2600 Screws Ford David Smacks Goliath Methink…

2600 Screws Ford

David Smacks Goliath

Methinks corporate America is scared, and anything that might shed unnecessary light on corporate inner workings is being shied away from. That’s the first thing I thought of when 2600, the guys behind the print magazine of the same name devoted to the hacker world as well as radio show called “Off The Hook” announced a final victory against Ford, the car company.

The guys behind 2600, always testing the limits of free speech (god love’em) registered F–kGeneralMotors.com and pointed the main link to Ford.com. Ford immediately went about trying to stop 2600 from operating the site. Standing against such a huge corporation, things didn’t look for 2600 at first. But they won, after which Ford filed an appeal. It seemed as though Ford was going to play the “we have more lawyers than you and we’ll litigate you into hell” game. But now Ford has officially given up the ghost, thus sealing 2600’s victory. You may have also heard about these guys and their fight against Hollywood for the right to post a link to the instructions for decoding a DVD. In time when every government official seems to be equating any kind of dissent with raw unpatriotism, these guys are a refreshing voice amid all the confusion.

*pictured above: 2600 kingpin, Emmanuel Goldstein

DV Expo DV Expo & PC Expo Got a chance to visi…

DV Expo

DV Expo & PC Expo

Got a chance to visit the DV Expo East here in New York the other day and

got to see some pretty cool next technologies on display. Nothing really

groundbreaking though. The thing that really got my attention was how few

companies were represented. The display floor really seemed kind of empty.

Anyway, I made sure to go and visit the people at RES Magazine, perhaps the coolest new magazine for digital video creators and the indie film community in general.

Afterwards I strolled on over to the PC Expo, which was going on at the same

time just a few feet away. It was here that I got to see the usual carnival

barkers, with free swag in hand, yell about the glory of things like

wireless access points and all the uses of your Blackberry. Basically:

boring. Contrary to the DV Expo though, the PC Expo was packed and seemed to buttress the idea that the tech industry is in full recovery mode. Now if we can just stop companies from doing a WorldCom on us and slowing up the economic recovery we might get somewhere.

Minority Report

Also checked out the new Speilberg/Cruise flick “Minority Report.” This is a

classic. The mix of effects and good writing/acting make this a must see for

sci-fi heads. Based on the novel by Philip K. Dick, the film is set in a

future just 50 years from now where crime is stopped before it’s executed.

Even though this is the future, and the film is called Minority Report, the

film ‘must’ have been set in Boston or something, because I saw all of ten

so-called minorities in the film. Of course when you go to a Steven

Speilberg film this, as well as a bland PG-13 rating, should simply be

expected. One of the coolest aspects of the film was the art director’s look at near-future technology at work. The voice control home system, the holographic video tapes, the wireless hand operated computer interface, and the automated cars were all a treat to see in action. Also, I have to say, Tom Cruise is doing the best work of his

career (no one seems to consider “Vanilla Sky” sci-fi, but it was) and I’m

hoping he continues the streak, hopefully by doing some ground breaking work with David Fincher (“Fight Club,” “Panic Room”).

The Moby Spin Zone This is hilarious. Moby, the…

The Moby Spin Zone

This is hilarious. Moby, the techno glory boy of the hour, in an interview with Launch is blaming slow sales of his new “18” album on what he calls “the Pearl Jam Effect.” Bwahahahahaha! According to Moby, “the ‘Pearl Jam Effect’ as being a phenomenon wherein bands who have very technically savvy fans will see their records do poorly in the charts, whereas bands/artists who have less technically savvy fans will do quite well on the charts. This is owing to the fact that bands/artists with technically savvy fans will have a lot of fans who will end up downloading music or burning CDs where as less tech-savvy fans will end up buying their CDs.”

This is the lamest excuse for poor album sales I’ve ever heard. In fact, most of the time when I see a story on CNN or BBC interviewing a teen about their MP3 music habits, they’re usually downloading stuff like NSync, J-Lo, and the latest rap hit. Any real electronic music fan usually wants to have the CD even if they ‘do’ have an MP3 track. The truth is, as many mainstream music reviewers have pointed out, Moby’s new album simply sucks. It’s boring, lacks energy and creativity, and exposes the fact that the first album (“Play”) was simply a formula (jack old school blues and gospel vocalists for their voices without paying them via sampling, then slap said vocals on top of a mediocre breakbeat).

The idea that the primary groups of kids downloading free MP3 music are techno fans, as opposed to rock, pop, or rap fans, is pure hogwash and Moby knows it.

Cellular Brain Freeze I guess now that Enron go…

Cellular Brain Freeze

I guess now that Enron got busted, Andersen was exposed, and the Catholic Church got caught with its pants down, the climate is safe for whistle blowers everywhere to finally come clean…kind of. From the “tell us something we knew, but were in denial about” department, a group of Finland researchers have confirmed that cell phone radiation significantly damages the blood brain barrier (the area that keeps harmful substances from reaching the brain) in lab animals.

Leading the study is professor Darius Leszcynski, who, no doubt in mortal fear of cellular corporate backlash, adds the modifier that these studies have only been confirmed in lab animals, not in humans. But as anyone with a human blood brain barrier knows, if this mobile phone radiation damages animals, it’s an easy guess that it damages humans. What the research won’t tell you is that in order to have a “absolutely confirmable” study on humans, someone will have to be stupid enough to enter their lab and say “Hey guys, shoot me with all the rads of cell phone signals ya got!” Which isn’t likely to happen in the clear light of day.

Unless of course an executive from one of the cellular companies claiming the technology is safe is willing to put his/her money where their mouth is and volunteer to be a test subject. If that happens, “then” the cell corps would gain some credibility. In the mean time, trust me, keep your cell phone usage down to an absolute minimum, this scandal is going to be far bigger than the one we had with tabacco and cancer, just give it time.

Steal This CD What took this so long? The five …

Steal This CD

What took this so long? The five major record labels are the target of the new class action lawsuit. The suit charges that the labels’ new copy protected CDs are defective and should carry warning labels or be barred from retail shelves. The suit is being brought by two American music fans represented by the law firm of Milberg, Weiss, Bershad, Hynes & Lerach. Thousands of music fans who use their Macs to listen to CDs had trouble with Sony discs recently (in some cases, the computer completely shut down) until a smart kid gave us the magic marker CD hack.

But the Mac episode mirrored the troubles around the country as major labels, unable to agree on a standard (after the failed SDMI action headed by the RIAA) are simply throwing out whatever protection measures they want without regard for the technical implications.

IN OTHER News…

A new solar system was recently found that scientists claim is the first to actually come close to our own in composition. Now the real search for life begins…

Major news orgs are running a story about the teleportation of photons and what this means for the possible real future of teleportation. But we reported this story almost a year ago when the initial testing was confirmed on light teleportation. I’m guessing this new buzz simply means other scientists could effectively duplicate the experiment, so now it’s safe to get really excited.

Designing Terminators Most sci-fi and real worl…

Designing Terminators

Most sci-fi and real world robotics fans are anxiously awaiting the new film “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” due out in the summer of 2003. The Terminator franchise has become well known for the being the primary sci-fi vehicle depicting humanity’s clash with robotics. In the new film, award winning special effects master Stan Winston has been tapped to create a new Terminator that pre-dates the original (played by Arnold) that we saw in the first film. Apparently, these robots are meant to depict the very first robots who rebel against their human masters, so it should be interesting to see how Winston designs them. Could this be an inadvertent peek at what our real world near term biped robots will look like?

Winston will also be designing the next generation Terminator (a robot that exceeds Arnold and even the liquid metal Terminator in “T2”), a role to be played by actress Kristanna Loken. In case you’re unaware of Winston’s skill level, you may remember his recent stunning work in the Speilberg film “A.I.” If “T3” robots come anywhere close that level of effects, then we’re in for a wild ride.

SciFi Update The new Hulk film, based on the Ma…

SciFi Update

The new Hulk film, based on the Marvel Comics story of a scientist who becomes a muscled behemoth when angered has revealed some details. Straying from the original story, in the movie Bruce Banner will be infected by a pack of radioactive dogs. The cg scenes are already being shot. Australian star Eric Bana (pictured at right) will play the title role, and tv show original Lou Ferigno will make a cameo appearance.

The Lord of the Rings has begun shooting again in New Zealand. The new film will be entitled “The Two Towers.”

Star Wars Episode III is is set to begin with the end of the Clone Wars, according to director George Lucas. After, the director says, the plot will contract into a more personalized storyline.

Writer-director David Twohy has signed on to direct the next few “Pitch Black” science-fiction movies made popular by actor Vin Diesel. The new films are to be called “the Chronicles of Riddick.”

A.I. Expert In Trouble

Noted artificial intelligence expert Richard Wallace has had a temporary restraining order issued against him by the regents of the University of California citing his “unstable” mental state. Wallace is well known for his A.I. work and has previously won the Loebner Prize for his research.

SciFi Review Today is a sci-fi reporting day, s…

SciFi Review

Today is a sci-fi reporting day, so…

“X2”

The hot, hot, hot babe from “The Scorpion King” Kelly Hu is set to star in the new “XMen 2” movie on the side of the bad guys. Her character [Anne, a mutant empath] is the assistant to the anti-mutant villain known as Striker [yet to be cast]

“Pitt Does SciFi”

Watching the NBA finals last night you may have gotten a glimpse of Brad Pitt and his new mountain man beard. This is actually his effort to prepare for the new Daren Aronofsky sci-fi film entitled “The Fountain” [formerly “Last Man”]. Aronofsky, known for his gritty low-tech sci-fi film “Pi” is on Hollywood’s director hot list, but full plot for this new film has yet to be revealed.

Terminator 3 Preview "Terminator 3: Rise of the…

Terminator 3 Preview

“Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” is deep into production, and now some new pics have been uncovered by a British newspaper. These photos depict Arnie [now the good terminator] retrieving Sarah O’Conner’s body from a grave yard. Interesting, let’s hope this hints at a more edgy movie than Arnie has come to be known for in recent years.

Hacker Kimble Free It looks like the fattest ha…

Hacker Kimble Free

It looks like the fattest hacker on the planet has caught a lucky break. Famed hacker, jet riding globetrotter and energetic investor Kim Schmitz was arrested last year on insider trading charges. Since he documents his life in pictures and words on his website regularly, the drama leading up to his capture was cinematic. He actually fled to Thailand then got deported to Munich (a movie ‘has’ to be in the works). Facing up to five years in jail, Schmitz got off lucky this time and will only have to serve 20 months of probation and pay a 100,000 euro fine (about $93,000). Expect to see much partying on his website kimble.org.