to independent filmmakers. And maybe some of these CEOs would take a pay cut to up the wages for the guys who aren't able to "put together 12 straight months" (from the article). There was a meme not too long ago about Keanu Reeves giving something like 75% of what he made back to his stunt crew because he didn't feel they were compensated enough - maybe Big Hollywood should take a cue.

Screw you, Big Hollywood. I don't buy your play.

Movie Industry Unveils Anti-Piracy Public Education Campaign (TechNews.com)

Hijexx wrote:
] MONTREAL — Metallica are taking legal action against
] independant Canadian rock band Unfaith over what they feel is
] unsanctioned usage of two chords the band has been using since
] 1982 : E and F.
]
] "People are going to get on our case again for this, but try
] to see it from our point of view just once," stated
] Metallica's Lars Ulrich. "We're not saying we own those two
] chords, individually - that would be ridiculous. We're just
] saying that in that specific order, people have grown to
] associate E, F with our music."

OK, that is truly ridiculous.

RE: Metallica Sue Canadian Band over E, F Chords

] George Evanthes has never been hunting. "Originally I'm
] from New York. What am I going to hunt? Squirrels?
] Someone's cats. Someone's dogs? I don't think so," said
] Evanthes. Now that he's living in Las Vegas , he's
] finally getting his chance to put on his camouflage, grab
] a rifle and pull the trigger, but what's in his scope may
] surprise you. He's not hunting ducks or even deer. He's
] hunting woman. Naked women.

What a great family sport. Especially for wife beaters.

Bizarre Game Targets Women: Hunting for Bambi: Parts 1 & 2

] Say you're a cook, or a nurse or the assistant manager of
] a store. You've worked more than 40 hours this week, so
] you're entitled to overtime pay, right?
]
] It's hardly that simple, and the Bush administration's
] proposed new rules on overtime pay raise all kinds of
] uncertainties about just who should be entitled to extra
] wages for extra work.
]
] The administration says its rules could cost 644,000
] workers the right to extra wages. Labor unions and
] Democrats say the real number is at least 8 million and
] maybe even higher.
]
] The truth is, nobody's sure precisely how many workers
] will be affected, largely because it's unclear what
] employers would do with the increased flexibility
] provided by rules that are arcane and broadly worded.

This adminstration really is all about screwing the working class, isn't it?

Overtime proposal creates confusion - Sunday, 07/13/03

] First Computer
]
] The abacus is invented in ancient Babylon, becoming the
] first primitive computing device. Eventually, people grow
] tired of sliding a bunch of stupid beads back and forth
] on a stick and resume beating each other senseless with
] sharp rocks and laughing at flatulent animals.

Right about 1990 this just turns absolutely hysterical. Invention of the cam whores.

TechTV | 'Unscrewed' Unofficial History of the Internet

cyantist wrote:
] ] Homeland Security Chokers made of Plexiglas and Sterling
] ] Silver - Now, you can finally express your own Personal
] ] Level of Security...
]
] Buy it now!!!

Only $250.00??? What a bargian!

LB

RE: Amazon.com -zShops: Homeland Security Choker Set (For US Customers)