This is a pretty interesting blog entry by Mark Cuban in regards to the upcoming lawsuit regarding digital copyright. Basically what he is suggesting is that if Grokster loses the case, then the technical innovations that have given us P2P and several other recent developments will be quelled. The picture he paints is pretty scary.
Grokster and the financial future of America - Blog Maverick - www.blogmaverick.com
Tired of the Steeler's inability of winning the big playoff games? Maybe Snoop D-O-Double G is the answer.
FOXSports.com - NFL Playoffs- Snoop Dogg dreams of coaching Steelers
This past summer, I discovered a hidden gem not too far from Hollidaysburg. About one-hour south, I can hop onto the C&O Canal, which is essentially a 185 mile bike trail following the Potomac from Cumberland, MD to Washington. The trail is rich in history dating from all the way back to the late 1700's. This coming summer, the trail will also extend westward and make it all of the way to Pittsburgh.
Being that I bike the trail with a GPS, I began looking for a website that lists coordinates for landmarks along the way. Unable to find one, I've created a website here:
http://www.shanafeltsector.com/COCoord/
The website can be used as a repository of all coordinates C&O Trail related. Users can enter coordinates for the trail as well as view a list of all entered coordinates.
In keeping with the Steeler's theme this weekend, check out this audio menu from Jackson Street Cafe.
Ben Rothlisberger has vowed to donate his check ($18K) for playing in this week's playoff game to the tsunami aid effort. He's definately a class act in a class organization.
After the debate on the inauguration, apparently the administration feels that the inauguration is more important than homeland security and is pulling nearly 12 million dollars that were previously meant to go to homeland security and diverting the funds to the inauguration:
From the Washington Post:
D.C. officials said yesterday that the Bush administration is refusing to reimburse the District for most of the costs associated with next week's inauguration, breaking with precedent and forcing the city to divert $11.9 million from homeland security projects.
Williams estimated that the city's costs for the inauguration will total $17.3 million, most of it related to security. City officials said they can use an unspent $5.4 million from an annual federal fund that reimburses the District for costs incurred because of its status as the capital. But that leaves $11.9 million not covered, they said.
A spokesman for Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, which oversees the District, agreed with the mayor's stance. He called the Bush administration's position "simply not acceptable."
"It's an unfunded mandate of the most odious kind. How can the District be asked to take funds from important homeland security projects to pay for this instead?" said Davis spokesman David Marin.
The $17.3 million the city expects to spend on this inauguration marks a sharp increase from the $8 million it incurred for Bush's first.
Inauguration officials said they plan to spend $40 million on the four-day celebration, which will include fireworks, the swearing-in, a parade and nine balls. Those expenses -- which do not include security and other public services -- are being funded by private donors.
The region has earmarked federal homeland security funds for such priorities as increasing hospital capacity, equipping firefighters with protective gear and building transit system command centers.
So now, the financial burden of the inauguration has shifted from the Bush administration to the taxpayers and the agency that is going to be footing the bill is the one that Bush is supposedly the champion of??
A while back, I posted my latest Firefox Adblock filter list. For those who don't know, Adblock is an extension to the Firefox web browser that allows you to block ads on web pages.
This filter list can be imported into your copy of Adblock and you too can be surfing the web blocking the same ads that I am!! Oh Boy!!
Since the list is so long, I'm not going to list it directly on the site. You will have to download it by clicking here.
TiVo just announced a software upgrade that will let you copy files from the TiVo to your laptop or computer. Awesome feature, I can't wait until my contract with Dish Network runs out...
... has to be this Linksys Media Adapter (Thanks Colleen)! Not only does it let me listen to my music collection stored on my PC through my stereo system, it lets me bore friends and relatives by showing a slideshow of my digital picture collection. Setup is easy as long as you have a wireless LAN (the only goofy part was that you had to set the channel that your access point uses, its the only client device I've ever seen that makes you do that). It supports WEP, but not WPA. The user interface is pretty intutive although it does help to have all of your MP3s correctly tagged and your pictures in a somewhat logical order.
The only difficulty I've experienced is that I have to disable the Windows XP firewall on the host computer. I haven't been able to figure out how to configure the firewall to allow traffic from the Linksys (and after a pretty exhaustive search, it doesn't seem possible using the XP firewall). It may be time to switch back to ZoneAlarm.
If it would only stream movies, I'd be completely satisfied.
Linksys: WMA11B - Wireless-B Media Adapter
I just made these changes to my firefox config, so I'm not sure how much faster they will make it. But it's worth a shot if you are on broadband.
This is an excellent article by Mark Cuban about how the president could step up and assist those whose lives were damaged by the tsumani. I'm sure it won't happen and we will continue in the path of complete alienation by the rest of the world. While I'm sure that the US will be kicking in more than the 23 million already announced, GW could have made some great PR strides by following Cuban's suggestion.
Do the Right Thing - Cancel Inauguration Parties
Update: The US contribution has increased to $350 million. I'm guessing it will go up even more than that when all is said and done. Good job.
