Sunday, November 14, 2004

Here's the picture of Dick Cheney that so many are talking about. [Scripting News] 9:51:35 PM    comment []

Two from the NYT: Open Season on Others' Ideas. Free riders have hit the jackpot in the digital revolution, and we'd better deal with it. By DANIEL AKST. Gates vs. Jobs: The Rematch. With Microsoft's entrance into the portable music business, Apple's Steve Jobs must do what he has failed to do in the past: prevail over his old nemesis, Bill Gates. By SAUL HANSELL. 9:46:07 PM    comment []

Class Action suit filed against EA for sweat shop working conditions.. Yet more relevations from the dark side of the evil human-devouring monster that is EA. This time a pending class action lawsuit against EA, base... [The Second Life Herald] 3:13:50 PM    comment []

Warezed SoundForge Files In Windows Media Player An anonymous reader writes "German PC-Welt magazine reports that Microsoft used an illegal copy of SoundForge 4.5 (Google translation) for editing Wave files shipped with Windows Media Player. You can check that yourself by opening any file in the [Windows location] HelpToursWindowsMediaPlayerAudioWav folder in notepad or other editors of your choice and looking at the last line. There you will find a reference to SoundForge 4.5 and also a user called 'Deepz0ne' who happens to be one of the founders of an audio software cracking group called Radium." [Slashdot] 12:46:56 PM    comment []

CC Mixter - The remix family tree. This is a community music sharing site featuring songs and remixes and mashups licensed under Creative Commons. This is a community music sharing site featuring songs licensed under Creative Commons. To get this project started, we've dedicated the space to WIRED Magazine's November 2004 Issue, which featured 16 songs licensed under the Sampling Licenses. If you're into music, browse the remixes below that have already been contributed below each track from the WIRED CD. If you're into sampling, mashups, and remixing, we have the full tracks and loops in a ready to mix format. View a quick tutorial on how to contribute remixes to the pool. [unmediated] 11:43:12 AM    comment []

BTD SUNDAY COMICS [Begging To Differ] 11:41:03 AM    comment []

Sunday Nov 14: Kerry 252, Bush 286. I have been in contact with some people who are examining the election results in Ohio and Florida. The Libertarian and Green parties would like recounts in key states, but requesting a recount costs about $113,600 in Ohio alone. There are two reasons for a recount. First, the exit polls, which historically have been quite accurate, differ from the tallied results by more than could be expected by chance alone. Second, there are issues about the invalidated, provisional, and absentee ballots. Once the results have been certified, which could be as early as tomorrow in some states, the paper ballots are destroyed and the computer memories are cleared immediately, preventing subsequent recounts. If you want to contribute money to the recount effort, click here for the announcement. I was unable to get through to the actual contribution site at 5 a.m. EST Sunday morning. I don't know why, but I doubt it was due to their being swamped with traffic. You might have to call the Libertarian or Green Parties if you can't get through. Unfortunately, the mainstream media don't seem to be terribly interested in getting a complete and accurate count of all the votes. [Electoral Vote Predictor 2004] 8:52:22 AM    comment []

R.I.P., Philip Quinn. IN MEMORIAM. Philip Quinn (1940-2004) Professor Paul Weithman, Chair of the Department at the University of Notre Dame, writes: The Philosophy Department at the University of Notre Dame is grieved to announce the death of Philip Quinn, John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy since he joined the Notre Dame faculty in 1985.  Phil passed away at about 12:15 AM on November 13, 2004 at St. Joseph's Hospital in South Bend, IN.  He was 64. Professor Quinn was diagnosed with metastatic cancer of the esophagus late in August. Initial indications were that his cancer responded well to chemotherapy. As recently as four weeks ago, Phil had returned to reading philosophy and was anxious to discuss it with visitors. Unfortunately the side effects of therapy exacted a heavy toll. In recent weeks, Phil's condition worsened rapidly. He received the Catholic Church's Sacrament of the Sick on Thursday afternoon. He died this morning surrounded by colleagues and friends, and went without suffering pain or distress.  Professor Quinn was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and past president of the Central Division of the American Philosophical Association.  We will greatly miss this accomplished, liberal, humane and generous colleague. A funeral mass for Professor Quinn will be celebrated on Tuesday.  A tribute to Professor Quinn will be posted on the Philosophy Department's web site soon.  In due course, the department hopes to mark Professor Quinn's scholarly contributions with an academic conference to be held in his memory.  Details will be released when plans are finalized. [Leiter Reports: Editorials, News, Updates] 8:50:36 AM    comment []

A Seashore Fight to Harness the Wind. A proposal to build the world's largest offshore wind power plant in Nantucket Sound is pitting environmentalists against opponents who foresee it as a blight. By By CORNELIA DEAN. [NYT > Science] 8:48:14 AM    comment []

Homework for Tuesday's Audience. Gary Price has written an excellent article about What Google Teaches Us that Has Nothing to Do with Searching. Every librarian should read it and more importantly, every library should act on it. Coincidentally, it's great timing for me because it dovetails quite nicely with what I'm going to talk about at the first session in the blogging/RSS track on Tuesday. If you're coming to that session, I'd suggest reading it before then. In addition, Jessamyn has another great post about My Dream Library that parallels some elements of my talk, too. [The Shifted Librarian] 8:48:13 AM    comment []