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Slashback: :CueCat, Exercise, Wormage

Slashback tonight brings you updates on the current doings (and name) of J. Jovan Philyaw, the man behind the :CueCat, the alleged worldwide infestation of file-trading computers with an RIAA-sponsored worm (not true, they say), the privacy implications of GeoURL markup, and more. Read on for the details.

When pranksters float your trial balloons for you. ninenet writes "A follow-up on the story posted earlier on Slashdot ... The RIAA has now officially stated that the claims of an elaborate P2P worm are 'a complete hoax.' A story on eWeek quotes an RIAA spokesman as saying, "Someone forwarded the message to us and that was the first we heard or read about it.""

<Location>,<location>,<location > A few days ago, we mentioned the interesting geographic lookup / markup system of GeoURL. Joshua Schachter, the fellow who runs GeoURL (and editor of memepool, to boot), writes with "some responses of mine to comments posted:

Q: "Why not use the WHOIS database for address information?"

A: GeoURL is geographic content markup. Nobody cares where your server is - where are YOU? That said, I'm waiting for someone to hook their GPS into their web page and keep GeoURL updated.

This way different URLs can have different coordinates, as well.

Q: "Blah blah blah blah privacy."

A: If you want privacy, don't put your location on your web page.

Q: "You're evil and you're going to steal this information and go private, just like CDDB did."

A: The content is marked up on the pages and not entered into my database. Anyone could easily write a similar service (and I hope they do.)

I plan to create a page containing lessons learned and useful code snippets for other people who would like to implement similar stuff."

Most importantly, I hope this helps the development of distributed speed-trap logging and mapping!

Making this up would be too easy. An anonymous reader writes "Egomaniacal former Dot.Bomb 'entrepreneur' J. Jovan Philyaw has escaped the asylum and is back with even bigger delusions of grandeur. When last we saw him, J.J. was trying to shove the misbegotten :CueCat/:CRQ combination on unsuspecting users. Now, he's apparently writing a couple of books, selling his 'power crystals' that adorned the offices of Digital:Convergence, and changing his name: his sites refer to him now as J. Hutton Pulitzer. Apparently the utter and complete failure of Digital:Convergence (loss of at least $185M) hasn't dented his ego one bit. In his bio, he actually compares himself to Thomas Edison. A hilarious must-read for those who followed the :CueCat debacle (and for those of us who worked there)."

I hope all these things can be adapted for recumbents. Jamie Briant writes: "Saw your update to the slashdot story on games for exercise bikes. I'm a developer for exertris.com that makes a bike with LCD screen built in, which we sell primarily to gyms, but you can buy in the UK at Harrods. We write and tune the games specifically to motivate you to exercise."

8 of 320 comments (clear)

  1. haiku by bobtheprophet · · Score: 5, Funny

    So, no more lawsuits
    but instead there will be worms
    From bad to evil.

    --
    Don't give me none of this "nature theme" business.
  2. Now we're screwed.... by reaper20 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Someone forwarded the message to us and that was the first we heard or read about it."

    "Thanks for the idea though!"

  3. What's up with the name change? by rgarcia · · Score: 5, Funny

    "J. Jovan Philyaw ... his sites refer to him now as J. Hutton Pulitzer.

    Might as well have changed it to Max Power ;)

    --

    I couldn't fail to disagree with you less.

    1. Re:What's up with the name change? by SomeGuyFromCA · · Score: 5, Funny


      Judge: Hmm. "Hercules Rockefeller". "Rembrandt Q. Einstein".
      "Handsome B. Wonderful". Huh, I'm going to give you the only
      name you spelt correctly. From this day forward, your name
      shall be ...
      [cut to a shot of Lisa, reading from a sheet of paper on the
      Simpsons' couch]
      Lisa: "Max Power"?

      Source: http://www.snpp.com/episodes/AABF09. Hope that helped.

      --
      if the answer isn't violence, neither is your silence / freedom of expression doesn't make it alright
    2. Re:What's up with the name change? by sessamoid · · Score: 5, Funny
      Might as well have changed it to Max Power ;)

      Doesn't beat the guy I met yesterday who changed his name to "Big Daddy." No lie.

      --
      "No, no, no. Don't tug on that. You never know what it might be attached to."
    3. Re:What's up with the name change? by Idarubicin · · Score: 5, Funny
      A father of a friend runs a soup kitchen, and I helped hack together a barcoded ID card system to keep track of who visited and how often.

      Cool--it's like a library card for food!

      Actually, the first time I read the post, I missed the phrase "barcoded ID card"--I wondered whether you had to have someone hold the homeless folks down while you tattooed them with a barcode, or if you just slipped a tranquilizer into their soup.

      --
      ~Idarubicin
    4. Re:What's up with the name change? by Theaetetus · · Score: 5, Funny
      Doesn't beat the guy I met yesterday who changed his name to "Big Daddy." No lie.

      But nothing beats this guy.
      Love-22 is a street performer in Key West, who legally changed his name, and prints up his own 22-dollar bills, which have been used (mostly at backwoods convenience stores and gas stations) for currency more than 500 times in the past 22 years.

      I met this guy once... Looooooooooopy!

      -T

  4. Re:CUECAT by cioxx · · Score: 5, Funny

    I got my :CueCat back in 98 I think; came with the issue of Wired Mag. There were some driver issues and it didn't install, so I just threw it in the closet where it still is.

    In fact, here's a picture to prove I was part of the moron revolution.