Friday, November 1, 2002

I will no longer update this site at radio.weblogs.com. I will now be publishing my weblog at http://www.mc-development.com/~mike. 10:56:20 AM    Comments []

	Thursday, October 31, 2002

eBay Censors CD-Rs. Security Alert: eBay Prevents Musician from Selling Own CD-Rs "George Ziemann, an independent musician, made an album with his band and like many small operators, he then produced copies of the the album on CD-R and attempted to sell them on the Web. He listed copies on his own Web page, on MP3.COM, on garageband.com, and on eBay. All was going well... until eBay abruptly began to de-list the auctions. Ziemann and his band were the authors, engineers, producers, and publishers of the album, and could prove that they owned the copyright and all other rights to it. Yet, eBay's 'droids' unilaterally removed all of his auctions merely because the item descriptions stated that the recordings were on CD-R media. (This disclosure is important, because some players will not play CD-Rs.)... Despite his repeated attempts to contact eBay and inform them that his products were legal, Ziemann was unable to prevent them from removing his album each time he listed it for sale. Ziemann speculates, in his detailed account of the incident, that the RIAA has put pressure upon eBay to block sales of all CD-Rs -- not only to exclude illegal copies but to prevent independent musicians from self-publishing." [ExtremeTech] Guilty by association. This is exactly what I mean when I say that implementation of the RIAA's proposals will leave no room for libraries to circulate material. The RIAA (and MPAA) wants to plug every hole and destroy media that could even possibly allow for open distribution. I'm still waiting to hear about any kind of acknowledgement or proposal from them that their solutions will provide a means for libraries to circulate digital content. Odd that they are so quiet on this issue when they are so loud on others. Or maybe not. They don't talk about this, so I wish someone would call them on it. [The Shifted Librarian] 3:09:10 PM    Comments []

	Sunday, October 20, 2002

Young voters' disengagement with politics skewing elections The nation's electorate is rapidly graying, with the cadre of older Americans who plan to take part in the Nov. 5 elections outnumbering people younger than 30 by more than 2 to 1, creating a distorted national politics in which the issues that dominate campaigns and Capitol Hill reflect an ever-smaller slice of the country. This underrepresentation of young voters is becoming more acute: If current trends continue, the number of people 65 and older who vote in midterm elections is likely to exceed that of young adults by a 4 to 1 ratio by 2022. These findings emerge from a study conducted by The Washington Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University, which surveyed the political beliefs and behavior of Americans of different ages and created a forecast of future elections based on population patterns and recent voting habits. The study shows that young adults hold beliefs quite distinct from those of their parents and grandparents -- more conservative in many of their views of government, more tolerant in many of their social values -- and yet are not expressing them at the polls. The net effect is an accelerating cycle of political disengagement. "If young people don't vote, their issues don't get addressed, which further diminishes their incentive to participate in the process and keeps the downward spiral going," said Thomas Patterson, a Harvard political scientist, who studied public attitudes during the last presidential campaign. "We've got a real disconnect between the rational strategies for candidates to win elections and good strategies for maintaining a healthy democracy." Disaffected and relatively nonpartisan, the country's 45 million young adults are a constituency-in-waiting -- if candidates could capture their imagination. But in the final weeks before the next elections, which will determine which party controls Congress, attempts to capitalize on the potential young vote are rare, while appeals to older people are pervasive. The themes that politicians are emphasizing this season are evident in the advertisements that Wichita residents see on television for their local congressional race. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., has used an ad in which the congressman walks through a hospital corridor as he tells voters, "I'm working to secure prescription drug coverage for seniors, just like we fought to protect their Social Security, their Medicare and their retirement savings." His Democratic challenger, attorney Carlos Nolla, is airing an ad in which an elderly man and woman sit at a table criticizing the incumbent. "The idea to invest Social Security money in the stock market," she says, "could've wiped us out." Those ads reflect a basic political logarithm: Campaign funds are used to target people who are going to vote. "Are people advertising on Buffy, the Vampire Slayer? Absolutely not," said a GOP consultant involved in campaign strategy nationwide, and who requested anonymity. "Any political party that allocated a huge chunk of its resources for a good civic purpose [increasing the participation of young adults] would be malfeasant in its prime duty, which is to win elections." John Chiola, 27, of Goose Creek, S.C., thinks politics is "a game" and most politicians are crooks. "It's all about greed, money, who has the most power, who can manipulate whom," said Chiola, a BellSouth technician. He has never voted and doubts that he ever will. "It seems pointless," he said. I find this extemely discouraging. I feel that it's more important than ever to get rid of the older generation of politicians who don't represent mainstream America. I believe most Americans are far more libertarian in their beliefs than the social conservatives in power who promote the war on drugs and abstinance only education. Young people can turn this country around if they vote. 11:52:16 AM    Comments []

	Thursday, October 17, 2002

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) [~] A judge Thursday threw out the convictions of two boys found guilty in the slaying of their father, who was bludgeoned with a baseball bat as he slept. Circuit Judge Frank Bell ordered prosecutors and defense attorneys to try to resolve the case. He said he would order a new trial for Alex and Derek King, ages 13 and 14, if the talks failed. Alex was 12 and Derek 13 on Nov. 26 when their father was killed and his house set on fire in nearby Cantonment. The brothers were facing prison terms of 20 years to life under state sentencing guidelines because they were tried as adults rather than juveniles. They were convicted of arson and second-degree murder without a weapon. The victim, Terry King, 40, died from blows to the head with an aluminum baseball bat. The six-member jury concluded an adult co-defendant, Ricky Chavis, wielded the weapon but that the boys were accomplices by letting him in the house. Jury forewoman Lynne Schwarz said at a courthouse rally for the boys prior to the hearing that she never thought the jury's verdict would result in prison time for the boys. "We always thought that there was going to be some kind of rehabilitation, that the boys were going to be taken somewhere where they could have a new life and learn to be productive citizens," said Schwarz, 52. "We never thought that these boys committed the crime. Never." Jurors were shocked when they found out a separate jury had acquitted Chavis, a convicted child molester, a week before the boys were tried, Schwarz said. His verdict was sealed until the brothers' trial ended. Both juries heard detailed taped confessions the boys gave police after the killing, but both said Chavis had nothing to do with it. The brothers later changed their story, claiming Chavis committed the murder while they hid in the trunk of his car. Both testified against him but only Alex took the witness stand in the boys' trial. Chavis is facing two more trials. One is on a charge of sexually molesting Alex and the other is on charges of evidence tampering and being an accomplice after the fact to murder. 4:10:18 PM    Comments []

	Wednesday, October 16, 2002

ACLU Acts Against Patriot Act. The American Civil Liberties Union has had enough of some aspects of the Bush administration's Patriot Act, and it's launching a visible, nationwide campaign against it. By Julia Scheeres. [Wired News] 9:24:38 PM    Comments []

Red Hat recently published a security patch that, thanks to the infamous Digital Millenium Copyright and Suppression of Free Speech Act can only be explained fully to people not within US borders. [Daypop Top 40] Red Hat has struck a small blow against the DMCA, by publishing a security patch which can only be explained fully to people who are not within US jurisdiction. The company's position here seems to be not altogether voluntary - according to a spokesman "it is bizarre, and unfortunately something Red Hat cannot easily do much about," but like it or not Red Hat has been recruited to the campaign to make the DMCA look ridiculous. 4:13:35 PM    Comments []

	Tuesday, October 15, 2002

Unattended Laptop on Plane Triggers Military-Jet Evacuation. A United Airlines flight from New York City landed under military escort after a crew member found an unattended laptop computer under a seat, an airline spokeswoman said. The computer posed no danger, officials said. Passengers were evacuated as a precaution as soon as the plane landed Monday evening at... [Lockergnome's Bits and Bytes] The terrorists have won, and this proves it. We're in such a state of hysteria that the slightest thing will set off a mass panic. Let's have a bit of common sense, OK? 11:22:07 PM    Comments []

	Friday, October 11, 2002

This is kind of old, but it's amusing in light of Harry Belafonte's recent remarks about Colin Powell. 8:30:49 PM    Comments []

Carter wins Nobel Peace Prize Only the third US President to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, after Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter had an imperfect presidency, followed by a lengthy career as an ambassador for peace on behalf of the United States. His political fortune rose in the aftermath of the two humiliating defeats for the US, the war in Vietnam, and the Watergate scandal and Ford's pardon of Nixon. Carter was the first presidential candidate I voted for. Like many others, I came to see him as a weak president, but in later years came to appreciate his values of honesty, hard work, and an uncompromising sense of what's right. It's unfortunate that his award was tainted by politics from the awarding committee, but the award stands on its own. As an American I am proud that Jimmy Carter, who represents what's good about my country, is this year's Nobel Laureate. [Scripting News] Carter became a great statesman after he left office, and is one of the very few ex-presidents who actually did good work instead of trying to make money from his office. I really hope Carter tries to negotiate peace with Iraq - I think he's one of the few people who could do it. 8:18:33 PM    Comments []

A Sad Day for America. CNN: Senate approves Iraq war resolution. 'The president praised the congressional action, declaring "America speaks with one voice."' I'm not... [Aaron Swartz: The Weblog] I'm really disgusted by this situation. War with Iraq would be a disaster. 2:11:15 PM    Comments []

More EFF News Items. Robbing the Future Dan Bricklin, co-inventor of Visicalc, discusses how DRM will "break the chain" of archival techniques that has existed for thousands of years. Tuning Out the Customer Fortune.com's David Kirkpatrick on how the media industry's defensive posture on digital piracy is damaging their long-term interests. You've Got Dissent! Chinese dissident use of the Internet and Beijing's counter- strategies. [MacMegasite] 11:13:59 AM    Comments []