from the get-off-of-our-lawn dept…

Hitokiri writes “Now that Google News is out of beta the newspaper publishers are starting to take notice. It’s important to note that no legal action has taken place yet, but still, there seems to be a battle on the horizon.” From the article: “‘They’re building a new medium on the backs of our industry, without paying for any of the content,’ Ali Rahnema, managing director of the association, told Reuters in an interview. ‘The news aggregators are taking headlines, photos, sometimes the first three lines of an article — it’s for the courts to decide whether that’s a copyright violation or not.’”

read the rest on slashdot

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Pollee and i went to the Dakota last night and listened to, arguably, the most amazing jazz singer on the planet – Ms. Jevetta Steele.

Did we like it? WE LOVED IT. Not only was the show worth the fair price of the ticket ($30) but we were each handed a copy of her latest album , My Heart, as we entered the club.

Never heard of her? Maybe you’ve seen Baghdad Cafe’? She sang the song Calling You in the film and that has generated an entirely new following for the singer, who not only has the most serious set of pipes i’ve ever heard (meaning that the microphone was more or less just in the way as her voice is so strong there’s no need for one) but also performs with her incredibly talented family! Together, they are the American gospel group, The Steeles. What their get-togethers must be like!!!

Originally from Gary, Indiana, she has lived in Minneapolis now for many years. She has recorded and toured with such legends as Prince, George Clinton, Natalie Merchant and others. She has also done a musical of her own: “Two Queens, One Castle”.

Whether or not you’re into this kind of music, live she is one of the most sincerely gifted and emotional singers either of us have ever enjoyed.

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Few filmmakers’ work is so instantly recognizable as that of Stanley Kubrick. Beautiful, precise composition. Elaborate tracking shots. Powerful acting. Deep, thought-provoking themes. Kubrick put his unique stamp and vision on every film he made.

Despite his relatively small output, probably no other director made great films in so many different genres, from science fiction (2001: A Space Odyssey) to war films (Full Metal Jacket), historical drama (Barry Lyndon) to comedy (Dr. Strangelove), horror (The Shining) to psychosexual drama (Eyes Wide Shut).

Kubrick’s influence on the art of filmmaking is matched by only a precious few fellow giants, and his body of work will certainly continue to thrill and intrigue audiences, critics and future filmmakers for years to come.
Read more on Kubrick and the Documentary, Stanley Kubrick: Life in Pictures

The son of a physician, Kubrick was born in New York City on July 26, 1928.

When he was just 16 and in high school, Kubrick shot a photograph of a news vendor the day after President Franklin D. Roosevelt died and submitted it to Look magazine. Look printed the photo and soon hired him as a freelance photographer.

After creating a photo essay on boxing for Look, Kubrick used his savings to make a 16-minute documentary film, Day of the Fight, in 1950.

Later, and after making two further documentaries, Flying Padre and The Seafarers, Kubrick persuaded family members to invest money in a short feature film about a fictitious war called Fear and Desire. He managed to get the film shown in a few art-house theaters in New York, and quickly began making a name for himself.

Probably one of the first true independent filmmakers, Kubrick followed up with two low-budget crime thrillers, Killer’s Kiss and The Killing, then made his first major studio film, the powerful antiwar movie Paths of Glory, starring Kirk Douglas, in 1957.

He went on to receive Best Director Academy Award® nominations for Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon. Each of those films also earned Kubrick Best Screenplay nominations, as did Full Metal Jacket.

In addition, Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon received Best Picture nominations.

Kubrick’s only Oscar® came for the special effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

In 1997, he received the D.W. Griffith Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Directors Guild of America.

taken from his official site: http://kubrickfilms.warnerbros.com

The University of Washington has a great collection of images up that portray the early days in Alaska.

Check them out here if you likey!

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The big leap took place today – no caffeine, no pain meds. It went by without incident. I can’t wait to have a cup of coffee.

I decided to treat myself this morning by making chai, which I hadn’t done in ages. This recipe (below) was given to me by our friend Janniken, who learned it while studying in China.

Soundtrack for the walk to & from work: The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin.

CHAI

I don’t measure, but this is approximately what you’ll need:
6 black tea bags (decaf!)
3 c water
6 – 10 cardamom pods
6 – 10 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
a sprinkling of dried orange peel (optional)
¼ c sugar
2 c milk

Steep tea bags in water (duh) with the spices for at least 30 minutes. Add milk and sugar, steep for another 15 – 20 minutes. Pour through a small strainer and enjoy.

Today is the 20th anniversary of the appearance of the first PC virus. Brain, a boot sector virus, was let loose in January 1986. Brain spread via infected floppy disks and was a relatively innocuous nuisance in contrast with modern Trojan, rootkits and other malware. The appearance of the first Windows malware nonetheless set in train a chain of events that led up to today’s computer virus landscape.

Boot sector viruses ceased to appear when floppy discs went out of fashion but they continued to be a nuisance between 1986 to 1995, when Internet technology started to penetrate the consumer market. These types of viruses relied on people to exchange infected discs and virus outbreaks often took months to spread.

The creation of macro viruses, which exploited security weaknesses in Microsoft Word and other applications, meant that malware outbreaks peaked after days instead of weeks and months. Macro viruses ruled the roost for around four years between 1995 and 1999 before email became the main vector for viral distribution.

Harnessing the Internet meant that the time it took the first email worms, such as the Love Bug, to spread dropped from days to hours. Email worms such as the Love Bug and Melissa caused widespread disruption and confusion in 1999 before they were brought to heel.

By 2001, network worms such as Blaster were created that automatically and indiscriminately infected Windows PCs without adequate protection. Email and network worms remain a problem today but the greatest problem these days is posed by key-logging Trojans designed to snoop on a user’s private information, such as online account details, and the many strains of malware that turn infected PCs into zombie drones under the control of hackers.

The biggest change over the last 20 years has been in the motives of virus writers rather than in the types of malware they’ve cooked up, according to anti-virus firm F-Secure.

“The most significant change has been the evolution of virus writing hobbyists into criminally operated gangs bent on financial gain,” said F-Secure’s chief research officer Mikko Hypponen. “This trend is showing no signs of stopping.”

“There are already indications that malware authors will target laptop WLANs as the next vector for automatically spreading worms,” he added.

via the Register but edited by chaddo (you’d think they’d do a better job than I!)

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