Friday, May 23, 2003

Korea's got a ''no-spam'' list. Gov't Introduces E-Mail Filter By Kim Ki-tae, The Korea Times. nospam Once people list their e-mail addresses on the site as `a declaration of intent,’ in legal terms, they have rights against such intrusions of privacy, [a Fair Trade Commission (FTC)] official said. According to the FTC, some 915 million unsolicited e- mails are sent every day. An individual receives 16,396 spam e-mails on average per year. 1:42:32 PM    comment []

Music industry goes on web offensive (Reuters). The site carries technical tips on industry-backed download services, such as Pressplay and MusicNet. It also contains pleas from artists like Russian singing duo t.a.T.u asking fans to pay for music downloads rather than go to free file-sharing networks where countless tracks are swapped each day. pro-music.org 12:42:31 PM    comment []

The Pentagon's Report to Congress regarding the Terrorism Information Awareness Program: In response to Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003, Pub. L. No. 108-7, Division M, § 111(b). (109 pages. Available in PDF, HTML, or Text.) This is the one that announces the name change. And more -- such as that the data mining will draw on some models that are invented rather than empirically derived. 12:42:28 PM    comment []

Visage Quest: I'll Be Your Mirror, by Ed Halter, in the Voice. Between 1964 and 1966, during Andy Warhol's frenetic early filmmaking phase, he produced almost 500 brief motion-picture portraits, or screen tests. Shot on silent black-and-white 16mm, each captures the face of a single Factory visitor as she or he is asked to sit still for the roll's three-minute run—certainly not easy in those amphetamine- addled days. Since 1997, MOMA has restored about half of these mini-movies; 28 will be displayed in a gallery-style exhibit. Andy Warhol: Screen Tests, through Sept. 1, at MOMA QNS, Long Island City (the midtown location being under renovation). Although each film was shot at standard sound speed, or twenty-four frames per second, Warhol specified that prints be projected at a slower speed of sixteen frames per second, a rate used in the projection of silent films. The result is an unusual fluidity of pace, a rhythm gently at odds with the starkness of the lighting and the boldness of the close-ups of face and hair. Transferred from 16mm to DVD for gallery exhibition, these arresting and influential works are innovative both as film and photograph, reinventing traditional portraiture through deceptively simple means. Pi ctured above: Andy Warhol. Screen Test: "Baby" Jane Holzer. 1964. Film: 16mm, approx. 4 min. © The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh. Gift of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Pat Hartley 12:42:24 PM    comment []

False Flags: Nike's Liberation Tactics, by Juan Pablo, in The Village Voice. Really, it's some bullshit attempt at making a Black History Month commemorative sneaker. [If] they wanted to do some lame shit for Black History Month they should have put Martin Luther King's face on the kicks, said M1 of revolutionary but gangsta rap duo dead prez. That particular flag isn't even a country. Nike doesn't support the liberation of Africans whatsoever, so Nike has no business putting the Liberation Flag on their sneakers or any other products, continued M1. . . . . . . . I still wear Nikes all the time even though I know about all the child labor shit, and I know it only cost them a few bucks to make a pair, and then they turn a around and sell it for a few hundred, which is what some of these Limiteds cost. In spite of all that, I still spend way too much money on kicks. But I draw the line at flags. What I look like paying Nike to wear my people's flag? Gimme a break, [Gregarious, a former a&r direrector] said. Gregarious is a bit more aware of Nike's exploitive business sense, but the average consumer isn't thinking that far outside the shoebox. The average consumer is thinking, Oh shit! Nike is representing for me and my country. Let me put my blue-collar dollar into that. It's not an option. Nike must give back. Remember when a lot of rappers suddenly started wearing those sweatbands with the red, black, and green colors? Everybody from Jay- Z to Lil Wayne was sporting them, then everybody else. Funny how no one bothered to discuss what the colors mean or who Marcus Garvey was or anything even remotely having to do with liberation. And now, instead of forking over a few dollars for a wristband, unsuspecting consumers will be spending three figures on some sneakers. Open your eyes y'all. We're getting pimped. Get some get back. Think Banksta. 11:42:14 AM    comment []

The Futility of Digital Copy Protection, by Bruce Schneier. 10:42:05 AM    comment []

Adam reports on schoolblogs. Peter Ford is starting up a new year of class project weblogs. A fave. [these weblogs are all made by 6th graders!) 10:13:37 AM    comment []

FCC to Public on Media Consolidation: Get Lost. The Nation: FCC: Public Be Damned. Powell's contempt for public opinion, evidenced by his scheduling of only one official hearing... [Dan Gillmor's eJournal] 7:35:02 AM    comment []

Lessig says, welcome spammers. Dear Spam Robot: I don't have much time to read emails, and I especially don't have much time to read unsolicited commercial emails. But I have decided to make an exception. If you would like to send me unsolicited commercial emails, then I agree to read them on the condition that you promise to pay me $500, and subject to the additional conditions mentioned below. You can accept this offer by sending unsolicited commercial email to me at mailto:make-my-day-q2wxe4q1@pobox.com. In accepting this offer, you also agree (1) to be subject to the laws of California for the purpose of enforcing our contract, (2) to pay any costs, including attorney fees, incurred in enforcing our contract, (3) to pay your obligation under this agreement within 10 days of sending the email, by mailing a check to me at the address referenced in the Contact section of this site, and (4) to accept service and costs associated with any bill collector that I hire to help collect obligations owed me under this contract. Good luck with your business. 7:33:37 AM    comment []