What is encryption?

What is encryption?: "What's the difference between a cipher and a code? Encryption schemes explained." an encryption primer!!!

The World Wide Website of Ricky Jay

The World Wide Website of Ricky Jay: con, card, and acting man!

ABC affils balk at 'Ryan' airing

ABC affils balk at 'Ryan' airing: "ABC affils balk at 'Ryan' airing Fearful of the FCC crackdown on indecent broadcasts, at least 19 ABC affiliates plan to pre-empt the network's unedited broadcast of the film 'Saving Private Ryan' at 8 p.m. tonight. The pre-emptions come despite the network's decision to warn viewers during each commercial break about the graphic violence and language in Steven Spielberg's Oscar-nominated World War II epic. ABC has aired 'Ryan' twice before without any pre-emption, to commemorate Veterans Day in 2001 and '02, though some stations cited past complaints from viewers that they also factored into their decisions. Station groups that plan to cancel 'Ryan' at all of their ABC-affiliated stations include E.W. Scripps, Citadel Communications and Belo Corp. Other pre-empting stations are owned by Cox Communications, Hearst-Argyle, Pappas Telecasting and Tribune Broadcasting."

fuck powell and the fcc, anti first amendment bastards!!!

Music Downloading not Entirely to Blame

Music Downloading not Entirely to Blame: "'A recent article in The Economist discusses the proximate causes for the decline in music sales. Of some note is this quote in the article: 'According to an internal study done by one of the majors, between two-thirds and three-quarters of the drop in sales in America had nothing to do with internet piracy. [...] Other explanations: rising physical CD piracy, shrinking retail space, competition from other media, and the quality of the music itself. But creativity doubtless plays an important part.' The article discusses in some depth the short-term viewpoint of the majors and why that is likely to be the dominant problem, not the internet bogeyman.'"

THE LIKELY LADS TAKE A BREAK

Carl takes The Libertines off the road: "THE LIKELY LADS TAKE A BREAK, CARL BARAT is to retire THE LIBERTINES from playing live for 'the foreseeable future' at the end of the year, NME.COM can exclusively reveal."

John Peel: 1939-2004

John Peel: 1939-2004: "JOHN PEEL: 1939 -2004 When John Peel’s sad, sudden death at the age of 65 was announced today (October 26) BBC Radio 1, the station that had been his home for five decades, broke with programming and played The Undertones ‘Teenage Kicks’ – his all-time favourite song.

It was a fitting tribute to a man whose dedication and unerring passion for all that was fresh and vital and youthful and vigorous about music saw him reject the dictats and mores of broadcasting to pursue a singular path launching the career of hundreds of bands, and soundtracking the youth of millions of music fans.

Born John Robert Parker Ravenscoft in Heswall, near Liverpool, in 1939, Peel was the son of the wealthy owner of a cotton mill. He was sent away to boarding school in Shrewsbury, which he hated, an ordeal made bearable when he first heard Elvis Presley singing ‘Heartbreak Hotel’.

'Everything changed when I heard Elvis,' he said. 'Where there had been nothing there was suddenly something.'

In 1959, after National Service, Peel moved to America where Beatlemania soon took hold. The Liverpool connection helped Peel land a spot as DJ on WRR radio in Dallas. He moved back to England in 1967, where he first joined Radio London, before moving to BBC Radio 1 for its launch. He was to remain with the station for the rest of his life, the only original DJ.

His style was immediately different to other presenters. He played the records from start to finish without interruption – which later became useful if you wanted to tape the tracks - providing an informative commentary for listeners. During his early period, Peel was a friend and supporter of some of the biggest names in rock. Marc Bolan, David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix all recorded Peel Sessions and Peel famously once showed up on Top Of The Pops miming mandolin for Rod Stewart on the chart-topping‘Maggie May’.

As the 70s progressed, Peel’s tastes evolved. He was in the vanguard of punk, pushing the sounds of The Ramones, The Clash, The Undertones, The Buzzcocks and the Sex Pistols, then latterly Joy Division. In the 80s, he kickstarted the careers of New Order, The Fall, Smiths and any number of other acts you care to name. We would never have heard the Pixies or Pulp or The White Stripes if it wasn’t for John Peel.

As the years rolled on, the scope of his radio show widened. He moved between gum-bleeding German techno, world music and the occasional Roy Orbison hit with ease – even if it was sometimes a little taxing for his legions of fans. Until recently, a place on his annual countdown of the best singles of the year – Peel’s Festive 50 – was a much sought-after berth for bands on independent labels.

In recent years, Peel built a new army of fans. His award winning ‘Home Truths’ programme on BBC Radio Four grew into a must-hear for middle-aged listeners in middle England. And his spots on the BBC’s ‘Grumpy Old Men’ – a series featuring irritated men of a certain age riling against the things they found most absurd about modern life – were frequently the funniest and most telling.

Balding, a little plump, a devoted father, grandfather and husband not to mention a big fan of genteel radio series The Archers, Peel kicked open the door for people like Steve Lamacq and Zane Lowe, letting the mainstream programmers see that an audience existed for music that was not always a chart fixture.

His influence is immeasurable.

John Peel often told the story hearing ‘Teenage Kicks’ for the first time. He was driving in his car listening to the song on a demo tape. He was so overcome by the tune that he pulled onto the side of the road to have a cry.

There are thousands of people across Britain today who will have had a similar experience on hearing of his untimely death.

Paul McNamee"

i don' want to imagine a world where kids will no longer be able to dig through bins of peel sessions...

:(

Pumping Up the Power of the IPod

Pumping Up the Power of the IPod: "Wired News tested a $40, high-capacity, 2,100 mAh (milliamp hour) replacement iPod battery from Newer Technology. It was easy to install and delivered 22 hours of continuous play -- more than double the play time of the original battery. (The battery tested is for first- and second-generation iPods; Newer also sells one for third-generation iPods.)"

big up mike for pointing this one out!!!

Oasis and Blur unite for Band Aid III

Oasis and Blur unite for Band Aid III: "The Oasis and Blur stars, who famously fell out back in 1995, have become the latest big names to agree to help raise cash for stricken victims of famine in Africa, according to a report in today's (October 22) Sun newspaper. Ure told The Sun: “Noel said he’s going to do it and I heard Damon is going to do it as well, but as one of the Gorillaz. “So whether he’s going to actually be in the studio or whether it’s going to be a cartoon character, I don’t know. But they’re both going to do it.”"

Marc Almond critically injured in bike smash

Marc Almond critically injured in bike smash: "MARC ALMOND is critically ill after a motorcycle crash in LONDON. The Soft Cell star is currently in hospital after an accident in central London yesterday. Almond was a passenger on a bike that was involved in an accident with a car near Cannon Street station around 4pm yesterday. He was taken to hospital for emergency surgery."

:(

The Hardware Behind Echelon Revealed

The Hardware Behind Echelon Revealed: "'Techworld has got an interesting article on the technology behind the Echelon spying networks run by the US, UK, Cananda and Australia. Apparently the super storage and analysing technology used in the US is sold by privately owned Texas Memory Systems. It can deal with one trillion floating point operations per second. Now that's some technology.'"

Jon Stewart on CNN's Crossfire

Jon Stewart on CNN's Crossfire: "'Instead of plugging his new book, Jon Stewart tonight on CNN's Crossfire used his time to slam the media's coverage of the election. Although Stewart leans left, he attacked political shows and begged them: 'Stop, stop, stop, stop hurting America.' Is it time to really stop all the political games that both sides play? Torrent of the event is available.' And another set of .torrent links."

please watch it! it brilliant, but more than that, its important! if you can't or don't know how to get torrent files, let me know and i will get you my copy of the program!!!

Brain Controlled Computing a Reality

Brain Controlled Computing a Reality: "'Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems told attendees at the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation annual conference that a 25-year-old quadriplegic with wires run from 100 tiny sensors implanted in his brain and out to a computer can use his thoughts to control a computer well enough to operate a TV, open e-mail and play Pong with 70% accuracy.'"

Red vs. Blue Season 3 Begins

Red vs. Blue Season 3 Begins: "'Episode 39 'Best Laid Plans' weighs in at 8 minutes and 45 seconds and is available in Divx, Quicktime, and WMV. You can download it from our Video Page. Thanks for being so patient waiting around for it. '"

Supreme Court Rejects RIAA Appeal

Supreme Court Rejects RIAA Appeal: "'Recall that the RIAA originally used to directly send DMCA-laced supoenas to ISPs to obtain information about a P2P user. Then recall how Verizon and other providers balked saying the RIAA had to file John Doe suits first. It ultimately reached SCOTUS, with the RIAA appealing a decision that was in Verizon's favor. SCOTUS has declined to hear the case, effectively casting the Verizon opinion in stone. Wahoo! Part of DMCA shot down!'"

Google Launches SMS Search Service

Google Launches SMS Search Service: "'Google's been busy introducing a lot of new things this week. The latest, a SMS search service. SMS a message to 46645 (googl) and find local business listings, product prices, dictionary definitions, and more. Go Google!'"

U.S. album sales in a groove

U.S. album sales in a groove: "The U.S. record industry showed continuing renewed health through the first nine months of the year, with album sales rising 5.8% during that period, according to figures released Wednesday by Nielsen SoundScan. The American public bought 463 million albums in the first three quarters of the year versus 437 million during the same period last year. The ongoing upswing in sales, which began in the fourth quarter of 2003 after a downturn that lasted nearly three years, is encouraging as the music business approaches the December holidays, with its slate of major album releases. In the wake of last year's iTunes boom and an ongoing crackdown on illegal downloading by the industry, the digital music business continued to explode. Consumers purchased 94 million digital tracks through September, compared with just 19 million in the first nine months of last year."

BPI to sue 28 UK file sharers

BPI to sue 28 UK file sharers: "The BPI have announced this morning (October 7) that they are taking legal action against 28 UK file sharers, kicking off a rolling programme of legal action against “major uploaders”."

EFF Goes To Court To Fight The Broadcast Flag

EFF Goes To Court To Fight The Broadcast Flag: "'The Electronic Frontier Foundation and nine other organizations including Public Knowledge (PK) and the American Library Association (ALA) have gone to court to fight the Broadcast Flag. The press release sums it up: The brief argues that the FCC has no authority to regulate digital TV sets and other digital devices unless specifically instructed to do so by Congress. While the FCC does have jurisdiction over TV transmissions, transmissions are not at issue here. The broadcast flag limits the way digital material can be used after the broadcast has already been received.'
"

Stern Will Jump To Sirius In 2006

Stern Will Jump To Sirius In 2006: "'Howard Stern announced it on his current radio show, and several feeds including this CNET article are reporting that Stern has signed a multi-million dollar multi-year contract with Sirius Satellite Radio starting in January, 2006. As I've watched technology grow from the time I was listening to Stern in the eighties, I can't wait to hook into a shockjock-timeshifted-podcast...'"

NASA Quakesim Predicts 15 Out of 16 CA Quakes

NASA Quakesim Predicts 15 Out of 16 CA Quakes: "'NASA's QuakeSim project has successfully predicted15 out of 16 of California's earthquakes with magnitude > 5, including 11 since the map was published in 2002. 'So far, the technique has only missed one earthquake, a magnitude of 5.2, on June 15, 2004, under the ocean near San Clemente Island.''"