Austin, TX, April 1 2023 - Tesla announced today that it's new low-cost car, known as the Model 2, will not come standard with a steering wheel or pedals. That's not because it will only work with Tesla's "Full Self Driving" system, but rather because they have been made virtual, through AI and the interior camera used for driver monitoring.
For 12 years I was part of a theatre company that wrote and produced our own comedy shows with lots of songs. We still get together, and this year I wrote a parody song about Justin Trudeau using the opening song from "Hamilton."
Pinedale, Wyoming: Groups of armed vigilantes threatening to shoot anybody not wearing a mask have caused a marked change in this sleepy Wyoming town in the days of the coronavirus. As a result, test numbers are down and in spite of the violence, some people are feeling optimistic.
On the lighter side, the other day I was daydreaming how a conversation about her family might go with a famous character... You'll probably guess who fairly early in, but it's pretty strange to read it like this:
Therapist: So, I'm told you have had some serious issues with your family? I'm here to help.
Patient: You might say that.
T: Did something painful happen recently?
P: My son murdered his father, my ex.
T: You son murdered his father! Is he in prison?
P: Not going to happen, he's too highly placed.
T: Why did he do it?
P: It's a long story. And a bit of a pattern.
T: Others in your family have done this?
P: You might say that. There are bad stories about everybody in my family.
T: Surely you had a good relationship with your mother?
P: I never met my mother. She died just as I was born.
T: How terrible. Death in childbirth is so rare in the modern era.
P: She didn't die in childbirth. I am told my father choked her.
T: Your father! So he went to jail?
By now, you've probably heard of the proposal from the White House to abolish April Fool's Day as a national holiday starting in 2015. Some in the comedy community are upset at the end of an old tradition and a day devoted to what we love.
But it's time to face facts. It's just not working any more. When I was a kid, April 1st was mostly a day of physical pranks or very short gags. You would replace the sugar with salt or put a white powder in an envelope. But the internet changed it and made every gag global.
Spokesmen for the MPAA, RIAA and several other content industry companies recently issued a statement of support for the new "Stop Airline Piracy Act" or SAPA, now before congress.
Yesterday, Don Henley (of the Eagles) penned an editorial in USA Today supporting the Protect IP Act (PIPA) which has serious free speech implications and turns web sites into copyright police. Don called out both the EFF (of which I am a Director) and Google (which is a consulting client of mine) so I have this whimsical response for him:
I discovered this year that something I've seen a zillion times, the standard map of Canada, features a giant, brain-eating zombie. I'm naming the zombie "Hudson" because that's the Bay that makes up most of him. He's a plump undead with stubby legs, a big blank eye (Price Charles Island,) and a slack jaw, and it looks like Newfoundland is in trouble.
New Update, April 2010: Yes, even this parody video has been taken down though the YouTube Content-ID takedown system -- just as my version of Hitler says he is going to do at the end. I filed a dispute, and it seems that now you can watch it again on YouTube, at least until Constantin responds as well as on Vimeo. I have a new post about the takedown with more details. In addition, YouTube issued an official statement to which I responded.
Unless you've been under a rock, you have probably seen a parody clip that puts new subtitles on a scene of Hitler ranting and raving from the 2004 German movie Downfall (Der Untergang). Some of these videos have gathered millions of views, with Hitler complaining about how he's been banned from X-box live, or nobody wants to go to Burning Man, or his new camera sucks. The phenomenon even rated a New York Times article.
It eventually spawned meta-parodies, where Hitler would rant about how many Hitler videos were out on the internet, or how they sucked. I've seen at least 4 of these. Remarkably, one of them, called Hitler is a Meme was pulled from YouTube by the studio, presumably using a DMCA takedown. A few others have also been pulled, though many remain intact. (More on that later.)
Of course, I had to do my own. I hope, even if you've seen a score of these, that this one will still give you some laughs. If you are familiar with the issues of DRM, DMCA takedowns, and copyright wars, I can assure you based on the reviews of others that you will enjoy this quite a bit. Of course, as it criticises YouTube as well as the studio, I have put it on YouTube. But somehow I don't think they would be willing to try a takedown -- not on so obvious a fair use as this one, not on the chairman of the most noted legal foundation in the field. But it's fun to dare them.
(Shortly I may also provide the video in some higher quality locations. I do recommend you click on the "HQ" button if you have bandwidth.)
A card from Ty. (My brother, the comic book artist, if you didn't know.)
I guess in the linux community it is slightly more acceptable.
The strike by screenwriters in the Porn Writers Guild of America is wreaking a less public havoc on the pornography industry. Porn writers, concerned about declining revenue from broadcast TV, also seek a greater share of revenue from the future growth areas of DVD and online sales.
"Online sales and DVD may one day be the prime sources of revenue in our industry," stated union spokesman Seymour Beaver. We want to be sure we get our fair share of that for providing the writing that makes this industry tick.
It was an interesting experience watching our team argue before the U.S. District Court of Appeals that the EFF's lawsuit against AT&T for helping the NSA spy on conversations without warrants should be dismissed because it impinges on state secrets. While the judges probed both sides, I read some signs from their grilling of the U.S. Government's lawyer that they really have some concern over the important issues. They appear to realize that we can't leave such programs completely without judicial oversight just because an NSA official declares them to be state secrets.
Something light hearted. I purchased, some time ago, a small Li-Ion battery for external power for my laptop and other devices. These batteries are great, getting down near $100, weighing very little and, with 110 watt-hours, able to keep a laptop going all day at a conference or over most of a transoceanic flight.
This particular battery, made in China, contains one of the more amusing bad-english warnings on the label, though, particularly item #3.
Steve Jobs of Apple Computer warned today that a rumoured cheap Chinese iPhone knockoff making its way toward America is an inferior product which lacks many of the important features of the iPhone. "It may look a bit like an iPhone, but when consumers discover all the great iPhone features that are missing from it, we think they'll still line up at Apple Stores for the genuine article," said Jobs in a released statement. Designed by software nerds, the knockoff, dubbed the "myPhone" by fans, has not yet been confirmed.
Apple released a list of features reported to be missing from the "myPhone."
MyPhones are predicted to sell for $350 without contract, $150 with a 2 year contract to the provider of your choice.
