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Supreme Court Accepts Eldred Case
Patrick Fitzgerald writes: "The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to intervene in a fight over copyrights, deciding whether Congress has sided too heavily with writers and other inventors. The outcome will determine when hundreds of thousands of books, songs and movies will be freely available on the Internet or in digital libraries." Openlaw's Eldred v. Ashcroft page has more information about the case, which seeks to challenge the most recent retroactive extension of copyright terms.
i wonder how low my karma can go, FP!
Defecation Imagery in American Science Fiction: The Dark Conspiracy
Among the various literary genres, perhaps none proves such a fertile dumping ground for fecal imagery as science fiction.
From Asimov to Zelazny, nearly every work of science fiction squeezes in its own often subtle (and, often, not-so-subtle) breed of excretory metaphors.
An example of toilet imagery plain to even the dullest mind is present throughout Larry Niven's award-winning novel Ringworld. On the most fundamental level, even the setting of the story stinks of the water closet. Specifically, the Ringworld itself is a hundred million mile diameter "ring" of material, on which various species live out their regimented lives.
Surely, the Ringworld is the most transparent kind of metaphor -- clearly representing a galactic-sized toilet seat (or, "ass-toroid", as any ass-trophysicist might conjecture). The various species living out their miniature lives are intended to represent the various intestinal flora that live and breed on your own toilet seats. The metaphor could not be clearer.
As an exercise, I leave it up to the gentle reader to log other fecal imagery throughout the plot, setting, and characters in this important work. Any reasonable person will admit that Niven's usage of such imagery was intentional, and adds particular punch to the force of his story.
In fact, one of the two sequels to this famous novel is entitled The Ringworld Throne -- providing incontrovertible validation of this observation. Mr. Niven maintains the parallel of the Ringworld to the toilet throughout, going so far as to name the book after a euphemism for a commode.
Examples of subtler variations on this theme may be found in Isaac Asimov's work, for Asimov always appreciated decorum and cleverness -- he'd never leave a steamy pile in plain view.
For instance, in his celebrated and Hugo award-winning novel Foundation's Edge (note: edge), one of the two strong female characters is named Harla Branno. Harla Branno is a cunning, portentous, quasi-masculine firebrand who is able to smoothly manipulate her underling (Golan Trevize) into undertaking a dangerous journey.
The suspense and tension are maintained until the very last moment, when all is released in a sudden and surprising way. And that completes the picture. From the title, to the character names (Branno = bran, Golan = Colon), to the sudden-release structure of the plot, all is feces. Bravo, Isaac!
Also lost on many of today's readers is the constipation imagery in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein. Once the title itself is considered in the context of bathroom ritual, the previously elusive interpretation is brightly revealed. Possibly the "moon" is in one sense Earth's satellite -- but the literary analyst with sufficient acumen will surely appreciate the simultaneity in interpreting this as meaning "ass".
That the "moon" is a "harsh mistress" means, in the former sense, that man's invasion of the Moon as a home for humanity, complete with its unique social, political, and economic ramifications provides a rich and nearly insurmountable physical and mental challenge. In the latter sense, however, surely Heinlein intends to liken this sociological struggle to the physiological battle of defecation with bowels slightly obstructed. In fact, the parallels are irresistible, once brought into the light of day.
Some authors confine their fecal imagery to the title alone, as L. Sprague de Camp with the obvious Lest Darkness Fall, and Robin Hobb's much more subtle Assassin's Quest. Some manage to split it among a book and its sequel, as was done with Conflict and Resolution by Hamilton. Yet others have apparently toilet-free titles, and restrict their coprophilic allusions to character names, as with "Jonnie" in Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard. In any case, a sufficiently probing search will reveal the offending mass of bathroom-based alchemy subliminally inserted into our consciousness by American science fiction authors.
Surely a fecal conspiracy is afloat in the sea of science fiction, and try as we might, never can we flush all traces of such imagery away. We are left little choice but to wipe it out of our minds as we read, enjoying the yarn itself without succumbing to its darker tendency.
This is a cool chart showing what could happen to the amount of public domain work available if Public Domain is unrestricted by term extension. It really shows how we (as a people) are crippling ourselves and restricting knowledge.
Pretty interesting concept. Is a greater public domain worth the cost of less restrictive copytights? I think so. You may not, and that is fine. But just think of the possibilites.
Moon Macrosystems. Sun's biggest competitor.
You must not leave home much. Or you forgot to use
PDF format only seems to allow 32767 pages. 32767 should look familiar to some, to others it's the maximum positive value for 16 bit integer.
So when the DoJ was talking about it being a burden to publish items in the Federal Register, pertaining to a certain other case, there's probably a point.
For other long works which could be published on the internet, how would this be addressed?
Last but not least: A 16 bit integer? $#@!, that is so &%#* early 80's!!!! #@$&!!
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
You suck sooo much.
It's all Disney's fault and that goddamn RAT Mickey! Thou shalt not take Mickey's name in vain sayeth Congress!
Well, I'm coming for you RAT! I'm gonna turn your magical kingdom upside-down. I'm going to send the Terminator back in time for your rodent carcass and it will not stop until you are dead!
Yeeehaw!
Hey dude! Play "Freebird"!
Whoooooooooohoooo!