Sony goes for the Louis Renault award

They're shocked, shocked to find that they were selling CDs that included rootkit software!

Sony BMG Music Entertainment is suing a company that developed antipiracy software for CDs, claiming the technology was defective and cost the record company millions of dollars to settle consumer complaints and government investigations.

Sony BMG filed a summons in a New York state court against The Amergence Group Inc., formerly SunnComm International, which developed the MediaMax CD copy-protection technology.
...
[Sony BMG] began including MediaMax on some of its compact discs in August 2003 and shipped about 4 million CDs equipped with the technology in 2005.
...
The fallout over the copy-protected CDs sparked lawsuits and investigations.

Last fall, [Sony BMG] agreed to pay a total of $5.75 million to settle the litigation and resolve investigations by officials in several states.
-- Hollywood Reporter

Interesting how the loss of a few million dollars can change attitudes.
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Via Slashdot.

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 16:19:47 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Life imitates Wile E. Coyote

Wrecking Ball Runs Amok In Pa. Town

1,500-Pound Ball Rolls Nearly 1 Mile, Bouncing From Curb To Curb


...and winds up in the trunk of a car! Chuck Jones would be proud.
_{(AP Photo)}
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HT: Kate, who thinks it's more of a Hanna-Barbera moment.
_{(story preserved below)}
more...

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 02:26:38 GMT | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Same song, another verse

Another group of actors experiences Hollywood “accounting.”

On May 30, 15 LOTR actors from New Zealand filed a complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court, stating New Line hasn’t made good on its promise to pay the thesps 5 percent of the net revenue from the sales of merchandise bearing their characters’ likenesses.

According to the complaint, the standard contract the actors signed stated, “The company has the right to merchandise the contractor’s character for payment of 5 percent of net merchandising revenue…. This includes but is not limited to the right to use the contractor’s likeness as portrayed in the film and video games.”

But after reportedly reaping $100 million in merchandising revenue, New Line has yet to pay the 15 actors a penny from that revenue.
-- Backstage.com, July 6

Repeat after me:
In Hollywood, there never is a “net.”
In Hollywood, there never is a “net.”
(Just ask a host of others.)
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via Colleen

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 22:40:20 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Not sacrifice, but power

After posting this quote:

Chris Davies, a British member of the European Parliament, is proposing one of the most-extreme measures -- a prohibition on any car that goes faster than 162 kilometers (101 miles) an hour, a speed that everything from the humble Honda Civic on up can exceed. He ridiculed fast cars as “boys' toys.”

Glenn Reynolds asks:

Is it climate-protection, or social engineering? As I've said before, the hairshirt approach to environmentalism is a mistake, but some people can't resist it -- because for them, the hairshirt isn't a bug, but a feature.

But you can bet that Chris Davies and his friends in the номенклату́ра^[1] won't be among those who wind up wearing hair shirts. For Mr. Davies and those like him, it's all about getting jollies by issuing the decrees that control other people's lives. (And I count Mr. Davies a member of that group on the prima facie evidence that he is a MEP. Q.E.D.)
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^[1] in the Djilas sense. See also Live Earth carbon footprint, private jets for Nancy Pelosi, Al Gore's electric bill, etc., etc.

Posted by: Old Grouch in Rants at 15:55:21 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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The WSJ notices something

Scan of pullquote in the op-ed "What About Muslim Moderates" (R. James Woolsey and Nina Shea) in Tuesday's [July 10th] Wall Street Journal:

I don't recall seeing the words "extremist" and "Saudis" in this close proximity in any MSM article since 9/11, let alone in a pullquote.

Do you suppose it's possible that somebody is finally noticing?

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 00:56:28 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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What eleven months of love will do

July 2006.

June 2007 (scroll to last picture).

He's available for adoption, too. Anybody live near Spencer, NY and have room for a(nother) cat?
more...

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 20:31:51 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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The "simple" job that takes three days

"jhugart" at buzz.mn on the joy of doing-it-yourself (excerpt):

Attempt #1: Shut off the water, drain the pipes. Attempt to cut off the pipe supplying the bathroom, and attempt to loosen the old galvanized fittings around the inside valve for the hose bib.

Discovery: Can't get the tube cutter I had around the pipes supplying the sink; need to get a smaller one. Also, can't get the fitting unscrewed, even with a generous helping of WD-40, and my hack-saw blade is dull, so need to get a new hack-saw blade.

Shopping: Got a smaller tube cutter. Discovered that hack saw blades come in different lengths, so had to guess what length to get (because, naturally, I didn't bring the old blade with me)...

And it gets better (or worse)!  There's a reason those repair guys carry all that stuff on their trucks.  (Good thing my hardware store is close.)

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 19:11:49 GMT | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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More back-door gun control

Just can't trust 'em, even for a minute...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed new rules that would have a dramatic effect on the storage and transportation of ammunition and handloading components such as primers or black and smokeless powder. The proposed rule indiscriminately treats ammunition, powder and primers as “explosives.” Among many other provisions, the proposed rule would:

• Prohibit possession of firearms in commercial “facilities containing explosives”—an obvious problem for your local gun store.
• Require evacuation of all “facilities containing explosives”—even your local Wal-Mart—during any electrical storm.
• Prohibit smoking within 50 feet of “facilities containing explosives.”

And remember, this is supposed to be a Republican administration.

You have until September 10th to make your thoughts known.  [Here], search Docket  OSHA-2007-0032.

UPDATE 070717 14:35:  Back to the drawing board.
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HT: Tamara

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 17:39:13 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Sometimes a bollard is just a bollard

From the Some-People-Have-Too-Much-Time- On-Their-Hands Department:

The City of Keizer [Oregon] is taking heat for installing a group of cement posts designed to protect pedestrians from cars, but which some say is a phallic symbol.

A total of 52 of the posts were installed at a busy intersection in Keizer and they are getting a lot of second glances.

A number of residents have complained to the city that the posts resemble male genitalia. -- KOMOtv.com (Seattle) 

Or maybe some people just have dirty minds.
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HT:   "gettinby" at LGF

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 15:35:44 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Pretty cool!

There's been some pretty impressive coding going on at Little Green Footballs the last few weeks:  Friday afternoon Charles got the Ajax-i-fied comment system fully operational.
5:46 pm PDT:

The LGF commenting system now feels almost like a chat room; the post announcing the new Ajax feature has nearly 1,000 comments in less than 3 hours, and the second open thread is nearing 500 as I write.

7:14 pm PDT:

We just crossed a boundary that has rarely been seen at Little Green Footballs: 5,000 comments in a day, with five hours left to go. 5,001 comments as I write.

I spend most of my life on a rather indifferent dialup, and can testify that features like login and show new comments run like a flash.  If you're registered, go over and help bang on it.  Otherwise, just watch in awe!

UPDATE:  070707 15:25:  9 open threads, 4400+ comments since 22:43 yesterday.  And the madness continues.

UPDATE:  070709 00:30:  Aftermath: 7000 comments Friday sets all-time record.

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 04:18:49 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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