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"95% of all music will be free, at least for a period…" says Chuck D, while praising the magic of Napster. I <heart> Chuck D.
posted on May-2-00 at 9:12 AM

Not only can Kevin Mitnick not touch a computer, cell phone, or the Internet for three years, but a judge is trying to bar him from the lecture circut because he's talking about hacking and technology. I wonder, if they get him to stop talking about technology, are they going to bust him for thinking about it too?
posted on Apr-28-00 at 7:05 AM

The Image Resource site at the Art Center College of Design is about a gallery show of net Art (art with a big A), which starts in a couple weeks. It's nice to see pure art for art's sake on the web. I also came across a new art site (that isn't in the gallery show) at Immerse.
posted on Apr-28-00 at 6:34 AM

Last week's story followup about the INS trying deporting Holiday Inn workers who formed a union: Michael Moore is reporting that they get to stay in the country, possibly for good. Michael also mentions his new push to elect a Ficus tree to congress in 2000.
posted on Apr-26-00 at 4:15 PM

This new "FreeNet" sounds like a perfect utopia, where all information is free like beer, and not just free like speech. Some of the provisions for the network, like not being able to remove a file, remaining anonymous, and not even being able to track down where the files are really coming from make it sound like a anarchist's paradise. I'm wondering though, will it be a place to exchange banned books, or will it be clogged with porn, warez, and mp3s? Will it be populated with idealists against censorship, or AOLers wanting free stuff? Do things always go to the lowest common denominator right away, or does it take time?
posted on Apr-26-00 at 2:29 PM

There's a new version of icq out, although it looks like they're pretty close to their limit on adding buttons to the interface.
posted on Apr-25-00 at 7:16 PM

This is unbelievable artwork in the form of fisher price little people figures. I love the little Matrix Cypher and both the Chewbacca and the Han in Carbonite. Wacky stuff.
posted on Apr-25-00 at 5:26 PM

The same-sex domestic partnerships bill in Vermont has been approved by the state's lawmakers. "The continued denial of these legal protections, benefits and responsibilities to a small but vulnerable class of Vermont's citizens diminishes their humanity, dignity, freedom and independence." It's about damn time, hopefully other states will soon follow suit. Oh, and if you have a problem with this, listen to this and let me know why you continue to have problems with it.
posted on Apr-25-00 at 12:50 PM

This is one for discussion. Last week, I read an article debating whether or not photography was a true art form like painting or drawing, or if instead it was merely a reflection of reality and not artistic. With that in mind, when we see photos like this one, this one, and this one, why do we assume that any part of what was captured was the truth? Is the camera an impartial observer, or is the photographer staging these images as a painter would? Do you think a photograph has enough reality to be considered the truth, or is a photograph a miniaturized view of reality, depending on what you point a camera at? I'm curious to hear people's thoughts, as I see groups on every side of the issue spinning these photos to support their cause.
posted on Apr-22-00 at 1:10 PM

The Latest Michael Moore message is about the INS trying to deport 8 hotel workers. The workers were arrested in a raid, thanks in part to their employers tipping the INS off, in retaliation for the workers starting a union. Even though they won a court battle over Holiday Inn's unjust labor actions, the INS is still after them. Is this fair?
posted on Apr-20-00 at 4:15 PM

Who knew the founder of Lycos had a personal website? It reminds me of the homepages of yesteryear. Among his activities, he helps turtles, likes to fly, and has another company that does bizarre avatar bots.
posted on Apr-19-00 at 4:57 PM

Another music artist that doesn't get it: Dr. Dre. I knew the Metallica thing could start a rash of followers, hopefully this isn't a trend. Why is it so difficult for artists to see that fans trading their music is a good thing? (including better sales of discs thanks to the people hearing the mp3's and better concert sales from fans buying tickets to see them live)
posted on Apr-19-00 at 1:22 PM

I've been reading TomDelMundo occasionally for over two years, and it never ceases to crack me up.
posted on Apr-14-00 at 3:09 PM

WTF!?! Everyone's favorite band (back in high school) Metallica is suing Napster and a handful of universities for unlawful trading of their music. This is ridiculous, and I hope it doesn't set a precedence. If anyone would just slap a revenue model on napster so artists could get paid for their work, none of this piracy crap would happen. And Metallica, what about the other apps that do the same thing, are you going to sue them too? And what about every other band on earth? What do you expect to get out of universities, tighter controls over bandwidth, or student monitoring of internet usage? What about every cable modem and DSL provider that lets people use Napster, are you going after them too? Why don't you sue everyone on earth that's heard your songs but didn't pay for them? Side question: Is it better to burn out or fade away?
posted on Apr-13-00 at 11:03 PM

Thanks to Greg's great article on InYourPants.com, I'll never have to shop for underwear again. It's a pain to shop for, and my girlfriend gives me slack for only buying new ones once a millennium, but now I won't have to worry about it anymore. [thanks Steve]
posted on Apr-13-00 at 4:29 PM

Is it time to be scared of seven year olds now? Muderous plot? From children? Sounds like a reporter using strong words for some playground craziness, and everyone overreacting. Reminds me of a certain show I saw last night...
posted on Apr-13-00 at 10:08 AM

One of Roger Ebert's all time favorite movies is Tron. I remember seeing it as a kid and being amazed, but after looking at some of the movie previews for it at this site, it seems just plain goofy. Oh, by the way, I found this at the imdb, which apparently is some sort of Tron sequel, as a upcoming tv show/series, but Harry says they're also working on a film for release in 2002.
posted on Apr-13-00 at 12:51 AM

South Carolina votes to finally take down the confederate flag and also votes to recognize the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. I guess now that we're in the 2000's, South Carolina finally decided to catch up to the 1980's!
posted on Apr-12-00 at 8:16 PM

According to MSNBC, Kozmo delivers to predominantly white parts of town. This is a thorny issue all around. The company claims to target areas of high internet usage, but there's a whole host of factors that would lead to huge racial differences in those areas. I still believe one of the greatest things about the internet is that it's a place where race really doesn't matter, but unfortunately the barriers to entry aren't exactly colorblind. MSNBC went so far as to produce some interesting maps that support their claim pretty well though.
posted on Apr-12-00 at 10:22 AM

Cell phone spammers will be hated more than email spammers, but I just hope someone stops Plugout.com before some competitors think it's a good idea.
posted on Apr-11-00 at 9:17 AM

The 7-11 website gets my vote for scariest splash screen image, ever. A burger shaped like a hot dog? Who would ever find that remotely appetizing? The site's not all bad though, they do have slurpee postcards.
posted on Apr-10-00 at 10:51 PM

If you've never lived in California, you really ought to give this site a try. We haven't had a big one in a few years, so I guess we're due for a devastating one any day now...
posted on Apr-10-00 at 10:05 PM

Big companies overheard on the playground:
Sun: we put the dot in dot com!
Microsoft: Naw-uh! You did not!
Sun: We did too! Your OS is stupid!
MS: No, your OS is stupid!
Sun: Quit copying me! You always copy me!
MS: No, you're copying me! stupid-head!
Sun: Stupid-head!? You're so busted for that!
MS: Am not! I can do anything I want!

These are adults? I'm just glad I'm not an investor in either company.
posted on Apr-10-00 at 1:59 PM

I've seen some disturbing stuff on the web before, but for some reason a pro-anorexia site featuring low cal recipies and a scary guestbook gives me the creeps like no other site ever has. I wish it were fake, and all the people in the guestbook saying "great site!" were joking as well, but I know it's the sad truth for a lot of people.
posted on Apr-10-00 at 11:28 AM

This DHTML site is just plain amazing. Hearing that the author wrote the whole thing by hand in a text editor with nothing but a book for reference is incredible. It reminds me of seeing an insane rug or quilt at a museum and hearing it was stiched by hand using only crude sewing tools. Just thinking of the work it took to make that site makes me want to cry in pain. [link pilfered from kottke]
posted on Apr-6-00 at 11:54 AM

I love geek-rock. Weird Al is releasing his concert footage on DVD, and of course it will have all sorts of techy-loving extras like lyrics, extra movies, and 5.1 sound.
posted on Apr-4-00 at 6:19 PM

Convergence baby! Sony has released a Minidisc Player/Recorder, MP3 player with USB connectivity, and PalmOS PDA, all wedged into one small unit. Wow, that's enough buzzwords to kill a horse...
posted on Apr-4-00 at 9:57 AM

Microsoft's Campus gets bombed. I like how it sounds like the "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" episode when they report on the reactions from industry rivals [via larkfarm].
posted on Apr-1-00 at 10:23 AM

So far Rasterweb, Fairvue, and Riothero are onboard the Fooltrain. Post any more you see as a comment on this thread. Let's make it a dozen by the end of the day!
posted on Apr-1-00 at 5:33 AM

I miss Josh already... hey can I steal that script for a last minute 5k entry?
posted on Apr-1-00 at 1:01 AM

I can't tell if this is an April Fool's parody of a certain someone or not, but have a great weekend! I'm still digging!
posted on Mar-31-00 at 9:36 PM

For all the early adopters out there, here's the early Netscape 6 beta which is 16 Mb and runs on Win32 systems. The real beta should be out April 5th, and I hear it will be around 5 Mb.
posted on Mar-31-00 at 6:49 PM

This is one of the funniest office pranks I've seen in a while. A few months ago, I proposed filling a coworker's office with ballons, but the packing peanuts are much better (and funnier). [stolen from brig]
posted on Mar-31-00 at 11:10 AM

Saatchi and Saatchi are once again accepting submissions for their innovation in communication awards. The deadline is approaching, and your idea better be revolutionary. Look at some of the past winners (I'd add a direct link here, but it's all flash), there are some amazing innovations there. The site is a little overboard on the flash, I know they won an award for their previous contest site, but the current one is hard to navigate, slow to load, and offers no non-flash alternative. Odd that they want to enhance communication, but their site is kind of hostile to that ideal.
posted on Mar-30-00 at 8:26 AM

A Federal Judge OKs deep linking to commercial websites. I'm very happy to see this, since hypertext and hyperlinks are the basis of the web. Hell yeah!
posted on Mar-29-00 at 1:00 PM

Now this is something I just don't get. Getting worked up because some people are posting longer entries? Can someone explain this to me? So Ben Brown mentioned that he prefers longer posts, and a few people responded to the idea favorably. But then there's backlash to this idea? Can someone please explain to me how someone writing long posts is somehow wrong? Is anyone holding a gun to your head making you read anything on the web? If Ben Brown's posts are too long, don't read them. If Jack's or Brig's are too long, don't read them. If I'm wrong here, please set me straight. I must not have read the weblog rulebook that states posts should be short and snarky, if anyone has a hyperlink to said rule book, please post that too.
posted on Mar-28-00 at 8:45 PM

They say the virgin mary, I say it's a smudge. I'm pretty tired of seeing this Elian story go on and on, and apparently most people that read CNN think so too. It's funny, if a news story lasts more than a month, I can't even remember why I cared either way in the first place (see OJ, Iran-Contra Hearings, anything to do with Columnbine).
posted on Mar-28-00 at 4:59 PM

The Washington State Anti-Spam law found unconstitutional because the person named in the suit was in Oregon, and the law can't be enforced across state boundries. Damn. As if your location means anything on the internet. What a lame ruling.
posted on Mar-28-00 at 11:18 AM

Hey Mac users, want to beat the rush and get IE 5.0 final early? Follow the link to Nick Finck's Digital Web magazine site for the download URL. From the looks of Microsoft's Mac site, it won't be out until tomorrow.
posted on Mar-26-00 at 3:53 PM

Metafilter is going down at 12 noon, PST (about 3 hours from now), and should be back up around 8pm. I just signed up this machine at TZO.com, so this site should be reachable at http://metafilter.tzo.com/ once I get it back up. TZO is actually a cool service, I've been running it for almost a year on my home cable modem, which changes IP addresses once a month or so (but thanks to TZO, I can always find it).
posted on Mar-24-00 at 8:57 AM

If you're in or around LA this weekend, you might want to check out all the academy award nominated documentary films being screened at the Director's Guild theater.
posted on Mar-23-00 at 10:59 PM

The pets.com sock puppet can now sit on your desktop and dispense oscar cattiness that Joan Rivers would envy (windows only though). He's on my desktop until the big event. [thanks Leonard]
posted on Mar-23-00 at 12:16 PM

It wasn't a question of if, but when. There's now a hacked version of napster that allows trading warez and videos (I bet every college student on a T1 is going apeshit right now).
posted on Mar-23-00 at 11:07 AM

This is a great little story, and one I can relate to. I've had several friends that I could have mistaken for long lost twins.
posted on Mar-23-00 at 10:12 AM

Microsoft Windows for Linux^TM This site also features Microsoft Linux Certification. It's funny, laugh.
posted on Mar-22-00 at 12:28 PM

I don't know why, but I can't get enough of Brazillian music (realvideo stream). Not that I can understand a word of it, but damn that's smooth. Note to self: buy more Gilberto Gil records. This person thinks this disc is one of his best, and you can even download digital versions of it from cdnow, although I wonder why each cut is $2.49. Why on earth should digital music cost more? There's no shipping, no customer service hassles, no media to stock in a warehouse. Make the entire disc $5 in digital format, and I'll buy his entire collection (and save from adding to my already loaded down cd rack at home).
posted on Mar-22-00 at 12:23 PM

Mmmmmmmmmmmm..... meat.
posted on Mar-21-00 at 6:31 PM

When the phone drops into the lion's cage, it's gone man. Just forget about that phone, even if it came with a great 10-cents-a-minute deal.
posted on Mar-21-00 at 5:30 PM

I check out Kottke's webcam occasionally, and every once in a while there's something amusing. I have no idea what's going on here, but I'll guess either a) email came in describing Jason's new raise, or b) some girl from SXSW emailed him professing her undying love. Caption Contest! What do you think's happening in this shot?
posted on Mar-21-00 at 1:51 PM

Offshore pharmacy sites selling prescription drugs to US customers were shut down this week. I wonder if the cat is already out of the bag on this one, will there ever be a way to regulate prescription drug traffic on the web? There's no worldwide organization to watch over things like this, nor are there laws that every country can agree on. Something tells me that getting steroids and "date rape" pills online is going to be a problem that's never going away.
posted on Mar-21-00 at 1:44 PM