22. desember 2003

Come All Ye Faithful One of the funniest ads I have seen in a long time, and a great punchline! Requires sound, flash. 10:04:58 PM    comment []  trackback []

China to legislate private property China's parliament, the National People's Congress, is discussing a constitutional amandment which will protect private property. Private ownership is anathema to communism, and this move strongly signals that China is trying to bury Communism. The party, of course, will try to cling to its own power even after abandoning its ideology, creating an impossible contradiction for the long term. 4:04:25 PM    comment []  trackback []

Jon Johansen won A Norwegian appeals court has upheld the earlier acquittal of "DVD" Jon Lech Johansen (picture), who was charged with his role in breaking the DVD distribution encryption and spreading the DeCSS code on the Net. The case can still be appealed to the Supreme Court, which in theory can overturn lower court decisions on technicalities. For all intents and purposes, as far as I understand, this decision is final, and it is a complete victory for Jon Lech Johansen. 2:40:50 PM    comment []  trackback []

The return of the sun The shortest and darkest day, and the longest night of the year is past us, and now every day will be a little longer until the summer. This is true for the entire northern hemisphere, but may not be such a big deal where you live. Here in the far north, however, it is extremely noticable when the "sun turns" as it did 8:04 this morning, local time. Sunrise today was 9:44 AM, and it sets at 3:30 PM. We'll get it back in the summer, though, when we hardly have a few hours of twilight before the next day. While I live far north, the climate is not as harsh as corresponding territories elsewhere (like Alaska). This is one of the coldest days of the year so far, at -4C (~25F), with a bit of snowfall. There is an actual chance of a white Christmas, which seemed extremely unlikely just a few days back. Happy winter solstice! 10:52:35 AM    comment []  trackback []

The end is at hand! The existence of a book called PlayStation 2 for Dummies must be one of the signs, I swear. 9:51:10 AM    comment []  trackback []

Headline of the day "Single women stay sane" (The Australian) 6:55:44 AM    comment []  trackback []

Anti-RIAA RIAA's heavy handed legal tactics have earned them the emnity of almost everybody on the Net. Some take this all the way; actually working hard for the major record labels' destruction, like Downhill Battle. The latest campaign is called What a crappy present, discouraging parents from giving CDs to kids for X-mas. 12:19:20 AM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2004 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.01.2004; 02:47:02.