It’s stunning that a media company could be so dense, 13 years after the Internet hit the mainstream, to try to control content it is releasing into the public domain. But here we are, in 2008 with the Associated Press doing just that. We had a little problem with attribution (actually theft of content) at the end of last year, but this is different.

It’s well known, understood, and legal, to take an excerpt from another source, publish it, and then provide attribution (links usually) back to the original source. If you don’t cite your source, then you’re effectively stealing. If you do cite your source and you’re not publishing the whole piece, it’s legal under the “fair use” law.

By attempting to refine fair use, AP is condemning itself to oblivion because the net community will take the stance that I’m taking: AP doesn’t exist. No links, no references, nada, zip, zilch. Should AP regain their senses, perhaps they’ll be inserted back into the publishing stream, but the longer this goes on, the more likely case is another aggregator that does understand the net steps in and fills the gap – that’s it, slow train to nowhere for AP.

So good luck with those rules AP!

Via Fox News: (never thought I’d write those words in this blog…)

Political activists planning protest rallies at the upcoming Democratic Convention in Denver have their stomachs in knots over a rumor about a crowd control weapon – known as the “crap cannon” – that might be unleashed against them.

Also called “Brown Note,” it is believed to be an infrasound frequency that debilitates a person by making them defecate involuntarily.

Mark Cohen, co-founder of Re-create 68, an alliance of local activists working for the protection of first amendment rights, said he believes this could be deployed at the convention in August to subdue crowds.

“We know this weapon and weapons like it have been used at other large protests before,” he said.

Now, if you watch Mythbusters you know this is pure, well, crap. There is absolutely zero evidence that such a system would work, if it even existed. While the story is horse hockey, the more disturbing aspect of it is the comments, 12 pages of hate and ignorance. Just when I have a breakthrough and begin to believe in the general good nature of humans, I see stuff like that and get grumpy again…Oh well.

HT: Dan

How does this strike you? 132 condoms per person. This supply is intended to last through the winter months for the skeleton crew of 125 scientists who stay in Antarctica’s McMurdo Station during the complete darkness. One thing is sure, they’ll all have the opportunity to be “safe” as they entertain themselves during the dark, long, and cold winter….

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – One of the last shipments to a U.S. research base in Antarctica before the onset of winter darkness was a year’s supply of condoms, a New Zealand newspaper reported Monday.

Bill Henriksen, the manager of the McMurdo base station, said nearly 16,500 condoms were delivered last month and would be made available, free of charge, to staff throughout the year to avoid the potential embarrassment of having to buy them.

The base only has a skeleton staff through the long winter.

“Since everybody knows everyone, it becomes a little bit uncomfortable,” Henriksen told the Southland Times newspaper.

About 125 scientists and staff are stationed at McMurdo base, the largest community in Antarctica, during the winter months when there is constant darkness.

The first sunrise will occur on August 20 and McMurdo’s population will start to increase again in September when supply flights resume, peaking at more than 1,000 during the summer period.

While not a blistering oratory, I believe this tells us a little more about Candidate Obama – and tells us why he is a little different, in a good way, from the run of the mill politicians we’ve seen over the past decades. It speaks well of him that he understands and recognizes the contributions of his organization in the primary win. And, he knows it’s not over, there is a long way to go until November. The more I see of Obama, the more I like.

HT: Bob

Not a place I’d like to have an extended stay…even Motel 6 would be more appealing that these pods, or even coffins. Have any of our readers ever tried one?

Thanks for the pointer Sergei.