Category: News Item

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They’re vicious little critters

I have had a long time fascination with squirrels. I know how sad it sounds, but it’s true. I often ask Rebecca if we can have one for a pet, and she has told me numerous times that you are to never feed rodents in the city. I have only suggested doing such things, never actually done it.

A family today told how a squirrel went berserk and trashed their house after falling down their chimney.

Retired engineer Alan White, 67, and his wife Janice, 65, came home from a weekend away to find their lounge had been ransacked, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.

The couple initially feared burglars had broken into their home in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, but the culprit was found to be a squirrel which had left sooty paw prints all over the room.

The trapped rodent had tried chewing through the window frames and tore the curtain and settee to shreds in a desperate bid to escape. [guardian]

Yeah, it’s never going to happen. It doesn’t help that even I have some sort of struggle with wild animals as pets and all the rest of the things that rights activists would have problems about having such rodents in captivity, blah blah blah.

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The RIAA doesn’t want your next of kin anymore

The Recording Industry Association of America[wiki] had a lawsuit against a Larry Scantlebury of Michigan for illegally downloading music over the net. Apparently, the actual offender was his stepson, but, naturally, the lawsuit came against Larry. This sounds like a common story that we’ve heard before in the news.

What’s unusual is that Larry passed away in June. Did the RIAA drop the case? Nope.

The RIAA represents Warner Bros. Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, BMG Music, Arista Records LLC, Capitol Records, Inc., and Atlantic Recording Corporation all of whom brought suit against Larry. The lawyer representing the RIAA is Matthew E. Krichbaum of law firm Soble Rowe Krichbaum LLP (although I’m not sure if he’ll answer, he can be reached at matthew@srkllp.com in case you want to ask him questions about the case). […]

Getting back to, Mr. Scantlebury, apparently, his death isn’t enough for the RIAA to take its business elsewhere. No, Krichbaum has already invested time and resources into this case and so now, he must still bring it across the finish line. So, in pursuit of a settlement with our war heroe’s estate, Krichbaum has made a motion to allow Larry’s family 60 days to grieve after which time they’ll have to give depositions. [zdnet]

Two months and then his family was under the gun by the RIAA to pay up on the settlement. Incredibly cold hearted, yes. There is something to be said about how the legal system works in events like this, but compassion is not apart of the equation here. Deaths in the family take a toll on emotions and finances, so even a year or two could have been more appropriate if they were that hellbent on seeing the case through.

Now that this story has circled the news outlets and blogs, the RIAA is doing some clean up to their image of being a heartless beast of control. They dropped the case.

Our hearts go out to the Scantleberry family for their loss. We had decided to temporarily suspend the productive settlement discussions we were having with the family. Mr. Scantleberry had admitted that the infringer was his stepson, and we were in the process settling with him shortly before his passing. Out of an abundance of sensitivity, we have elected to drop this particular case. [boingboing]

Aside from misspelling Scantlebury’s name, the RIAA is showing some heart and a swift CYA move in the public relations department. Maybe the spelling issue actually shows some human element, but they’re far from able to demonstrate a sense of humor. Cory Doctorow lays it out pretty well on the same post over at BoingBoing.

This is reminiscent of the RIAA’s approach to things like YouTube lipsynch videos: “our songs are released to be listened to and nothing more; should you dare to make them part of your life, we will use the copyright law we bought to break you.” [boingboing]

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Jiminy Jillikers, Radioactive Man

No stone is left unturned in the War on Terror[wiki].

An 83-year-old Surrey man who had been injected with a radioactive dye as part of his medical treatment set off a nuclear alarm at the Peace Arch crossing south of Vancouver last week.

Stanley Smith had undergone an injection of a radioactive dye into his heart as part of a diagnostic scan.

He was on his way to the Ferndale Casino in Washington state when the alarm sounded.

Mike Milne, who speaks for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, says guards took the senior to the secondary inspection area, where he was interrogated for half an hour before being allowed to proceed.  [cbc]

My mother has to carry a card with her whenever she travels commercially because of a knee replacement she had a few years ago.  That way the TSA knows that there is metal in her knee and not a concealed weapon.  This a far cry from detectors picking up nuclear material at the border, but maybe they should issue cards for radioactive, elderly folks as well.

Maybe it helps him see what the dealer is holding at the blackjack table.

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Losing the biggest step for mankind

There is something about this that really bugs me. You would think that some one would have marked these tapes in big, bold letters, but then again, I taped over the VHS my cousin’s first communion with Beavis and Butthead[wiki] during my adolescence days.

NASA no longer knows the whereabouts of the original tapes of man’s first landing on the moon nearly 40 years ago, an official of the US space agency said.

“NASA is searching for the original tapes of the Apollo 11 spacewalk on July 21, 1969,” said Ed Campion, a spokesman for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, a Washington suburb.

The tapes record the famous declaration of Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, as he set foot on its surface: “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.”

The original tapes could be somewhere at the Goddard center or in the archives network of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Campion said. [breitbart]

Where the originals could be? The U.S. Declaration of Independence[wiki] and Constitution[wiki] is protected with bullet proof glass and armed guards. The Enola Gay[wiki] is on display at the Smithsonian[wiki] to showcase the history of the only time nuclear weapons were used in combat, not to mention as a symbol of American military triumphs. Even the plane that the Wright brothers[wiki] used for the first, manned flight in history is there. And yet, no one knows where the original vidoes of man’s first steps on the moon went to?

Doesn’t this bother anyone else? It is one of the greatest achievments that humanity has made since the wheel, fire, or the industrial revolution. This is history that is bigger and more impactual than anything that has come before it. Scientists are looking back to Project Apollo[wiki] today to help future exploration of the Moon and Mars. Talk about a picture perfect version of bureaucracy at its finest.

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Dell battery recall could cost you time

If you have a laptop from Dell, then you’ll want to check out their website for a massive battery recall that is going on.  And by massive, I mean Dell wants a few million of them back because they might catch fire on you.  A ticking time bomb?  Not exactly, but you’re better safe than sorry.

Hold on, though.  The exchange process can leave you crippled and plugged into a wall for a few weeks until your replacement arrives.

Laptop owners seeking replacements for recalled batteries will receive priority if they use the Dell special site set up to handle the recall, the company said today. However, users of many Latitude, Inspiron, Precision, XPS, and mobile workstation models may still be stuck with only AC power for a few weeks.

Dell has been “cranking battery production over the last couple of weeks” with its battery suppliers in preparation for this massive recall, says spokesperson Gretchen Miller. If you determine via the Dell Battery Recall site or by calling the company at 866-342-0011 that you have a potentially defective battery, Dell will send a replacement along with postage-paid packaging to return the old one. But it may take weeks to get the new battery, or longer for certain out-of-production models.

In the meantime, you can safely use the laptop with the AC power cord. But since replacement batteries are not available in stores, only from the Dell Web site, the recall process is likely your fastest option, Miller says.  [pcworld]

Something to consider if portability is important to you.  Just plan accordingly.  I want to make a “dude” joke here, but it’s probably better left unsaid.

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YouTube goes down; people discover a world outside

I find things like this interesting.  I had bandwidth problems most of today, meaning Shaw was sucking big time, but YouTube is something I pass by once and a while.  For others, I bet there were some people going through withdrawl.

YouTube, the popular video hosting site, was hit with an outage four almost five hours Tuesday as a result of database troubles.

The site, which allows viewers to tune into uploaded videos ranging from seniors making their homespun video debut to polished user-submitted film clips, went down at 7:30 a.m. (PST) leaving viewers with a tongue-in-cheek graphic of the company’s database woes. Although the notice stated that new features were being added to the site, it turns out that wasn’t the case.

“There are no new features being added today. This page went up mistakenly,” said company spokeswoman Julie Supan.  [cnet]

This takes me back to an episode of the DSC a short time ago where the Curry’s were talking about how their daughter popped out of her bedroom one night while MySpace disappeared for some hours.  She was forced away from an online world and into the kitchen with her mom.  According to the podcast, the daughter was helpful and sweet.  At the same time, she had nothing better to do.

When we saw Douglas Coupland at CBC’s Studio One Book Club a few months ago[post], even he stated how he could and would spend all day on YouTube, probably absorbing ideas for his writing projects.  I bet there were some offices that experienced an increase in productivity today as well.   Oh yeah, that’s what Google Video is for.

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Farewell, Professor Van Allen

Professor James Van Allen - June 14, 2005One of the neatest things that I can recall from my early days of becoming a lifelong geek was discovering that something in space was named after a guy who was born and raised not far from my home. I think that’s common for anyone who has some one from their home state do something that makes you proud to say that you are not afraid to say where you are from.

Then in high school, you are taught by physics teachers who studied under the guy. I had an interest in astronomy that died out during these years, but that didn’t make me any less interested in learning more about it. The Van Allen radiation belts? James Van Allen[wiki] was that guy.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Physicist James A. Van Allen, a leader in space exploration who discovered the radiation belts surrounding the Earth that now bear his name, died Wednesday. He was 91.

The University of Iowa, where he taught for years, announced the death in a statement on its Web site. [globeandmail]

When I worked at WSUI, we used to venture downtown for various live remotes that we would have to setup for, and that would take us to Van Allen Hall, the physics building that is named after him. We’d park the car in one of the official vehicle spots just outside the lecture hall, and there was one, professor emeritus, reserved parking spot that had an older, green, Jeep Cherokee in it. That was Professor Van Allen’s, and it was usually there every single time we dropped by.

Professor James Van Allen - June 14, 2005Even in his 90’s, he was still leading projects and heading into his office nearly every single day. I’m not sure to what capacity, but if you had a some sort of physics research that needed some help in getting a monetary grant from some institution, who else would be better to help sign off on it? He changed a lot about space travel with his discoveries, and the life he led is hardly a dull one.

These pictures are a few snaps that I took when BBC Radio wanted to do an ISDN[wiki] interview with him from our studios in Iowa City on June 14, 2005. He was the kindest man, parking in the lot out front with that classic, green Jeep. His wit was still pretty sharp, and the stories he told were fascinating.

I can’t even recall what the BBC wanted with him, and it doesn’t even matter. I just remember being so excited to shake his hand on that day. It’s not so much about him being a celebrity as it is meeting a great man. A lifetime of researching and discovering new things is an incredible thing in my opinion.

“Certainly one of the most enthralling things about human life is the recognition that we live in what, for practical purposes, is a universe without bounds.”
– James Van Allen (September 7, 1914 – August 9, 2006)

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Blogging from inside Lebanon

Blog: Back to Iraq [Christopher Allbritton]There’s been a lot of discussion about the war in the southern region of Lebanon being different from any other conflict that we have ever experienced, especially in this Web 2.0 world.  People are blogging about it and posting videos on YouTube as everything unfolds, offering a unique, personal observation of what is going on there.

I’ve been paying attention to a blog, Back to Iraq, for some months, and this guy seems to have a knack for finding himself in, or even seeking out, tight situations.  In fact, Christopher Allbritton is a freelance journalist who reports for numerous news organizations, Time Magazine being one of the more well known ones.  After living in Iraq for about two years, he relocated to Beirut, well before the recent conflict.

His recent post is an amazing summary of the hardship that the civilians are eduring through all of this fighting.  I’m sure this won’t be the last time something like this will be said.

The Israelis have started shelling or bombing Dahiye again. While writing this, a massive blast rattled my windows. I can only hope that something can be done to stop this.  [back-to-iraq]

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Understanding the origins of Isreal and Palestine

I’ve read various sites of where people are having a hard time understanding where the tensions in and around Isreal has come from. Long story short, it’s been a constant struggle for a very, very long time, political and ideological differences being a factor that skims the surface. However, a post on BlogCritics the other day had a really good introduction to explaining the basics. It’s hardly a complete explanation, but it will enlighten those looking for some introductory answers.

A month or so ago somebody asked me a question that took me aback, not just because of the question, but because of the questioner. She is someone I’ve always thought was informed and knew about issues and their background, so I was quite shocked when out of the blue she asked me if I knew who the Palestinians were.

I must have look puzzled, and some of my shock must have shown on my face, because she clarified by saying that what she meant was where did they come from and how did the situation originally come about. I was still shocked, not the least because I wondered how many other people don’t know what had happened back in the late 1940s through to post-1967? [blogcritics]

The discussion that followed in the comments has been interesting to watch. History will always have flaws in the way that it is relayed. Bias and slants are a given. The best you can do is get information where ever you can. Just keep an open mind while you’re trying to sort out how much hard fact is in what you’re finding.

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All your content belongs to YouTube

I know I’m a little late to the news here, but any thought I had in the back of my mind to upload anything to YouTube, especially any of my video podcasts, is gone now.

The video site YouTube constitutes an equal or larger threat to small content producers. Before you upload that video of your 19-person indie rocker reggae band, for instance, you may want to read the fine print.  YouTube’s “new” Terms & Conditions allow them to sell whatever you uploaded however they want:

“…by submitting the User Submissions to YouTube, you hereby grant YouTube a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the User Submissions in connection with the YouTube Website and YouTube’s (and its successor’s) business… in any media formats and through any media channels.”

Among other things, this means they could strip the audio portion of any track and sell it on a CD.  Or, they could sell your video to an ad firm looking to get “edgy”; suddenly your indie reggae tune could be the soundtrack to a new ad for SUVs. The sky’s still the limit, when it comes to the rights you surrender to YouTube when you upload your video.  [wired]

It’s a shame that this had to happen as I am sure people will have the same thought as me.  I also caught this blog post saying that person will remove all the content they have on YouTube, citing the change in their policy as the reason.  Will that be another trend?

I’ll go as far to say that I hope it won’t infringe on the popularity of the site.  I could spend all day watching stuff that’s posted there.