Month: October 2008
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NASA’s greatest clanger
Rights to the celebrated documentary The Clangers are changing hands. Often mistakenly described as “a children’s programme”, the 1970s series revealed for the first time the existence of an advanced knitwear-based lunar civilisation, knowledge of which has been suppressed by governments and space agencies ever since. Not only was the vast body of evidence of…
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Feds seize biker gang’s trademark
Federal investigators have hit a California biker gang where it hurts – by seizing the group’s trademark. The Mongols OutLaw Biker Gang [website] attracted the attention of the DoJ’s Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Department, with 61 indictments issued today. Search warrants were issued in six states yesterday, following a long undercover investigation. Gang members’ bikes…
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One billion unwanted opinions in real-time: Now SHOUTED at you
Hats off to young British entrepreneur Chris Ridgeon for developing a new tool for self-expression. Internetshout.com which launches today describes itself as “the world’s voice-based social and discussion forum” – and delivers exactly what it promises on the tin. Instead of simply spraying your thoughts onto the Hive Mind’s graffiti wall using ASCII, you can…
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Right-on Radiohead – the union busters?
The internet has been great for millionaire music performers and amateurs – it’s everyone else in between who gets screwed. Now we have Radiohead’s publisher Warner Chappell helping confirm the trend. The publisher’s head of business affairs Jane Dyball has divulged some information on the band’s “name your own price” offer last year. Radiohead offered…
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Google writes the internet’s first rule book
The regulator’s rule book for deciding what is permissible on today’s roads is very thick indeed. The content, behaviour and performance of “stuff on roads” is massive, and grows by the day. Try hot-rodding your lawnmower – or deciding that on Thursdays, you will only make left turns, and see how far you get. By…
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Sudden outbreak of democracy baffles US pundits
Something very spooky happened in the United States last week. The chances are you noticed it too, many days before it was reported. Tuesday found me in New York, on my first stateside visit in a couple of years. The details of the Bailout plan had just been revealed and the slow burn of outrage…