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         "We don't shy from a hearty give-and-take and no one believes
         that the skeptics will be convinced overnight. As Thomas
         Jefferson wrote, 'It takes time to persuade men to do even
         what is for their own good.'"
                   - the RIAA on their 256-72 loss at the Oxford Union
                              http://www.politechbot.com/p-04127.html
... mind you, it saves time if you pay politicians to force them to do it


                                >> HARD NEWS <<
                                 on the loose

         UK.COM, the slightly silly but popular para-TLD, disappeared
         briefly from the Net this week. The reason, as ever in
         DNSland, was a combination of overearnestness and mild
         incompetence that slowly escalated until it hit Verisign,
         home of *fantastic* incompetence. It started with spamcop
         and rfc-ignorant.org deciding they'd seen spam from a
         *.uk.com domain - and therefore, uk.com were responsible.
         Their bots checked the uk.com admin details - and, by a
         quirk, failed to find a valid mailserver. So they reported
         uk.com as having invalid whois details to a bot at ICANN.
         That bot turned and told Verisign. Of course, Verisign as
         the last port of call, had the sense to check with a huma -
         oh, what am I saying? Ten days after the first mistake,
         without apparently contacting uk.com by phone, post or mail,
         Verisign shut down the domain, killing thousands of other
         sites. Which presents an interesting denial of service
         attack on a domain: it seems if you can report to ICANN that
         a domain's details are wrong, there's a good chance of it
         escalating until your victim has vanished from the Net.
         Heck, just reporting a fake spam might do it. ICANN and
         Verisign updated the DNS root hints file this week, for the
         first time in five years. If only we could send them the
         occasional hint back.
         http://www.donelan.com/dnstimeline.html
                                           - DNS snafus we have loved
         ftp://rs.internic.net/domain/INTERNIC_ROOT_ZONE.signatures
                    - zones signed by the GnuPG key of Postel's Ghost

         DAVID DOCHERTY, MD for Broadband at Telewest, novelist, and
         thinker, writes to declare that he "loathes spam".
         Consequently, he (and the company he hired, YourRelease.com)
         simply hadn't planned on sending hundreds of posts (which
         "looks like spam", he admits) to newsgroups worldwide using
         commercial spamming software at all. They were just trying
         to create a "War of The Worlds style drama," using fictional
         companies and a fake activist group to "create awareness of
         the issues" (and sell David's book). A volunteer, David
         says, acted irresponsibly. They're now drawing the drama to
         an early close, and deleting all the e-mail addresses they
         collected - perhaps realising at this late stage that
         fictional companies in particular have real problems
         complying with the Data Protection Act. Which leads us to
         wonder - given this was an ad campaign (and not a real activist
         spam), why was the agency employing "volunteers"? Are reality
         and fantasy beginning to blur in the telco industry? And if
         so - what, again?
         http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=smtpc1c9fb68.wibble%40localhost
- "as someone who has spent 12 years working in TV and the Web..." <SNIP>
         http://www.yourrelease.com/corp.htm
               - Underground/Guerilla Marketing Strategy & Management

         Thanks to everyone who responded to last week's appeal for
         someone to advise TV CREAM [see last week's NTK] - but don't
         worry if you haven't heard anything back from them yet, as the
         "creamies" are currently assembling a crack legal team to take
         on web-piracy repeat offenders The Daily Mail. Following on
         from that, this week's community interaction slot has been
         tailored to a couple of other interests we know to be popular
         among the NTK-reading demographic: obscure retro hardware and
         role-playing games. More specifically, reader JAMES WALLIS
         plans to "Create A Game In A Day" at his upcoming DRAGONMEET
         (from 10.30am, Sat 2002-11-30, Kensington Town Hall, London
         W8, UKP7) - but if you brought along a working Macintosh (or
         monitor) that they could use for this, you'd get a t-shirt and
         admission for free. Email the usual tips@spesh.com with the
         subject line "Return of the Mac" if you're interested. Though
         to be honest, we'd try to find a use for any old hardware
         you'd be prepared to loan - or if you don't especially want it
         back, perhaps build into a DIY recycling media centre. Or
         fully-autonomous walking battlemech, whichever seems easier.
         http://www.dragonmeet.com/giad.shtml
          - also features "Dorkstock Europe" and "Curse of the Wendigo"
          http://johnpeace.f2o.org/idiot/
                        - Linux (heck, even Windows) boxes also welcome


                                >> ANTI-NEWS <<
                             berating the obvious

         http://www.google.com/search?q=%22hotel+incontinental%22 ,
         "pennis enlargement", "british telecome", and "went for the
         juggler"... out of the mouths of content management systems:
         http://www.ntk.net/2002/11/08/dohholmes.gif ... battle of
         generic BBC pics: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/2400441.stm vs
         http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/2403339.stm ... BEFORE new
         licensing laws: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/2400273.stm - and
         AFTER?: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/1879457.stm ... yup, that
         ought to do it: http://www.saturn-entertainment.com/WARNING.html vs
         http://tswg.gov/ ... Total Staff - a super-accurate "1432.78":
     http://www.gov.im/deptindex/fr_checkParents.asp?article=eduinfo.asp
         ... also, isn't that a pretty dumb comment to go with this
         warning?: http://www.ntk.net/2002/11/08/dohwarn.gif ... those
         baffling MS licenses: http://drmlicense.one.microsoft.com/ ...
         perhaps what that "Shadow of Z'ha'Dum" episode was really
         about?: http://www.ntk.net/2002/11/08/dohbab.gif ...


                               >> EVENT QUEUE <<
                         goto's considered non-harmful

         This year's Stand-up Socialism Season starts a little later
         than usual, as heavy-handed multimillionaire MICHAEL MOORE
         brings not just his anti-gun documentary "Bowling For
         Columbine" to the UK (out next week), but also the world
         premier of his ONE AND A HALF MAN SHOW (various times, every
         day until Sunday 2002-12-08 except Mondays, the Roundhouse,
         London NW1, most tickets from UKP25.00). But if that sounds
         like a lot of money to see someone who, on the strength of
         that his TV show, isn't exactly a natural comedian, expect a
         somewhat more egalitarian pricing structure for the MARK
         THOMAS WARM-UP TOUR (various venues around the South and West,
         until Wed 2002-12-11). Continuing the theme of "To each,
         according to their needs", the TUC are giving away 75 pairs of
         tickets to the one-off UK debut of MIKE DAISEY'S 21 DOG YEARS:
         DOING TIME @ AMAZON.COM (5.30pm, Saturday 2002-11-23, Congress
         House, London WC1B, Union members only). And NTK's own rabble-
         rousing co-editor Dave Green will be delighting members of the
         Oxford University Computing Society - and their "bona fide
         guests" - with his illustrated talk KNOWN VULNERABILITIES IN
         THE TECHNOLOGY MEDIA (8.30pm, Tue 2002-11-12, Comlab, Keble
         Road, Oxford OX1, UKP1 to non-members), featuring an all-too-
         rare chance to buy NTK t-shirts post-and-packaging free.
     http://www.wayahead.com/tixonlinemaj/event.asp?artist=michael+moore
               - vs http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,48562,00.html
         http://www.mtcp.co.uk/news/tourdates.htm
                    - aka the "not quite so poor" man's Michael Moore
         http://www.tuc.org.uk/worksmart/21dogyears.htm
                     - possibly what Moore looks like without the hat
         http://www.ox.compsoc.net/events/termcards/current/
                 - "404" now back in stock at http://www.ntkmart.com/


                                >> TRACKING <<
               sufficiently advanced technology : the gathering

         For those of you who think DDR stands for "double data
         rate", then think it stands for "Dance Dance Revolution",
         then start flip-flopping manicly between the two, comes
         PYTHON DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION, the high-level, ogg-wielding
         scripting dance game for Linux or Windows, a PS2->USB
         connector, and a DDR mat. For those who like their GPL'd
         rhythm games more polished - and platform specific - there's
         the Visual C++, but otherwise damn fine STEPMANIA 3.0, now
         with a vast world of skins, track editing, extra announcers
         and music files behind it. If you can *get* the music files,
         that is : our copyright overlords dictate that your
         favourite MP3 tracks be hidden away from sight, like escaped
         rebels or MAME files. But, hey, that's why it's called
         revolution, right?
         http://www.clickass.org/~tgz/pyddr/
                                    - many dependencies, but hackable
         http://stepmania.com/stepmania/
 - It's SDL! Port it to the Mac! Port it the Linux! Are you a monkey?
         http://www.ddrmaniax.net/
                                                         - and so on.
http://www.thesunmachine.net/image_archive/archive/pcgames/france.jpg
                                    - other versions we'd like to see


                                >> MEMEPOOL <<
                ceci n'est pas une http://www.gagpipe.com/

         games biz tackles persistent accusations of "sexism" head on:
         http://www.gamegirladvance.com/archives/2002/10/26/ ... in the
         running to be a set text in next year's A-level English exam:
         http://www.w0wz3rz.com/bling/ ... make warez, not war:
         http://www.AudioBooksForFree.com/kalashnikov/Ak-mp3.asp ...
         ... ultimately, depends just how desperate you are to run
         an Acorn OS: http://www.iyonix.com/Launch/register.cgi vs
         http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rpsprowson/bbc/minib.htm ...
         also, impresses colleagues when you leave it in staff carpark:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1871775187
         ... New Mexico may allow "idiots" to vote, no comment on who's
         being voted for: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/021101/80/ddowi.html
         ... CARLYLE for the rest of us: http://www.vicefund.com/ ...
         because the movie skips over some of the interesting features
         of "dot products": http://www.matrixreloaded.com/ ... LIFE
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/11/04/1036308257969.html imitates:
http://www.chaser.com.au/show_story.asp?ID=577&ED=63&NAME=debatefails ...


                                >> GEEK MEDIA <<
                                  get out less

         TV>> Sandra Bullock finds smalltown solace in HOPE FLOATS
         (9pm, Fri, ITV)... Alexandra "The Champions" Bastedo is lured
         to a remote castle in Freddie Francis' THE GHOUL (1.05am, Fri,
         BBC1)... but all the best films of the week are scheduled way
         past midnight, including Mike Myers' pre-Austin Powers SO I
         MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER (1.10am, Fri, ITV), Ben Stiller/ Tea
         Leoni adoption quirk FLIRTING WITH DISASTER (12.40am, Tue, C4)
         and Woody Allen/ younger woman trendsetter MANHATTAN (12.30am,
         Wed, ITV)... BBC Digital shows all of series 2 of THE OFFICE
         (from 9pm, Sat, BBC Choice), raising the bar for the new
         series of I'M ALAN PARTRIDGE (9.30pm, Mon, BBC2)... on the
         basis that everyone else goes on about Saturday morning kids'
         TV presenters, so does FAME SET AND MATCH (9.05pm, Sat,
         BBC2)... and it's not quite as exciting as David Fincher's
         "Se7en" or "Panic Room", but still worth watching THE GAME
         (9.05pm, Sat, C4)... presumably timed to coincide with the
         release of their greatest hits album, "U2 Weekend" largely
         consists of POPMART LIVE FROM MEXICO CITY (12midnight, Sat,
         C4) and ZOO TV LIVE FROM SYDNEY (12.45am, Sat, C4)... hope
         this new series of ROLF ON ART (7pm, Sun, BBC1) will show him
         recreating the modern masterpieces of Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst
         and Andres "Piss Christ" Serrano... and Naomie "28 Days Later"
         Harris battles a different kind of zombie in Labour spin-
         doctor drama THE PROJECT (9pm, Sun, BBC1)... the debate
         continues to rage over whether Christina Ricci's cleavage
         constitutes "nudity" in Tim Burton historical curio SLEEPY
         HOLLOW (9pm, Sun, C4)... Gina "Coupling" Bellman sniper
         thriller SILENT TRIGGER (9pm, Sun, C5) was, bafflingly, last
         shown this June on BBC1... harrowing police procedural WIRE IN
         THE BLOOD (9pm, Thu, ITV) segues neatly into the madcap antics
         of HARRY HILL'S TV BURP (10.30pm, Thu, ITV)... while Matt
         Lucas and Kevin "Simon Quinlank" Eldon could have the next
         "Red Dwarf" on their hands in intergalactic trucking sitcom
         COMEDY LAB: CAPTAIN V (11.35pm, Thu, C4)...

         FILM>> it's Colin "son of Tom" Hanks, Jack "Tenacious D"
         Black, Carly "Popular" Pope, John "Third Rock From The Sun"
         Lithgow, and Kevin "bloody" Kline - together at last! - in
         intermittently hilarious feelgood teen slapstick ORANGE COUNTY
         ( http://www.capalert.com/capreports/orangecounty.htm : [Jack
         Black] dropping his pants in view of a woman to entice,
         privates unseen; drug intoxication leading to fire; deceit in
         urinalysis, repeatedly) - not very closely based on Kim
         Stanley Robinson's scifi trilogy of the same name... manga
         director Mamoru "Ghost In The Shell" Oshii teams up with an
         all Polish-speaking cast for great-looking lethargic
         videogaming VR philosophy-fest AVALON (imdb: color / dark-
         future / desaturated-colors / dog / purse-snatcher /
         stylization / team-play / video-game / virtual-reality / war-
         game) - not based on the Marion Zimmer Bradley novels or the
         Roxy Music song of the same name... but, disappointingly, the
         Internet Movie Database doesn't seem to have a reciprocal link
         saying "If you like [The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the
         Desert], we also recommend..." 1930s Aussie racism walkabout
         RABBIT-PROOF FENCE ( http://www.bbfc.co.uk/ : Contains mild
         emotional intensity)...


                               >> 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
                          "the less Irish version of"
                           http://www.imho.8m.com/


                                 NEED TO KNOW
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