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Net refuseniks are getting more stubborn
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Andrew Orlowski
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Almost half the nation’s households don’t have net access – and most of them aren’t going to sign up. In what will be unwelcome news for ISPs, ecommerce providers, and the government, a survey of UK households suggests internet hold-outs are getting more stubborn. The availability of cheap broadband has eroded the refusenik camp very…
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NASA’s greatest clanger
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Andrew Orlowski
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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
by
Andrew Orlowski
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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
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Andrew Orlowski
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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?
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Andrew Orlowski
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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
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Andrew Orlowski
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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…