U2 vs. Negativland iPod

Well, sometimes intellectual property gets really weird. Francis Hwang put together a U2 iPod with albums from Negativland to create the Unauthorized iPod U2 vs. Negativland Special Edition for sale on eBay. Apparently the asshats at Apple complained that this project somehow violated one of their copyrights or trademarks. An intellectual property attorney quoted in the Wired story about Hwang's auction could see no violation. Hwang blogged the notification from eBay here.

The other thing I got from Hwang's blog was How to play rock 'n' roll. Watch it. It's hilarious.

posted by Ed at 6:00 AM

Another Story

I guess this is becoming a story blog. I got this from sbrooce on stumbleupon.

Silent Debate #1

A rich and powerful raja was convinced in his heart that no one was as powerful as he was. One day he began to wonder if anyone knew he believed this. So he called together all his officers and servants and asked them to tell him what they thought was in his heart. Many of them made guesses, but no one could satisfy the raja with his answer.

Then the raja ordered his minister to find him someone who could see into his heart and he gave the minister one month's time to find this genius. The minister searched everywhere but as the month came to a close he was no closer to success. However, he had a clever daughter who said that she could find the right man for him. Knowing his daughter's wisdom, he entrusted the job to her.

When the appointed day arrived his daughter brought home a simpleton, a shepard by trade, and asker her father to take him to the raja. The minister was horrified but he saw he had no alternative and he took the shepard to the court of the raja.

The court had assembled and the raja was waiting. When the shepard looked up at the raja, the raja held up a single finger. At this the shepard held up two fingers. Then the raja held up three fingers, but at this the fellow shook his head violently and tried to run away. The the raja laughed and seemed very pleased. He praised the minister for bringing him such a clever man and richly rewarded him.

The minister was confused. He couldn't understand what happened and begged the raja to explain.

"When I held up one finger", said the raja, "I asked him if I alone was this powerful. By holding up two fingers, he reminded me that there is also God, who is at least as powerful as I am. Then I asked him if there was a third, and he denied that there was anyone else. The man really read my heart. I've been thinking that I alone was powerful, but he reminded me that there is God as well, but no third.

That night, still confused, the minister asked the shepard what had happened. The poor man explained, "I've only got three sheep."

posted by Ed at 9:30 PM

I like monkeys

Squeegeegal likes the "I like monkeys" joke here, but I couldn't get the page to come up. So I googled i like monkeys, and got even more places to see the joke. This guy likes monkeys. I think that this guy at Swarthmore College is the re-incarnation of the monkey Sigmund from the joke. I will not give in to the urge to rail against Swarthmore college and the students of that fine, Quaker establishment. Apparently, I like monkeys goes back to 1995. Thanks, Squeegeegal.
posted by Ed at 1:14 PM

I updated my cheap computing link collection.

slut

posted by Ed at 6:41 AM

Bad Songs

Thanks to the blog twinning project, Jessica the paranoid android, listed her 20 worst songs. Her friend Justin had inspired her with his list of bad songs. My list to follow.

Oh, I found a Chris Rock video on Amazon.com that's hilarious just to read all the quotes. Did anyone ever hear of a web site that changes your time zone on your computer? Go to my Xanga site or my stumbleupon site and leave a comment if you know where the site is.

posted by Ed at 4:20 PM

Don't like to register to read an on-line news story? Neither to a lot of other people. There was a Wired article called We Don't Need No Stinkin' Login that addressed this. It linked to BugMeNot.com - a site that lets you get a quick log-in for these sites that require registration. The blogfather blogged this, too, at the beginning of July.
posted by Ed at 11:21 AM

More pointless blogging. Never Say Never by Romeo Void (RealAudio of the song on the first link). How the Heck did I get Here? Weeelllll... I took C to work, then went to get gas (and a 2nd coffee) at Wawa (The stores are forty years old this year - first one was right near where I grew up - opened the day after my sister was born). Since by the time I got gas and coffee it was after 10:00 AM I switched on Cartalk on WHYY. Of course, being summer, it was a repeat. One of the bits they did was reading all time best (or worst) country music song titles. So, while I drink my coffee, I googled "best country song titles" googled "best country song titles" and found All-Time Best of the WORST COUNTRY SONG TITLES! Some of my faves:

How Can I Miss You if You Won't Go Away?
Hand me the Pool Cue and Call Yourself an Ambulance
You can Lock Me Up in Jail & Throw Away the Key, But You Can't Keep My Face from Breaking Out
You Were Only A Splinter As I Slid Down The Banister Of Life
You're The Ring Around My Bathtub, You're The Hangnail Of My Life
Get Off The Stove,Grandma, You're Too Old To Ride The Range
Are You Drinkin With Me Jesus?
He Went To Sleep and The Hogs Ate Him (Now Claude's Gone Forever)
How Can You Believe Me When I Say I Love You, When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life?
I Flushed You From The Toilets Of My Heart
I Gave Her My Heart And A Diamond And She Clubbed Me With A Spade
I Gave Her the Ring, and She Gave Me the Finger

And at the bottom of the page was the
Romeo Void link. Ta-daaaa!

posted by Ed at 10:26 AM

I'd actually thought of something interesting to blog on my way home.  Oh, yeah, I was listening to Physical Graffiti on my way home from work, and I was thinking about the
Robert Plant Birthday Tribute Show at the B.B. King Blues Club in NYC. Also, I fixed Redwolf's Den.
posted by Ed at 11:02 PM

David L. Brown, PhD, wrote about Iraq in the Bible. This has been quoted and appropriated to a huge degree, when I google the phrase "Israel is the nation most often mentioned in the Bible." (A direct quote from Dr. Brown) I get 167 results. Guess this thing really struck a chord. I received an e-mail from my father that alerted me to this writing.
posted by Ed at 11:21 AM

Hey, Champ, here's an Oklahoma Potter fan's blog. And it's not even on Xanga.
posted by Ed at 12:27 PM

A year ago I wrote about getting organized, not procrastinating, etc. Well, I still procrastinate, but today I came across the attitude page on Michael Bray's web site. It seems a little new-agey, but there is some pretty good insight there, too.
posted by Ed at 4:06 PM

Toxic Release Inventory 2002

US EPA released the 2002 Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) of all toxic chemicals released to the environment by industry in 2002. The report can be seen via EPA's TRI homepage. You can check out your local area at the TRI Explorer.
posted by Ed at 11:09 AM

William Henry Rinehart

This 19th century sculptor is a relative of mine. Here is his biography. Here are some of his works at the Peabody Art Collection in Maryland.
posted by Ed at 11:22 PM

Serendipity, or at least weirdness

Okay, every once in a while you come across something that's kinda weird, kinda interesting, and you think there might be a connection to something, somewhere, but you're not really sure. I got one of those tonight. It starts with an aol im screen name, .UrMomsHot012. I was going to try to link to send a message, but I forget how. Maybe I'll add it later (yeah, right). Well, anyway, UrMomsHot012's away message says that he (I'm assuming it's a he, I'm also assuming he is a high school student in Montgomery County, PA) "...love(s) nicole byrne sooooo sooooo soooo much." So I see this, and I wonder, "Hmmm. Just who is this Nicole Byrne?" So, of course, I google nicole byrne. This leads me to Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA delegates page. It makes sense. The contestants in the Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA pageant would have to be attractive young women. It would be likely that UrMomsHot012 would be attracted to one of them. So I google several others, just to see what I can see, and one Krysta Hoffman (who apparently attends Harrisburg Christian School) has also left a message in the guestbook of a Christian pop band called Unsearchable Riches. I listened to a couple of their clips, and they aren't bad. Poppy, unmemorable music, but not bad.

So what does all this mean? I don't know. But that's my weblog for tonight. Maybe it has something to do with Saved! being released this weekend
posted by Ed at 8:29 PM

This is a test post to see if my comments are working. Say, "hi" to Jess. If you can, please leave a comment. Since the test post didn't work, I'll update with Googlism for: jessica baker

jessica baker is "very excited

jessica baker is the recipient of a bit of dimensional coloring at styles

jessica baker is also in the mix on the women’s side

jessica baker is a kindergarten teacher at the valley view center

jessica baker is like another 14 year old girl

jessica baker is a sophomore at deep creek high school

jessica baker is

jessica baker is in the pink

posted by Ed at 6:56 PM

This is a test post to see if my comments are working. Say, "hi" to Jess. If you can, please leave a comment. It didn't work. I'm not sure what happens with an edit.
posted by Ed at 6:48 PM

I want to write something, but I'm not sure what. That pretty much describes my life these days, and I don't even need the apathetic online journal generator to come up with it.
posted by Ed at 7:07 AM

I had to try out the new design. Pretty cool looking and all the functionality seems to be here. Check me out on stumbleupon. More later, maybe.
posted by Ed at 4:26 PM

Another week, another month, 1/3 of the year down. Why is it I can think of all kinds of things to write about at work or in the car, but when I get in front of the keyboard at home, I draw a blank. Do you want to know What you are? I am a microphilic butt who loves to control football malamutes. Dogboy said he would like to get a malamute some day, then he changed his mind and went for the Akita. There's more to say, but it will have to wait.
posted by Ed at 10:51 PM

Back home from a week in Connecticut. 2nd prize: 2 weeks in Connecticut. Don't even joke about it. Long week, REALLY long drive. Sitting in traffic for 90 minutes to cross the Tappan Zee bridge was the low point. I screwed up the index on Redwolf's Den, so try redwolf.stumbleupon.com instead. Springfield High School 1977. Cora sent me an e-mail (see my January 12 post.) There is so much more to write, but my brain is fried. Five freaking hours!
posted by Ed at 11:07 PM

It's been too long, and much of the message has been lost. I don't know what that means, anyway. I'm in Connecticut this week. All week, and it's a long one. I should write more, and maybe link some stuff, but I'm on EXTREMELY slow dial-up in this hotel, and it's just too frustrating. I want to write more, but I have to fix a typo in an old entry.
posted by Ed at 10:37 PM

This is just plain weird. Thanks to Johnny Uma and StumbleUpon.
posted by Ed at 2:05 AM

Marriage & the Defense Thereof

Wow! Such a hot topic. Orson Scott Card wrote Civilization Watch, and provides a scathing indictment of homosexual "marriage." Number1Dickensonian has a different view, however, and posted an additional paragraph later in the day. Mark is in good company, though, Andrew Sullivan makes the same point, a bit more eloquently. After reading all this, I am still of the opinion that we, as a society, would be better to abolish the civil institution of marriage rather than defining marriage as a civil right.
posted by Ed at 3:49 PM

The last original Canadian wolf from Yellowstone National Park was killed this week. Just thought I would mention it.
posted by Ed at 6:27 AM

Everything is happening, but I don't feel like writing anything. I'm at the Woodfield Suites in Cincinnati, Ohio. Where's Waldo? Tug McGraw is NOT in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Go back and read this post. Neopostliberalism forever! Oh, yeah, Xanga sucks!
posted by Ed at 9:26 PM

This looks promising

I really have to read the whole thing first, but Capital Homesteading looks very promising from the executive summary. The Capital Homestead Act Policy Goals and Elements summarizes out the key points of the Capital Homestead Act, which is the legislative implementation of Capital Homesteading. The United States has been at its best when it has undertaken broad, far-reaching, innovative programs: the original Homestead Act in the 1860's, the GI Bill in the 1940's, the space program in the 1960's. I think Capital Homesteading could springboard the United States to greatness in the 21st century.
posted by Ed at 9:04 AM

Connection?

Wick Fowler was a policeman, journalist and chili concocter extaordinaire. All this from a discussion of Carroll Shelby inspired by discussion of his new Ford Shelby Cobra concept car. I had thought he was dead, but Shelby is still alive and kicking.
posted by Ed at 5:08 PM

My brain was working on overdrive on my trek across New Jersey this morning. Fueled by Wawa coffee, I had all kinds of thoughts running through my head. I am sure this will be a pitiful attempt at capturing the incredible insights I had while driving, but I will give it a shot.

With the NFL playoffs coming up and the recent hiring of new coaches in the NFC East, I was thinking about (American) football. The United States Senate is said to be the world’s most exclusive club. There are 100 US Senators, though, and only 32 NFL head coaches. Plus, as an NFL head coach, you get to play what may be the ultimate strategy game (Civilization III notwithstanding). A commentator on NPR’s Morning Edition was talking about how the NFL coaching fraternity was a somewhat closed group, and that perhaps they should look farther a field for new talent. The problem is that it is so difficult to judge whether a prospective coach has the skill set needed to succeed in the NFL, unless the skills have been previously demonstrated in the NFL. That’s why ex-New York Giants (New Jersey A) head coach Jim Fassel, whose team had a sub-par 4-12 record this year, is still in demand as a potential head coach for other teams. I do have one suggestion for the owners, presidents and head coaches of NFL teams to consider in their search for future coaches – Madden Bowl winners. If I were an owner, I would make every effort to bring these guys into my organization and see how they develop. While mastery of Madden football may only show a ghost of the ability needed to run an NFL team, at least it’s an indication. Based on the sporadic success of NCAA Division I coaches moving to the NFL, it may be as good an indicator as anything else. As I finish this paragraph, one other thought occurs to me: Why don’t CFL head coaches get recruited by the NFL?

A (glacially) slow movement toward updating Redwolf’s Den is gaining some momentum. Here is a link to Shelley Lamb. Since I couldn’t find her on the Intar-Web, I figerr this link may be harmless. I think he guy she is with may be named Doug. While he may be funny, he’s not Funny. One of the other pix is of Cora Tekach, who does have a web presence. (The result of a unique name and maintaining her name). I also assume she has children, based on the search result from the Holy Trinity School web site. So there isn’t a direct link to her picture, so that her child(ren) will have to work to find it, if they do. I have been back and forth on attempting contact for the last 5 weeks, but I figure this will pop up on Google in a week or two, so I will try the one potential e-mail address I’ve found and see what transpires.

Stumbleupon is the best implementation I have seen of a noteworthy concept: that if you group people together by common interests and share their internet experience, you can enhance the experience for everyone. So far, for me at least, it is proving to be an attention grabbing diversion as well. You should try signing up, and add redwolf as one of your friends (it’s the button at the top of the page). Send me a message if you do sign up.

posted by Ed at 10:29 PM

Another dupli-blog, to both Scoreless Tie and the stupid Xanga site. Not much to say. A new year has started. Wow. I'm too apathetic to use the apathetic online journal generator.
posted by Ed at 11:22 AM