Domain: bbc.co.uk
Stories and comments across the archive that link to bbc.co.uk.
Stories · 4,568
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Gemini North telescope Now Taking Observations
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Computer, Arise From Your Grave
Davy Mitchell writes "Interesting article on emulation on the BBC's site Good interview with Paul Burgin - author of several Dragon 32/64 emulators. This makes his views on copyright quite surprising!" It's a good article on emulation, and the revival of the old style computers. Good nostalgia. -
Stolen Enigma Found
Ian Pointer writes "The BBC is reporting that the Enigma machine stolen from Bletchley Park has been delivered to Jeremy Paxman (a BBC journalist), and is now safe. Just thought you'd all feel better knowing." You can read the original article in which we talked about it being stolen. -
Microprocessors With Living Brain Tissue
FurBurger writes: "Another interesting article from Discover.com on NeuroComputers . 'Although scientists have developed software that attempts to mimic the brain's learning process using only the yes-no binary logic of digital computers, all the connections in a personal computer are wired back at the factory. Breaking a single one of these connections usually crashes the computer.' (a la Windows =))" The promise of neuron-based computers is greater flexibility and fault tolerance, with components that require very little power. Or, as FurBurger puts, it, "Watch out, Transmeta!" Mike also points to a June article on the BBC about the same group and their "leech-ulator." -
Mouse Genome Sequenced
rbreve writes "Celera Genomics said on Thursday it had come close to unraveling the complete genome sequence of three strains of mice. The U.S. company said it had sequenced 9.3 billion base pairs, or letters of genetic code, of DNA for the three types of mouse, about 95% of the mouse genome." The BBC has the story. -
UK Allows Insurers To Use Genetic Test Results
np-complete writes: "According to this article from BBC News, the UK government has decided to allow insurers to deny cover or increase premiums for those who have tested positive for Huntingdon's Chorea, despite the recommendation by the Human Genetics Advisory Commission for a moratorium on the use of such information. The government has decided that insurers should be able to use information from genetic tests if it is deemed technically reliable by the Genetics and Insurance Committee. The report claims this makes Britain the first country in the world to approve this kind of commercial use of gene technology. The government says it's 'good for consumers.'" -
UK Allows Insurers To Use Genetic Test Results
np-complete writes: "According to this article from BBC News, the UK government has decided to allow insurers to deny cover or increase premiums for those who have tested positive for Huntingdon's Chorea, despite the recommendation by the Human Genetics Advisory Commission for a moratorium on the use of such information. The government has decided that insurers should be able to use information from genetic tests if it is deemed technically reliable by the Genetics and Insurance Committee. The report claims this makes Britain the first country in the world to approve this kind of commercial use of gene technology. The government says it's 'good for consumers.'" -
Stolen Enigma Machine Held For Ransom
AaronLane writes: "The BBC has a story on the robbery, and ransom of one of the only three German Enigma encryption machines from World War Two. The people holding the machine say they bought it unknowingly, and want to be compensated before giving it back, or they will destroy it. The Bletchley Park musuem, from which the machine was stolen, is offering 25,000 pounds." [timothy butts in --] Here's a link to the slashdot story posted when the machine was stolen. -
Douglas Adams Back On Radio
starvo writes "Looks like Douglas Adams, and the BBC are teaming up again.. This time for the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Future" On BBC radio, premiering October 4th. The Hitchhiker's Guide site has more information. " It looks like you can listen to snippets of it in RealAudio. The interview stuff with Brian Eno [?] looks to very interesting as well. -
Flashing Galaxy
eastern european spy writes: "According to the BBC astronomers have obtained one of the most detailed views ever seen of the central regions of a so-called active galaxy that is ejecting energetic jets of material into space. The galaxy, catalogued as 3C120, has a supermassive black hole at its core that squirts gas jets in opposite directions. One jet is almost pointed head-on towards the Earth. Read the full story here." See also the author's homepage and some movies of the phenomena. -
Slime Mold Demonstrates Primitive Intelligence
A reader writes "According to BBC News, scientists have just published a paper in Nature demonstrating that slime molds can negotiate the shortest route through a maze, thus demonstrating a form of "cellular computation" which implies a primitive intelligence." -
Largest Sun Spot In Nine Years Now Viewable
Mazarin writes: "The BBC has an interesting article about the largest sun spot to come around in nine years. 'The spot, which is moving towards the centre of the Sun's disk, covers an area a dozen times larger than the entire surface of the Earth.' The article goes on to talk about other sun spots that have caused minor disturbances and gives a nice little warning about not looking at the sun during this time." -
Largest Sun Spot In Nine Years Now Viewable
Mazarin writes: "The BBC has an interesting article about the largest sun spot to come around in nine years. 'The spot, which is moving towards the centre of the Sun's disk, covers an area a dozen times larger than the entire surface of the Earth.' The article goes on to talk about other sun spots that have caused minor disturbances and gives a nice little warning about not looking at the sun during this time." -
What's That In Your Keyboard?
An anonymous reader noted that The Beeb has an article on the crap you find in your keyboard. I usually wear my keyboards out fast enough that they need replacing before cleaning (which is good since nate took his keyboard vacuum with him when he moved). Besides that, I spill a mocha on my keyboard at least every 2-3 weeks. Thank god you can get keyboards for ten bucks! -
CERN May Have Found The Higgs Boson
Hilbert writes: "Scientists working at the LEP collider at CERN believe they have found evidence of the existance of the Higgs boson, one of the more elusive particles under investigation. BBC's got the story." Ironically, this important discovery (or possible discovery) comes weeks before the collider used to make it is scheduled to be shut down. Can you say "the dilemma of prior investment"? -
Video Games and ADD
narratorDan writes "Cure your child with videogames! This is an interesting story about how video games and bio feedback can help children with attention deficit disorder (ADD). The academics at the Langley Research Centre in Virginia say the treatment helps the children train their brains to concentrate more and focus their attention." Don't look at me, I have a hard time concentrating on anything longer then a one paragraph Slashdot story *grin*. -
Personal Helicopter
So the BBC says: "Personal helicopter set for lift-off." The next best thing to telecommuting. I can hear you cynics scoff, since it hasn't actually been demoed flying yet, but you know you still want to look at the photos. Try not to look. I dare ya.P.S. We have to post one of these stories every five months. It's in our contract. (CT:Plus we're jealous that Popular Mechanics always gets to have hovercrafts and personal planes on their covers)
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MP3.com Pays Damages to Sony
Spudley writes "According to this story on the BBC MP3.com have agreed an out-of-court settlement to pay Sony music $20 million in damages for their past copyright infrigements. The deal also covers the future - MP3.com will from now on pay royalties to Sony. However, the judge has ruled that the trial must still take place, in order to make a ruling on other copyright cases against them." -
MP3.com Pays Damages to Sony
Spudley writes "According to this story on the BBC MP3.com have agreed an out-of-court settlement to pay Sony music $20 million in damages for their past copyright infrigements. The deal also covers the future - MP3.com will from now on pay royalties to Sony. However, the judge has ruled that the trial must still take place, in order to make a ruling on other copyright cases against them." -
AltaVista UK Withdraws Unmetered Service In UK
WhiteWash writes "AltaVista's UK branch is terminating its offer of unmetred access, and blaming BT for the trouble as the BBC says at their news page. This was a good deal that provided an alternative to BT's monopolistic unmetred access options. Where does Britain turn now for unmetred access?" We originally touched on this subject a while back, for more background info. -
NASA To Build Laser Space Broom For ISS
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Techno Jacket
Feersum Asura writes "Clothes equipped with fully integrated computer networks have been designed and developed in a joint venture between clothing company Levi's and electronics company Philips, following three years of intensive research. For more information visit the BBC website." I wouldn't be caught dead in one of these. Update: 08/16 11:11 AM by michael :More photos! -
Manned Mars Mission In 2014?
simonj writes: "BBC News Online carried a report that, according to an American academic, the best time for a manned Mars mission will be in 2014. Apparently, Earth, Mars and Venus will be in alignment, allowing a gravitational slingshot manoeuvre." -
Animal-to-Human Organ Transplant Experiments Cancelled
Spudley writes: "The BBC is reporting that experiments aimed at creating a pig with organs suitable for human transplant have been cancelled. Apparently the funding has been withdrawn, over fears of introducing new diseases to the human population. The research group involved is the Roslin Institute - the same people who brought us Dolly the sheep." Kinda creepy. -
Animal-to-Human Organ Transplant Experiments Cancelled
Spudley writes: "The BBC is reporting that experiments aimed at creating a pig with organs suitable for human transplant have been cancelled. Apparently the funding has been withdrawn, over fears of introducing new diseases to the human population. The research group involved is the Roslin Institute - the same people who brought us Dolly the sheep." Kinda creepy. -
Yahoo! Given Reprieve In French Court Battle
Spudley writes "The BBC is reporting that Yahoo! has been given a reprieve by a French court. The judge had previously ruled that they must block access in France to any Nazi-related auctions on their site. The judge has now asked for a panel to be set up, to provided technical information, before he decides the case." For more information, check out original article about this. It's a pretty interesting debate - how do national laws apply to the Internet? -
Yahoo! Given Reprieve In French Court Battle
Spudley writes "The BBC is reporting that Yahoo! has been given a reprieve by a French court. The judge had previously ruled that they must block access in France to any Nazi-related auctions on their site. The judge has now asked for a panel to be set up, to provided technical information, before he decides the case." For more information, check out original article about this. It's a pretty interesting debate - how do national laws apply to the Internet? -
Antimatter Factory Starts Work
doctor_oktagon writes: "The BBC are reporting that 'Scientists at Europe's biggest high-energy physics laboratory have built an "antimatter factory" to study why the world is made of matter, not its mirror image.' This looks like pretty exciting stuff! They slow 'anti-proton' particles down to 1/10th light speed, mix them with protons, and then hope to study the result: antihydrogen. This will hopefully give them insight into why the universe is made of matter, and not antimatter, though I guess this is all relative to your persective! Go here to read the BBC News article in full" -
Distributed Computing Applied to Medical Research
Troodon writes " BBCnews SCI/TECH has an item: Screensavers could save lives , anouncing the team up between Parabon Computation and the US National Cancer Institute to apply the idle time of home computers in a Seti@homeesque manner, simulating the responce of cancer cells to potential drugs. The sweetner being the _option_ to receive a payment for your troubles. Other new start ups are jumping on the bandwagon, e.g. Popular Power's choice of contributing to research on Influenza Vaccination, or making a little money with big business. But with these companies potentially looking forward to a healthy cut in the profits of any new drugs developed etc., should us plebs look towards more honourable projects, such as trying to help research into the global warming, that all these boxes dug out retirement are going to contribute to?" -
Distributed Computing Applied to Medical Research
Troodon writes " BBCnews SCI/TECH has an item: Screensavers could save lives , anouncing the team up between Parabon Computation and the US National Cancer Institute to apply the idle time of home computers in a Seti@homeesque manner, simulating the responce of cancer cells to potential drugs. The sweetner being the _option_ to receive a payment for your troubles. Other new start ups are jumping on the bandwagon, e.g. Popular Power's choice of contributing to research on Influenza Vaccination, or making a little money with big business. But with these companies potentially looking forward to a healthy cut in the profits of any new drugs developed etc., should us plebs look towards more honourable projects, such as trying to help research into the global warming, that all these boxes dug out retirement are going to contribute to?" -
Nine More Extrasolar Planets Discovered
Complete Bastard writes: "Several news sites including BBC and Reuters are running a story about the discovery of an additional nine extrasolar planets, to be announced at a meeting of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). It will be further announced that astronomers have discovered two Saturn sized planets orbiting the star HD 83443. There is more to the BBC article, which can be found here." -
Nine More Extrasolar Planets Discovered
Complete Bastard writes: "Several news sites including BBC and Reuters are running a story about the discovery of an additional nine extrasolar planets, to be announced at a meeting of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). It will be further announced that astronomers have discovered two Saturn sized planets orbiting the star HD 83443. There is more to the BBC article, which can be found here." -
Sir Alec Guinness Dies
Gord writes: "The BBC is reporting (at least on the radio, can't see it on the Web site yet), that Sir Alec Guinness passed away Saturday night (9:50pm GMT) after been taken to hospital last Thursday. He will be most remembered by me as Obi-Wan in the original Star Wars movies, but he also acted in many other movies and he will be sorely missed." Update: 08/07 11:26 AM by E : Here's the story from BBC online. -
Sir Alec Guinness Dies
Gord writes: "The BBC is reporting (at least on the radio, can't see it on the Web site yet), that Sir Alec Guinness passed away Saturday night (9:50pm GMT) after been taken to hospital last Thursday. He will be most remembered by me as Obi-Wan in the original Star Wars movies, but he also acted in many other movies and he will be sorely missed." Update: 08/07 11:26 AM by E : Here's the story from BBC online. -
EU To Take Legal Action Against Microsoft
beebware writes: "The BBC is running this story about the European Union opening an antitrust case against Microsoft. It seems legal action has already started (a warning has been issued) - place your bets now on the outcome...." You can also check out the ZDNN story. The warning comes from a complaint registered by Sun Microsystems. -
EU To Take Legal Action Against Microsoft
beebware writes: "The BBC is running this story about the European Union opening an antitrust case against Microsoft. It seems legal action has already started (a warning has been issued) - place your bets now on the outcome...." You can also check out the ZDNN story. The warning comes from a complaint registered by Sun Microsystems. -
Web More Vulnerable Than Expected?
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Slashback: Spookiness, France, Reds
Imagine a novelist, trapped in a nightmarish world of credit cards and micropayments, facing devilish odds and the belligerent stares of publishers everywhere ... picture a team of hackers brazen enough to break into dozens of secure government sites without incurring a single lawsuit ... scream in terror at the thought of mutant penguin-kangaroo hybrids swimming deviously onto our shores ...Revenge of the naysayers' naysayers: Just yesterday, jamie sallied forth with the theory that Stephen King was setting himself up for disappointment by expecting enough paying customers for his new online book to justify the experiment.
jheinen writes, though, "According to MSNBC, of the 41,000 downloads for the first installment so far, 32,000 (~78%) have already paid via credit card. Kinda shoots to hell the theory that people won't pay."
[Jamie adds: I stand by my prediction that "Stephen King is never going to have to publish the end of his novel." I'd love to see him succeed, but I just don't think so this time around. We'll see in September!]
Red Five, I'm going in. You may recall the story a little while ago about a distributed anti-cracking bot at Sandia National Laboratory. Rest assured, those clever folks don't confine themselves to practicing only one side of the ol' thrust-and-feint.
In fact, leb writes: "Over the past two years, a group at Sandia National Laboratories known informally as the Red Team has, at customer invitation, either successfully invaded or devised successful mock attacks on 35 out of 35 information systems at various sites, along with their associated security technologies. Their work - challenged only by a new style of defense, also developed at Sandia, called an "intelligent agent" - demonstrates that competent outsiders can hack into almost all networked computers as presently conformed no matter how well guarded, say spokespeople for the group, formally known as the Information Design Assurance Red Team or IDART. Check out their site here."
Stir, leave plot overnight to thicken. vjlen writes: "Now it sounds like corinthians.com is just another cybersquatting case. From an article in USA Today: 'But the case is not as black-and-white as it seems, says Dave Fogelson, a spokesman for the team, which recently put up its own site in Brazil. Fogelson says the arbitrator had to consider several factors, including the fact that Sallen did not use the site for Bible quotes until after he contacted the team to talk about selling the name, which suggests his main motive was profit.'"
Or ... or ... or ... we'll strike! stattouk writes "The BBC has a story on a court case currently happening in France over whether Yahoo France can be held responsible for people being able to access auctions of Nazi memorabilia. The courts say that even though fr.yahoo.com has blocked access, the fact that www.yahoo.com can still be used to get them amounts to no action by Yahoo." Asking Yahoo! to block Internet auctions in the first place seemed rather stretchy; now it seems that Yahoo! is supposed to police the entire world.
Penguins do come from that hemisphere, after all ... Tsujigiri writes "To follow up a previous story on Slashdot about the Australian InstallFest 2000, Fairfax IT is running this story about the recently held (well, July the 15th) Adelaide InstallFest 2000 and its "unexpected surge in interest". Quite successfull all round. Congratulations to all involved, and good luck to the rest of the Australian Install Season. (For anyone who'd like to see some pictures, go here)"
If there's an "install season" down there, one questions leaps to mind: Is there a limit on those things?
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Slashback: Spookiness, France, Reds
Imagine a novelist, trapped in a nightmarish world of credit cards and micropayments, facing devilish odds and the belligerent stares of publishers everywhere ... picture a team of hackers brazen enough to break into dozens of secure government sites without incurring a single lawsuit ... scream in terror at the thought of mutant penguin-kangaroo hybrids swimming deviously onto our shores ...Revenge of the naysayers' naysayers: Just yesterday, jamie sallied forth with the theory that Stephen King was setting himself up for disappointment by expecting enough paying customers for his new online book to justify the experiment.
jheinen writes, though, "According to MSNBC, of the 41,000 downloads for the first installment so far, 32,000 (~78%) have already paid via credit card. Kinda shoots to hell the theory that people won't pay."
[Jamie adds: I stand by my prediction that "Stephen King is never going to have to publish the end of his novel." I'd love to see him succeed, but I just don't think so this time around. We'll see in September!]
Red Five, I'm going in. You may recall the story a little while ago about a distributed anti-cracking bot at Sandia National Laboratory. Rest assured, those clever folks don't confine themselves to practicing only one side of the ol' thrust-and-feint.
In fact, leb writes: "Over the past two years, a group at Sandia National Laboratories known informally as the Red Team has, at customer invitation, either successfully invaded or devised successful mock attacks on 35 out of 35 information systems at various sites, along with their associated security technologies. Their work - challenged only by a new style of defense, also developed at Sandia, called an "intelligent agent" - demonstrates that competent outsiders can hack into almost all networked computers as presently conformed no matter how well guarded, say spokespeople for the group, formally known as the Information Design Assurance Red Team or IDART. Check out their site here."
Stir, leave plot overnight to thicken. vjlen writes: "Now it sounds like corinthians.com is just another cybersquatting case. From an article in USA Today: 'But the case is not as black-and-white as it seems, says Dave Fogelson, a spokesman for the team, which recently put up its own site in Brazil. Fogelson says the arbitrator had to consider several factors, including the fact that Sallen did not use the site for Bible quotes until after he contacted the team to talk about selling the name, which suggests his main motive was profit.'"
Or ... or ... or ... we'll strike! stattouk writes "The BBC has a story on a court case currently happening in France over whether Yahoo France can be held responsible for people being able to access auctions of Nazi memorabilia. The courts say that even though fr.yahoo.com has blocked access, the fact that www.yahoo.com can still be used to get them amounts to no action by Yahoo." Asking Yahoo! to block Internet auctions in the first place seemed rather stretchy; now it seems that Yahoo! is supposed to police the entire world.
Penguins do come from that hemisphere, after all ... Tsujigiri writes "To follow up a previous story on Slashdot about the Australian InstallFest 2000, Fairfax IT is running this story about the recently held (well, July the 15th) Adelaide InstallFest 2000 and its "unexpected surge in interest". Quite successfull all round. Congratulations to all involved, and good luck to the rest of the Australian Install Season. (For anyone who'd like to see some pictures, go here)"
If there's an "install season" down there, one questions leaps to mind: Is there a limit on those things?
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Channel Islands Decide To Reject ICANN Payments
General_Corto writes "The BBC has an article on the decision of the Channel Islands domain registrar to not give ICANN any money until there is a real contract in place giving assurances on such things as quality of service. The Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries is also backing them up, to some extent. When oh when will ICANN manage not to screw things up?" See our previous article about the row between ICANN and Centr. -
Channel Islands Decide To Reject ICANN Payments
General_Corto writes "The BBC has an article on the decision of the Channel Islands domain registrar to not give ICANN any money until there is a real contract in place giving assurances on such things as quality of service. The Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries is also backing them up, to some extent. When oh when will ICANN manage not to screw things up?" See our previous article about the row between ICANN and Centr. -
Coca-Cola Loses Fizz To Microsoft
Kinlan writes: "This article at the BBC mentions that while Coca-Cola still has the most valuable brand name, Microsoft is a close second. Another interesting thing is how many other tech stocks are increasing their brand values, even with the recent slump in tech stocks." You know, when you're dragging a corporation's name around through the news and the court systems, it's free advertising. I wonder how this would have compared with an 'O.J. Simpson' brand a few years back. -
Coca-Cola Loses Fizz To Microsoft
Kinlan writes: "This article at the BBC mentions that while Coca-Cola still has the most valuable brand name, Microsoft is a close second. Another interesting thing is how many other tech stocks are increasing their brand values, even with the recent slump in tech stocks." You know, when you're dragging a corporation's name around through the news and the court systems, it's free advertising. I wonder how this would have compared with an 'O.J. Simpson' brand a few years back. -
It's Official: Deckard Was A Replicant
ozric99 sent in a great bit over at BBC news where Ridley Scott reveals that Deckard was a replicant. This is of course the question on the mind of any fan of the classic Blade Runner film. I used to have this discussion with friends years ago. Great film: if you haven't seen it, spank yourself and go rent the directors cut (or get the DVD, it's beautiful). -
Gas-Powered Shoes?
Glen Davis writes: "A Russian inventor has created motorized shoes! The shoes weigh 2 pounds apiece, and work by means of foot-long pistons which trigger a plate attached to the shoe's sole. Single strides are up to 13 feet long, and wearers can attain speeds of up to 25 mph! The shoes are gas-powered." (BBC article with pictures here, submitted by Ave.) -
French Prosecutor Opens Echelon Probe
gillbates writes: "A French prosecutor is conducting an investigation into the workings of the Echelon system. The article is here, and it details how France is concerned that Echelon is being used for invading its citizens' privacy. France lost a contract with Saudi Arabia due to Echelon, and knows it. How much else will they learn? My question is: What's going to happen to U.S./European relations when they find out the truth about Echelon?" SWroclawski [Updated 6 July 2000 by timothy: sorry 'bout the spelling, Serge! :) ] points out this link to BBC Coverage, noting "France's laws on privacy are very strict and in a world where one's rights of privacy are being challenged all the time, it's good to see one country taking a stand." -
ICANN and Centr argue over domain tax
bigfluffybunny writes "The BBC are running a story here about how the European Domain Registrars refuse to pay a tax to ICANN claiming that an American organisation has no right to tax a European one. The interesting part of the article for me was that Centr are raising questions about the reliability of the webs root name servers." We've already run one article about this, but this makes a nice counterpoint from the other side of the pond... -
ICANN and Centr argue over domain tax
bigfluffybunny writes "The BBC are running a story here about how the European Domain Registrars refuse to pay a tax to ICANN claiming that an American organisation has no right to tax a European one. The interesting part of the article for me was that Centr are raising questions about the reliability of the webs root name servers." We've already run one article about this, but this makes a nice counterpoint from the other side of the pond... -
Happy Independence Day, Jose
Even though he lives in France, cheese farmer Jose Bove, on trial for trashing a McDonald's franchise, is a fitting Independence Day hero, an inspiration for the fat, cowed and happy citizens of the Corporate Republic. He may well be a prophet as well. In terms both of technology and independence, Bove is one of the first warriors of the big global brawl of the 21st century -- individualism vs. corporatism. He also embodies what used to be considered American values. Happy Independence Day, Jose.Now and then, even among the cowed, comfortable and generally unconscious citizens of the Corporate Republic, a hero arises. On this July Fourth, let's award the Slashdot Order of the Penguin to one Jose Bove, whose international crusade began last year in protest against U.S. duties on Roquefort cheese.
Bove, a French farmer and union leader, may seem like an unlikely figurehead for the emerging political struggle of the 21st Century. Even though he isn't an American citizen, he's got a pretty good grip on what used to be considered American values, and is thus an Independence Day icon for the increasingly-resented United States, the Corporate Republic's world headquarters. The United States is now a place where a robust economy, conformity and market research are national religions, and a nation where kids who dissent and act strangely are routinely tossed out of school or thrown in jail.
Bove spent a week in jail last year for his assaults on a McDonald's under construction in his hometown of Milau (he faces up to five years in prison). For obvious reasons, McDonald's has become an international symbol for the globalization, mass-marketing and homogenization that U.S.-bred corporatism is spreading like the measles. Now Bove is drawing an odd agglomeration of supporters worldwide as he stands trial. His day in court is drawing thousands of anti-globalization protesters, environmentalists, trade unionists, students and other campaigners cramming into Milau, a small market town in southern France.
"This is not just about food," Bove told the demonstrators. "It is about the struggle of small people, leading simple lives, to free themselves from the dictatorship of the multi-nationals."
Bove's particular issue is what he calls the industrialization of agriculture. He could just as easily be talking about the industrialization of education, technology, law, medicine or work. He's dubbed his town "Seattle-on-the-Tarn," a reference to the local river and to the protests he joined during the World Trade Organization's Seattle summit last year.
The struggle of small people to free themselves from the multi-nationals has a lot to do both with technology and independence. From market monopolies like Microsoft to giant entertainment conglomerates like AOL-Time/Warner that will seek to dominate information and its distribution to corporatist invaders of privacy, the struggles of small people will increasingly resonate around the world. And this is all before the rise of the gathering bio-tech conglomerates, soon to dominate genetic research and try to use the Human Genome Project to mass market the perfect human, all the while screening their work behind talk of cancer and aging cures.
Corporatism threatens to overwhelm individuals all over the world, from cheese farmers to outspoken employees to bright and idiosyncratic students -- its virtues are promoting conformity, corrupting the political system, suppressing dissent and creativity. Its primary target is individualism, its primary enemy individualists -- which means hackers, programming entrpeneurs, renegade teachers, small businessmen and farmers like Bove, odd-ball filmmakers. Bove has put the struggle as eloquently as anybody could.
So have his supporters, carrying signs through the streets announcing "The World Is Not For Sale." This message stings in the United States on Independence Day. What in this country isn't for sale?
It's strange to be watching this odd drama in another country, when the issue itself is so American. Perhaps Bove will sail over here when AOL/Time-Warner opens its first franchise office in the United States and give us all an example to live by.
Happy Independence Day, Jose.
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Rosetta Disk For 10K-Year History
fleener writes: "The BBC reports and SiliconValley.com comments on the Rosetta Disk, a 2" nickel nano-analog, optical storage disk that records text and images at densities up to 350,000 pages per disk, designed to last 10,000 years. It will be unveiled at the 10,000 year Library Conference, in a discussion of how to store our history and culture for the future, given that current digital storage formats degrade quickly and are platform dependent. The prototype contains the first three chapters of Genesis, in 1,000 languages. What information do you think is valuable and relevant to give future archaeologists?"