I am not sure if you've noticed them yet, but there are these things called popup ads currently plaguing the World Wide Web. If you are familiar with them, then, most likely, you have become quite adept at closing this hell-spawn as soon as they emerge. Want to know how good you are though? Well, browse on over here, and test your skills (make sure those speakers are turned on).

And now that I am on the subject of popups, it gives me the chance yet again to promote the magic that is Mozilla. It is currently up to a very stable and quick version 1.2Beta, and as always, the benefits to you are: integrated popup blocking, a download manager, a more standards compliant browser, theme support, better security, tabbed browsing, mouse gestures, and instant cool-ness. Don't come whining to me that Mozilla is broken if you happen to come across a page that doesn't work with Mozilla. Instead, email the webmaster to complain that they should be creating standards compliant sites instead of relying on Microsoft's hodge-podge of proprietary code, but that is another rant altogether. If you tried it the last time I mentioned Mozilla, and still think it's a little too bloated and slow for you, then I have some good news for you as well.

Mozilla's little brother Phoenix has reached version 0.4. This browser is based on Mozilla, but the goal of this project is to cut out all the crap and deliver the smallest, quickest browser possible (reportedly even runs fairly quick on an old Pentium 2 300 Mhz). In addition, it is simple to install as well. Just take the file, unzip it to your desired directory, and double click on the .exe file. You can get Phoenix here. You can also get some themes here to make it look nice and pretty.

What is this world coming to?!? Those damn script kiddies are making it so that no self-respecting, sadistic, dictatorial, lunatic world leader can have any kind of private life anymore...

What am I talking about? Why, Saddam Hussein's email has been hacked, and his inbox has been exposed for all to see of course! Nobody knows if Saddam even knows what a computer is (Many guess that the emails are filtered through various levels of government bureaucracy like any other typical government), but it is filled with junk that should be expected for a man of his stature: death threats, sympathizers, peace brokers, people trying to make a quick buck, and of course, no inbox would be complete without spam!

And just in case you care what I think about all of this: Georgie-boy's getting a little too big for his britches, Saddam is a lunatic that needs to be dealt with (just ask his sons), there are issues that need more attention at home (take a look at the economy or anti-privacy sometime), it reduces the legitimacy of the War on Terror© (still not sure what I think of that one), and whatever is done, it should have the approval of the UN.

Every once in a while I get into the mood for a good quote or two. Well, today was one of those days, and I happened to stumble onto Reba's Eclectic Quote List. Just about all of them are worth reading, but here is one of the better ones to get you thinking (plus it seems to tie in with 85% of my IP rants):

"Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth, more than ruin, more even than death... Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man."
     Bertrand Russell

Have you ever discovered that cool, new, gotta-have, tech toy only to find out that it is only available in Japan and has no future plans to be released in the US? I know I have (nevermind that everything I want is way out of my budget). Well, if you're like me, then you might like Dynamism's site. They have all the cool Japanese toys at good ol' expensive American prices. I wouldn't mind having one of these little notebooks if I knew where to find $1800 laying around.

I went to see Spirited Away last night, and it definitely deserves a couple thumbs up. Apparently there's a dubbed version and a subtitled version floating around. Here in Hawaii, they are showing the dubbed version, but don't let that turn you away because the dubbing is very well done with a lot of attention to detail.

Speaking of attention to detail, the detail and love that went into making this movie is amazing. The colors are bright, the details are numerous, and the CG backgrounds fit in well and definitely do not distract from the movie. The only way I could think of comparing it to similar American films, such as Lion King or Lilo & Stitch, is in comparing Jello pudding to Creme Brulee. While both are satisfying, delicious desserts, the richness of Spirited Away puts it on another level. I really recommend this movie to anyone, even if it is just to see the lushness of the animation although the plot should not leave you disappointed either.

I will not tell you much about the plot (I would rather let you see it on your own), but the basic jist is that the heroine, Chihiro, is forced to save her parents who stumble into a place they should not be and get turned into pigs. If you must know more though, you can read about some of the major themes of the film, and also learn a little about the director, Hayao Miyazaki. Enjoy!

And yet another reason why free information is a good thing...
With everything I write about evil media and irresponsible government taking away all our rights in the information age, you must think that I am severely pessimistic by now. Well, I am here today to dispel those viscious lies and rumors with a report of yet another institution fighting against the commercialization of good ol' information.

Have you ever dreamed of getting a genuine MIT education, but unfortunately, were not smart/affluent enough? Dream no more, because I am going to tell you how you can, and for free no less! Yup, that's right, MIT is in the process of placing all syllabi, lecture notes, exams/answers, and videotaped lectures for all 2000 available courses online, open-to-the-public, free-of-charge. Although they say it does not substitute for a real MIT education, and you will never be able to receive an actual MIT degree this way, it is still a hugely beneficial information resource. You cannot repackage and sell the information, of course, but it is free to use, translate, or study by other schools and anyone else with a thirst for knowledge.

So, if you think free information is a good thing, go check out the MIT OpenCourseWare project here!

Think lifelike robotic pets are only a thing of Steven Spielberg's imagination? Well, thanks to Sony, that day just keeps getting a little closer. Now, you may have heard of Aibo or its cheaper cousin, Poo-Chi, but the newest Aibo models are able to do some pretty cool tricks (that almost border on robots-will-soon-rule-the-world scary). Not only are they now able to recognize and react to its owner's name, voice and face in a crowd, but when it's batteries run low, it will walk over to its recharging base, recharge itself, wake up, and continue on its way. Doubt I'll ever get one of these with its $1200 price tag, but if you get one, let me know. I would like to see one of these things in action firsthand.

SCIENCE RULES!!!
I still remember that fateful day in my high school chemistry class when my teacher threw a chunk of sodium into a beaker. That flaming chunk of rock skidding across the surface of the water was one of my favorite science demos ever! I always wondered though, if that's what happened with just a small pebble, what would it look like on a much larger scale? Well, thanks to Theodore Gray, we can finally find out. Once equipped with 3.5 pounds of solid sodium metal (purchased from eBay of all places), he decided to host a Sodium Party using only the strictest of scientific standards. This is some very cool stuff (and yes, I am a pyro at heart). Hopefully, the video works in the next day or two.

Now I just wonder if they're selling any more of that sodium so I can get my hands on some...

I do not have much time to get in depth with these articles today, but they are definitely too good to pass up. Just when you think our Congress-critters can do nothing right, Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) introduces this bill, and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduces this bill. Now, nothing will most likely happen during this session of congress, but some very good seeds are planted in time to sprout next January. They may not be miracle pills for all that ails us *cough* *cough*, but it is a step in the right direction, so support them, and go tell your Congress-critter that Rep. Boucher and Rep. Lofgren are on the right track!

Thought I had forgotten about my copyright and IP rants didn't you? Fat chance my friends because I have a new link for you today. No, it is not a new disgusting development in the IP world, but it is a very informative site for when those developments do emerge. As he describes it, Edward Felton's Freedom to Tinker site is about "your freedom to understand, discuss, repair, and modify the technological devices you own."

If you're wondering why Ed Felton knows/cares so much about this stuff (besides being a Princeton computer science professor), maybe it was because he was threatened with legal action from an entertainment industry group before he was set to present a paper describing how his team had cracked watermark security measures. Because of threats quoted from the DMCA, a Princeton professor was prevented from giving a speech. Hmm, something wrong here?

Probably the most interesting part of the site is his Fritz's Hit List. As you may remember from my rants a few months ago, the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA) was introduced by Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-Disney) to discourage piracy by restricting digital products that do not carry government-sanctioned security technology. With almost daily updates, Ed Felton uses this site to catalog some very unlikely digital devices that would be required to carry copy-protection(elimination) devices such as everyone's favorite singing fish.