Need To Know 2002-10-18

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"Based on a preliminary investigation, WorldCom blamed the outage on problems with a 'route table,' or software map that directs traffic to the proper destination. The company declined to identify the route table manufacturer..." http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=1532884 ...police are on the lookout for a cyberterrorist with carpentry skills >> HARD NEWS << ton-weighing UZ NTK's two spiritual forefathers face off at last, when CHUCK "PUBLIC ENEMY" D and BRUCE "IRON MAIDEN" DICKINSON take opposing sides at next week's "This House Believes That Music Is Not For Sharing" debate at the Oxford Union (8.30pm, Thu 2002-10-24, Cornmarket St, Oxford, complex admission procedure which we'll go into later). The event also marks a rare UK public appearance by HILARY ROSEN of arch anti-P2P villains THE RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, and thus a handy leafleting opportunity for the copy-protection-opposing CAMPAIGN FOR DIGITAL RIGHTS - plus a chance to get our new "Corrupt Disc - Inferior Audio" t-shirt at not-available-in- the-shops knock-down prices. Basically, mail tips@spesh.com (with the subject line "Fight The Power") for meet-up details - the Oxford Union is actually a members-only debating society rather than a proper Union like ULU, but does have a mildly complicated guest-admission procedure. Or failing that, we'll just go to the pub and swap mp3 remixes of "Bring The Noise". http://www.oxford-union.org/mod.php?mod=calendar&op=show_event&event_id=10 - "I'm Running Free", eh Bruce? Not under Palladium you're not http://uk.eurorights.org/issues/cd/button/ - actual "CD" logo font looks more like Eurostile Heavy to us http://www.yaleherald.com/article.php?Article=1153 - taking "talk like a pirate" day too far http://www.xenoclast.org/free-sklyarov-uk/2002-October/003442.html - file under "Yo, bum rush the show" Nowhere near Oxford? Well, how about Belgium? November 7th sees the one and only public discussion of the EU's adoption of software patents. If you want to drop by - mail rbray@europarl.eu.int. We're not sure what you should dress up as here. Maybe not a pirate: Delacroix's Marianne? Liberty, crushing a floppy disk? The giant cabbage women from Jeux Sans Frontieres? Probably, actually, as a serious young businessman from a plucky Euro startup who is just about to get kicked in the bottomline if software patents come over here. Although if you could drag Chuck D along, that might liven things up. The public hearing is at 1500-1830 CEST on 7 November at the European Parliament, Altiero Spinelli Building, room ASP 1G3, rue Wiertz. B-1047 Brussels. Forward to the sarcastic updates of more central European countries at will! http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/indprop/comp/02-277.htm - those proposals in full http://swpat.ffii.org/players/ahoward/index.en.html - a non-fishfaced Anthony Howard presides And while we're pitilessly banging on about cyberrights issues, criminy, what about those ID card proposals, hey? Thank goodness CHARTER88 and LIBERTY are fighting the good fight with their brand new www.no2id.com Website. Nice site - and it'd be even nicer if, in their fight against breaches of privacy, they hadn't set up their "join our campaign" page to use the notorious spam-gateway script formmail.pl - complete with client-side e-mail address, and the old, insecure version 1.6 from Matt's Script Archive, circa 1997. So, not only are they sending the full list of their supporters in plaintext across the network - they're allowing spammers to cover their tracks in sending everyone mail. Anyone want to volunteer to get them - finally - up to speed on tech issues? http://www.no2id.com/ - Or perhaps the 3133t frontpage t3xt was some insider joke? http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/mjob.html - mmm, frames >> ANTI-NEWS << berating the obvious HANSARD debuts in THE RETURN OF PUERILE GOOGLE MISSPELLINGS: http://www.google.co.uk/search?&q=%22home+cunties%22 - see also "orkplace", "damn busters" - and aren't we all getting a bit tired of mind-numbingly repetitive sales pitches by now?: http://www.google.com/search?q=%22are+you+tired+of%22 ... typos in space - nice pics of the "azimuth munting component": http://www.ing.iac.es/PR/archive/wht/erection3.html and "buttery unit": http://www.nasda.go.jp/projects/rockets/hsfd/img/component2.jpg ... continuing the "old jokes" theme - it's hardly hygienic: http://www.ntk.net/2002/10/18/dohsho.gif ... no wonder they're having problems getting them round the conference table: http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/oct/14inpak.htm ... and it's a double case of missing BBC millions - RETEURS to cut costs by $220: http://www.ntk.net/2002/10/18/dohreut.gif ; TXU needs many times that: http://www.ntk.net/2002/10/18/dohtxu.gif ... same results even if you don't ask for "source code to this search script": http://www.redbus.co.uk/search/ ... automatic search-and-replace artefacts - who would you like to have a T- Mobile with?: http://www.ntk.net/2002/10/18/dohtmo.gif ... >> EVENT QUEUE << goto's considered non-harmful ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR tomorrow (from 10am, Sat 2002-10-19, Camden Centre, London, free as far as we can establish from the site, though it's up to UKP8 to see Chumbawamba in the evening). Attractions include the usual UNDERCURRENTS video activism, various newsletters and organisations asking if they should just give up, plus YearZero's ADAM PORTER, who emailed us after being mentioned last year to defend his work on the old "Loaded" site, maintaining he should "get much more flack" for spending "5 years at the Evening Standard" in his twenties. For a more rigorously mathematical demonstration of how, basically, we're all the same, watch out for KENNETH APPEL and WOLFGANG HAKEN celebrating the 25th anniversary of the publication of their proof of THE FOUR-COLOUR PROBLEM (from 2pm, Wed 2002-10-23, Cruciform Building, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1, also looks like it's free) - part of a world tour where they always give a different talk to the ones they've given in any adjacent countries. http://www.lms.ac.uk/meetings/poster.html - afternoon filled by four sessions, two different Robins http://www.anarchistbookfair.org/ - "largest and most important" gathering in the world http://www.ntk.net/2002/10/18/dohkyst.gif - "I yam an anti-christ..." http://www.spiked-online.com/IT/events.stm#privacy - on Tue: free as in "speech", and as in "not costing 7 quid" >> TRACKING << sufficiently advanced technology : the gathering Things Apple People Insist On Doing To Piss Other Platforms Off, #343: that thing where they stick two of their swanky LCDs into one Mac, and then move the mouse seamlessly between them while laughing, laughing, laughing. Now fair enough, given the right tech and six hours of wasted setup time, both Windows and Linux can do multi-heading. But it is a curious fact of life that geeks are more likely to have n+1 computers under our desk than we have multihoming machines with two or more monitors stuck into them. Which is where Chris Schoeneman's SYNERGY steps in. SYNERGY lets you move your mouse between Windows and Linux boxes sharing a network (and presumably your desk). When you move the mouse off the left of one screen, it will move to the next PC - and keyboard focus and the clipboard contents will move with it. So you can cut and paste between Windows and Linux, or replace a hardware keyboard/mouse switchbox with software. Currently, you can't drag windows across machines, but, hey, with X remote servers, VNC, and some hackery, anything's possible, right? Best of all, it's not yet ported to MacOS X. So you can show those switching iPod-people what for. Ha! http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/ - it'll get ported one day, but live for now http://netclipboard.sf.net/ - and if you just want the Net-wide clipboard http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/user/rcm/WWW/RemoteClip/ - that works on Palms... >> MEMEPOOL << ceci n'est pas une http://www.gagpipe.com/ what the Queen gets instead of subscribe confirmation requests: http://www.reload-uk.com/society/slide3.html ... old soldiers never die, they just fail to update their Website: http://www.stephenambrose.com/ ... warpumpkin: http://pics.finnie.org/2002/1013_warpumpkin/1013_005-r.html ... USENET continues its rearguard action into print: http://www.ugvm.org.uk ... discouraging MEPs from running warez/mp3z sites: https://www.copernicus.co.uk/WiaB2/Price.htm ... see your license money at work - and potentially die in the attempt: http://projectz.ath.cx/?id=93 ... got: actinium, need: weapons-grade plutonium http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/ ... perfect partners in the children's fiction section: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0689711034 ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2329205.stm versus http://www.tvtome.com/Simpsons/season3.html#ep59 ... ... http://www.sylvanianfamilies.com/storeims/8p.jpg VS. http://www.cosmopolis.ch/jamesbrown2.jpg ... it's amazing what you can do with ten minutes and a copy of Microsoft Word Art: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/displayarticle.php?id=9361 ... >> GEEK MEDIA << get out less TV>> real-life "Cracker" David Canter takes a topical look at geographic murder profiling in MAPPING MURDER (8pm, Fri, C5): http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/biztech/10/08/profiling.tech/ ... the serial killer fun continues in daft sci-fi VIRTUOSITY (11.20pm, Fri, BBC1) - not to be confused with teen sex farce VIRTUAL SEXUALITY (11.05pm, Mon, C4)... then three very different romantic comedies turn up in the form of highschool Shakespeare-remake 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU (9pm, Fri, ITV), Ang Lee's relatively kung-fu-free SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (9.05pm, Sat, C4), plus fanboy fantasy CHASING AMY (10.35pm, Sat, BBC2)... presumably it's not addiction to "Everquest" that's stopping young men from venturing outdoors in CORRESPONDENT - JAPAN: THE MISSING MILLION (7.15pm, Sun, BBC2)... Jeremy "Acid Jazz" Deller recreates the miners' strike in ARTANGEL: THE BATTLE OF ORGREAVE (7.45pm, Sun, C4)... "You are the weakest Brit" declares Anne Robinson in GREAT BRITONS - THE TOP 100 (9pm, Sun, BBC2)... as Bruce "Silent Running" Dern takes aim at the Superbowl in 1970s Thomas "Hannibal" Harris terrorist thriller BLACK SUNDAY (11pm, Sun, BBC1)... at least C4 are showing THE LAST BROADCAST (12.40am, Tue, C4) after the wildly overrated BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (10pm, Sun, C4)... and Matthew "Garth Marenghi" Holness plays a BOFH-style visitor to THE OFFICE (10pm, Mon, BBC2) - should be more entertaining than STAR TREK: INSURRECTION (9pm, Mon, C5)... Dawn French returns in low-key gag-free lesbian sitcom WILD WEST (9pm, Tue, BBC1)... Tuesday night is Kubrick night again with FULL METAL JACKET (10pm, Tue, C5)... and following all that pro-"nurture" propaganda from "Faking It", HUMAN INSTINCT (9pm, Wed, BBC1) cheesily redresses the balance in favour of evolutionary psychology, with the first of a 4-part series covering fleeing, feeding, fighting - and mating?... FILM>> Vin Diesel maintains that he learned everything he knows from playing videogames - "GoldenEye", presumably - in seemingly interminable Prague-set formulaic Bond knockoff XXX ( http://www.capalert.com/capreports/xxx.htm : long drug manufacturing warfare sequence; industrial metal [Rammstein] and new age metal music [Orbital]; wild revelry, multiple; cheering illegal activity; goal of anarchy through mass murder; massive tattoos)... the European flavour continues with Piper "Coyote Ugly" Perabo in the title role of Franco- Texan "Drop Dead Gorgeous"-alike SLAP HER, SHE'S FRENCH ( http://www.bbfc.co.uk/ : Contains strong language once and moderate sexual references), and kids' subtitled live-actioner ASTERIX & OBELIX: MISSION CLEOPATRA ( http://www.bbfc.co.uk/ : Contains mild bad language and innocuous drug references)... yet the most shocking content comes via the feature-length "non-stop frenetic animated action" of THE POWERPUFF GIRLS ( http://www.screenit.com/movies/2002/the_powerpuff_girls_movie.html : various colorful phrases are uttered; several adult female characters are drawn with shapely bodies and some occasional cleavage; for those with issues about evolution, a display in a zoo shows monkeys evolving into man; mechanical like super primate discharging bombs from his rear end like feces; some impressionable kids might be enticed to imitate some of the action and fighting that occurs in the film)... AD MUSIC FOR SIX PEOPLE>> and as FEEDER are starting more and more to resemble the Foo Fighters, and BADLY DRAWN BOY's "You Were Right" fails to correct the impression that he's turning into the bloke out of The Divine Comedy, it was left to SNARK (via http://www.everyonehatesattachments.com/ ) to attempt to identify the string sample in MADONNA's theme to "Die Another Day", which he believes to be Track 5, "The Fencing Lesson", from the soundtrack to "The Mask of Zorro". Meanwhile, ADRIAN FURBY believes his ongoing vigilance "has made the world just that little bit safer" by identifying that "Australian Burger King" Hungry Jacks have a song in their latest campaign "that sounds very much like 'Parklife' by Blur, but isn't". Plus: "What makes a 'soundalike'?", he muses, apparently without provocation. "In my opinion it's a track that uses almost the same chord progression (perhaps in a different key), the same instrumentation, the same production values (eg: reverb, compression), and the same rhythm and tempo as the original". Yup, Adrian, we reckon that ought to help... not many more outstanding ad soundalikes this month - the Jamie Oliver one with the bath sounds a bit like the intro of "A Little Less Conversation"; DAN PEARCE reckoned that "Friskies GoCat think they can get the 2Tone vote by having their soundtrack try its hardest to be 'On My Radio' by The Selector" - but commiserations to all of you who alleged that the Coke ad "where some bloke drives off in a lawnmower without a thought for what the tarmac will do to the cutting blades" (DAN PEARCE again) is "supposed to be the theme from Futurama". "Never Mind The Buzzcocks" team captain PHILL JUPITUS (who doesn't read NTK, but happily shares his wisdom on matters of topical importance) swiftly clarified that this track is actually "EVA" by Jean Jacques Perry, possibly as remixed by Fatboy Slim - and perhaps the inspiration for the Futurama theme in the first place?... in other music news, CLIVE HOLLOWAY noted the omission of the "I was gonna make love to you" verse from the right-click-for-a-scary-copyright-notice Afroman fan site: http://www.addictionnetwork.co.uk/schoolscup.htm [NTK 2002-08- 02]; MARK DZ thought we might enjoy - correctly, as it turned out - the "Tainted Perl"-style lyrical rewrites of "Let It Be" and "Wonderwall" over at http://firewallmonkeys.com/songs/ ; but DIARMUID MALLON took the no-prize for pop pedantry by noting that the US Hyundai Sonata ad where the flute music sounds "so very close to Jethro Tull's 'Thick As A Brick' - but not quite close enough, if you're a [Jethro] Tull fan" [reader PAUL BORT, NTK 2002-07-05] is indeed Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull playing "Thick As A Brick" on his flute, this information being widely available in the "excellent" Jethro Tull fanzine, "A New Day". Really Paul, how much closer would you like it to get?... >> SMALL PRINT << Need to Know is a useful and interesting UK digest of things that happened last week or might happen next week. You can read it on Friday afternoon or print it out then take it home if you have nothing better to do. It is compiled by NTK from stuff they get sent. Registered at the Post Office as "what happens when an antiglobalisation activist decides takes on the establishment, not on the streets but across digital networks." http://www.furyfever.com/index.asp NEED TO KNOW THEY STOLE OUR REVOLUTION. NOW WE'RE STEALING IT BACK. Archive - http://www.ntk.net/ Unsubscribe? Mail ntknow-unsubscribe@lists.ntk.net Subscribe? Mail ntknow-subscribe@lists.ntk.net NTK now is supported by UNFORTU.NET, and by you: http://www.geekstyle.co.uk/ (K) 2002 Special Projects. Copying is fine, but include URL: http://www.ntk.net/ Tips, news and gossip to tips@spesh.com All communication is for publication, unless you beg. 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