A friend who's a professor of chemistry at a university in New England called campus IT when his network connection went down.
"You should unplug the LAN connection," said the IT guy. "There must be some bad electrons trapped in the 10-base-T port."
Mind you, my pal researches quantum properties of crystals, so this didn't wash with him at all. It did, however, inspire him to write the following song (mp3 available upon request -- email me):
INFO SYSTEMS by Guy Crundwell
When your computer's down and no magic comes out And it crashes, halting production You gather all you playmates around your cubicle And tinker with their suggestions Someone will undoubtedly say "Let's call them," once "Let's call them," twice But then the info systems guys will give you s***ty advice
They told me once to unplug the port Of my 10-base-T LAN connection They said there must've been some bad electrons And all the managers say "I know it's rough to be rebuffed By somebody with a head full of Co-co-co Puffs The path we take through info systems is rough It's rough The path we take through info systems is rough It's rough enough"
The show is unavailable online because it hasn't aired yet -- the debate was in March; the show will air in June and be archived immediately thereafter.
The timing on this is funny: Three major record labels announced an online music venture the day before the Senate Judiciary Commitee's latest Napster hearing so that their execs could say, "Hey, we're providing music online!" when Hatch et al asked them.
Now that the appeal of the 2600 case is just over a week away, the studios can say, "Nobody needs DeCSS! Look, we licensed a Linux player!"
I have to agree -- this request seems like an effort by the RIAA to generate some attention in the run-up to the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing next week. It seems pretty clearly to be in violation of what the 9th Circuit ordered Judge Patel to do. She'll toss it on its butt.
However: The RIAA's _other_ request -- for "technological blocking measures" -- that may get somewhere....
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A friend who's a professor of chemistry at a university in New England called campus IT when his network connection went down.
"You should unplug the LAN connection," said the IT guy. "There must be some bad electrons trapped in the 10-base-T port."
Mind you, my pal researches quantum properties of crystals, so this didn't wash with him at all. It did, however, inspire him to write the following song (mp3 available upon request -- email me):
INFO SYSTEMS
by Guy Crundwell
When your computer's down and no magic comes out
And it crashes, halting production
You gather all you playmates around your cubicle
And tinker with their suggestions
Someone will undoubtedly say
"Let's call them," once
"Let's call them," twice
But then the info systems guys will give you s***ty advice
They told me once to unplug the port
Of my 10-base-T LAN connection
They said there must've been some bad electrons
And all the managers say
"I know it's rough
to be rebuffed
By somebody with a head full of Co-co-co Puffs
The path we take through info systems is rough
It's rough
The path we take through info systems is rough
It's rough enough"
The show is unavailable online because it hasn't aired yet -- the debate was in March; the show will air in June and be archived immediately thereafter.
The timing on this is funny: Three major record labels announced an online music venture the day before the Senate Judiciary Commitee's latest Napster hearing so that their execs could say, "Hey, we're providing music online!" when Hatch et al asked them. Now that the appeal of the 2600 case is just over a week away, the studios can say, "Nobody needs DeCSS! Look, we licensed a Linux player!"
I have to agree -- this request seems like an effort by the RIAA to generate some attention in the run-up to the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing next week. It seems pretty clearly to be in violation of what the 9th Circuit ordered Judge Patel to do. She'll toss it on its butt. However: The RIAA's _other_ request -- for "technological blocking measures" -- that may get somewhere....