INTERESTING: What’s wrong with “copyright” law

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2008/12/making-of-holiday-classic.html

Thursday, December 25, 2008

The Making of a Holiday Classic

*** begin quote ***

By any standard, It’s a Wonderful Life qualifies as a holiday classic. Frank Capra’s 1946 film has earned its place in the pop culture pantheon, becoming a Christmas tradition for millions of viewers around the world.

*** and ***

You may have noticed that, in recent years, It’s a Wonderful Life comes on only once or twice per Christmas season, and only on a major network (NBC). [That’s because] The original copyright holders managed to reassert their rights, something that is virtually unheard of. But the rights associated with the background music, as well as the copyright protection stemming from the short story on which the movie was based, had not yet expired. That gave Republic Pictures the hook in needed to reassert its control of the film.

*** end quote ***

Wasn’t “copyright” and “patent” law supposed to speed up innovation?

Intellectual Property, or as most libertarians call it, “imaginary property”, has apparently done the opposite.

Never ending succession of small changes allow the Big Media to retain a choke hold on “stuff”.

Time to revisit that “law”.

# # # # #

Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

TECHNOLOGY: Google “Picasa 3” not for Mac?

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Interesting?

# # # # #  

Leave a Comment » | Technology | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

SERVICE: “Windows Live SkyDrive” replaced “FOLDERSHARE” (No Opinion Yet)

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

http://help.live.com/help.aspx?project=live_folders

Welcome to Windows Live SkyDrive Help

*** begin quote ***

Store, organize, and download your files, photos, and favorites (A website whose web address is saved on your computer or an online server so that you can access it quickly and easily.) on Windows Live servers for free. Share photos and files that you create with your friends, collaborate on documents, or display photos and files that you create to anyone on the Windows Live network (A group of people someone communicates and shares with on Windows Live. Someone’s network includes people they’ve added to their profile, to their Messenger contacts, or both. People in someone’s network can see information about their latest activities in the what’s new list, and may see other information, depending on permissions settings.) . When you sign in to the Windows Live SkyDrive website with your Windows Live ID (The e-mail address and password that you use to sign in to Windows Live programs and services such as Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger; Microsoft services such as Xbox LIVE, MSN, and Office Live; and other places where you see the Windows Live ID logo.) , you get:

   * Storage: Store up to 25 gigabytes (GB) of photos and files. The SkyDrive storage meter shows how much storage space you’ve used.

   * Organization: Arrange your files in top-level folders (A folder that appears in the Documents, Favorites, or Photos sections on the Windows Live SkyDrive home page. Also known as a root folder.) and subfolders (A folder that you create inside a top-level folder.) that you create.

   * Control: Choose permissions (A setting that lets you limit who can see and download files from your folders.) for each top-level folder that you create. Keep your photos, files, and favorites in personal folders (Only you can view or edit files in this top-level folder. You can use personal folders to store private files.) so only you can access them; in shared folders (Only you and people that you select can view photos and files in this top-level folder. For each person that you allow to access the top-level folder, you can assign the role of reader or editor.) so you can share them with your Windows Live network, your extended network (The people in your network on Windows Live—your Windows Live Messenger and profile contacts—plus the profile contacts of the people in your network.) , and people on your contact list (A list that contains the name and e-mail address of each of your contacts.) ; or in public folders (Anyone on the Internet can view photos and files in this top-level folder, but only you can edit the photos and files.) so that they can be viewed by anyone on the Internet.

   * Convenience: Keep track of your favorite websites even when you aren’t using your own computer.

   * Flexibility: Upload any photo or file up to 50 megabytes (MB) in size, and move, copy, delete, rename, and caption your photos and files after you upload them.

   * Display: Photos saved as the JPG, JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG, TIF, and TIFF file types (A standard way of storing information on a computer by using the last three letters of a file name, known as the file extension, to indicate the file type. Different programs use different file extensions.) display with thumbnail (A miniature version of an image or electronic version of a page that is generally used to allow quick browsing through multiple images or pages.) images, and can be viewed by other users on SkyDrive or in an online slide show, if they have the right permissions to view them.

   * Sharing: Share links directly to your folders, files, and photos, or embed your photos and files in your blog (Short for weblog. An online journal. Each entry typically contains personal thoughts and web links, with the newest entries listed first.) or webpage. You can also let people know you’ve added their picture to SkyDrive by adding people tags (Textual data attached to a photo to refine its definition and meaning by identifying the person or persons in the photo.) .

*** end quote ***

Sigh. Didn’t migrate the FOLDERSHARE settings. Argh!

# # # # #

Leave a Comment » | SERVICE | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

GOLD: Demonstrating the eternal value of commodity money

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7797977.stm

*** begin quote ***

An amateur British archaeologist has discovered almost 300 gold coins dating from the 7th Century at a dig just outside Jerusalem’s Old City.

*** end quote ***

Wonder how much a paper IOU from the then Byzantine Emperor Heraclius would be worth today?

# # # # #

1 Comment | GOLDBUG | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

RANT: A superb refutation of “liberalism”

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/12/the_conservative_elevator_stor.html

December 27, 2008
The Conservative Elevator Story
By Christopher Chantrill

*** begin quote ***

Good question, Bob. In America today, conservatives believe, government is cruel, corrupt, unjust; and it just costs too much. And we conservatives just can’t stand there and do nothing.

{Extraneous Deleted}

Liberals created this monster, Bob. Liberals believe that compulsory government programs are the way to help the poor and comfort the afflicted. But they are wrong. Government is not compassion. Government is force. You cannot solve social problems by force.

{Extraneous Deleted}

Conservatives believe in society not as social force but as social cooperation. That’s why we must reform the welfare state into the welfare society. In the welfare society the American people, not liberal experts, will be in charge of their health care, their children’s education, the comfort of the afflicted, and the decent provision of pensions.

{Extraneous Deleted}

With conservative reforms America will truly become that shining city on a hill, “still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom.”

*** end quote ***

A superb “elevator speech” as to why we need liberty!

Strange how originally the “conservatives” wish to preserve the French and English Kings and the “liberals” wanted to empower the “sovereign individual”.

NOW, we have the perversion that the “liberals” want to empower the government and the “conservatives” want to empower the individual.

AND, the Democrats and Republicans are two sides of the same coin — power to the government.

How far we have fallen from the ideals of the DOWGs!

# # # # #

Leave a Comment » | Ranting | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

POLITICAL: The new powers that be look as bad as the old powers that was

Monday, December 29, 2008

Suprise, suprise. They looked and they didn’t do anything wrong. And, we’ll announce it Christmas Eve so it gets overlooked.

Begin forwarded message:

From: “WSJ.com Editors”
Date: December 23, 2008 4:56:27 PM EST
Subject: WSJ NEWS ALERT: Obama, Staff Had No Improper Contact With Blagojevich, Report Finds

__________________________________

NEWS ALERT

from The Wall Street Journal

Dec. 23, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama’s transition staff had no inappropriate communications with the office of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, according to a report released Tuesday.

The five-page report identified incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel as the only aide who had direct contact with Blagojevich, who is at the center of a corruption probe. Emanuel “had one or two” telephone conversations with the governor between Nov. 6 and Nov. 8 to discuss his own resignation from the U.S. House as well as potential nominees to fill the Illinois Senate seat being vacated by Obama, according to the report written by incoming White House Counsel Greg Craig.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123006506377030963.html?mod=djemalertNEWS

Full PDF of the report: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/200812230-obamablagomemo.pdf

# # # # #

Leave a Comment » | Political | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

Politics: The Gooferment is the Problem, imho!

Monday, December 29, 2008

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123033898448336541.html

There’s No Pain-Free Cure for Recession
Belt-tightening is required by all, including government.
By PETER SCHIFF
* OPINION * DECEMBER 27, 2008

*** begin quote ***

Governments cannot create but merely redirect. When the government spends, the money has to come from somewhere. If the government doesn’t have a surplus, then it must come from taxes. If taxes don’t go up, then it must come from increased borrowing. If lenders won’t lend, then it must come from the printing press, which is where all these bailouts are headed. But each additional dollar printed diminishes the value those already in circulation. Something cannot be effortlessly created from nothing.

*** end quote ***

When will folks recognize that GOVERNEMENT IS THE PROBLEM.

It starts from a flawed set of paradigms (i.e., perceptions) and memes (i.e., ideas).

One flawed paradigm / perception is that the “benefits bestowed” come like magic rainfall from the heavens. It’s a miracle. What we don’t see, or chose not to see, is the sausage being made. Money extracted by force (Who voluntarily pays the mob in gooferment?) to fund the “benefits”. Minus of course the huge “handling fee” to do the “extracting” and “bestowing”!

One flawed meme is that there is such a thing as “government”. In our minds, we create the Wizard of Oz illusion that there something, (or even more laughable, that we are part of something), bigger than ourselves. No, what I see are craven immoral human beings dress up in fancy clothes pretending to have power over us. To “govern” us.

In the beginnings of human civilization, there were Tyrants. Then, came Kings. Now, we have Politicians.

There are all just people. Give them no more defference than you would a street thug. Be careful they can hurt you. But, don’t kid yourself that the Politician is any different than the Mafia Don.

Keep your pitchfork and torch at hand. Their time is coming.

# # # # #

Leave a Comment » | Political | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

GUNS: Armed woman saves herself. Can you say the same?

Sunday, December 28, 2008

AR: Armed woman motorist chases off car jackers

KFSM News

“‘A lady was flagged over Sunday evening about 6 p.m. on the interstate between Kelley Highway and the Arkansas river bridge.’ Lt. Steve Coppinger with State Police says that two men in a car signaled that the woman was getting a flat tire. ‘When she pulled over to check her tires one of those person in that other car got out and attempted to rob her at knife point.’ But what the thief didn’t expect happened next. Coppinger says the female driver pulled out her handgun. ‘She pointed that at her attacker and he backed away, got in the car and they fled.’ Investigators say the would-have-been victim was able to turn the tables because she had a concealed carry permit.” [editor’s note: She was able to turn the tables because she was armed and willing to defend herself, NOT because some bureau rat magnanimously gave her “permission” – TLK] (12/19/08)

http://www.kfsm.com/Global/story.asp?S=9541680

# – # – #

Are we “victims”?

The RKBA was put in by the very smart DOWGs because they realized criminals, and the gooferment (I repeat myself!), had to be kept in check.

Only an armed citizen can do that!

# # # # #

Leave a Comment » | GUNS | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

RANT: Autoworkers Union Keeps $6 Million Golf Course

Sunday, December 28, 2008

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,472304,00.html

Autoworkers Union Keeps $6 Million Golf Course for Members at $33 Million Lakeside Retreat

# – # – #

And we are BAILING everyone out?

# # # # #

Leave a Comment » | Ranting | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

TECHNOLOGY: Slashdot has the beginnigns of a giant internet issue

Sunday, December 28, 2008

http://tech.slashdot.org/tech/08/12/27/1833202.shtml

*** begin quote ***

Fairpoint Pledges To Violate Net Neutrality

Posted by timothy on Saturday December 27, @02:46PM

from the we’ll-read-it-to-you-over-the-phone dept.

The Internet Censorship Communications

wytcld writes “Fairpoint Communications, which has taken over Verizon’s landline business in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, has announced that on February 6 ‘AOL, Yahoo! and MSN subscribers will continue to have access to content but will no longer be able to access their e-mail through the third-party Web site. Instead, Yahoo! and other third-party e-mail will be accessed directly at the MyFairPoint.net portal. Since Verizon spun off its lines to Fairpoint in a maneuver that got debt off of Verizon’s balance sheets by saddling Fairpoint with it, there was concern by the public service boards of the three states about how Fairpoint would deal with that debt. Fairpoint’s profit plan: force all Webmail users through Fairpoint’s portal, by blocking all direct access to Webmail portals other than its own. Will Fairpoint’s own search engine portal be next? What can stop them?”

*** end quote ***

Here’s one to watch.

Not sure where the needle is in this haystack! BUT, (there is always a big butt), it seems as if the ISP FAIRPOINT maybe, while taking over from Verizon, screwing all the customers.

I know that is a total surprise.

“I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” Captain Renault in Casablanca

At the very least, it’s a good reason NOT to use your ISP’s email address. I do feel sorry for all those @verizon.net users who now will have to change their email address. (I preach having your own domain! No one listens. Sorry, no sympathy here.)

I can’t wait to see how this plays out.

Whose got the popcorn?

# # # # #

Leave a Comment » | Technology | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

« Previous Entries