OUT OF CONTROL
The RIAA now thinks it can impersonate law enforcement in their jihad terrorist campaign - right on down to vests with "RIAA" stenciled on them and official looking I.D. badges (badges? we dont' need no stinking badges!). Granted, the "raids" they conduct are on bonafied pirate vendors, but they can hardly be considered "legal." Stormtrooper tactics. Yeah, that works. Worked for the Empire, didn't it?
(from linkfilter)

UPDATE - HardOCP News has picked up the story by contacting both the Southern California ACLU and the LAPD. It seems that while ACLU is rather skittish about it, the LAPD takes a dim view of amateurs pretending that they are the long arm of the law. So here's hoping that authorities put the fear of God into the RIAA. Nice work guys!

FRIDAY MORNING LITE

I'M READY FOR MY WEBCAST, MR. FREEMAN
Actor Morgan Freeman, and his production company REVELATIONS ENTERTAINMENT is planning to release a film on the web and in the theaters simultaneously.

Will it prompt other studios to do the same and discourage video piracy?

THE vIPOD? JOBS THINKS NOT ... SORT OF
The Gray Old Lady interviews Steve Jobs and he opines on a video ipod. He says that people don't get their video entertainment the same way they enjoy music. And with large screen TVs and movie theaters competing about small 3 inch screens, he may be right on the whole. But E-R did note that Jobs is open to the idea by stating "Now, I’m not saying we’re not working on something like that ... who knows what we’ve got in our labs?”

iPOD CONTROL
Geek Zone reports that at CES this week, Alpine announced a device which allows drivers to control their iPod with their car stereo. VW should love that since they give an iPod away with the purchase of a new Bug. But will it be enough to lose Blauplunkt's grip?


NETWORK TIVO
Also at CES, TIVO announces new models which include networking capability with home PCs in order to transfer and burn programs onto DVD, and even a TIVO-XM Satellite Radio option.

I FEEL THE NEED FOR SPEED
In yet another religious debate, HardOCP News has a report on yet another MAC vs. PC Celebrity Deathmatch. In the report, focusing on digital imaging, the PC proved faster in 58 of 77 benchmarks.

BUSH: BACK TO THE MOON!

I happened to be a guest on Ken and Company (TALK RADIO 790 KABC) this morning. I was screening the show and the topic of "spyware" came up. Being that I produce the KABC Computer and Technology Show, Ken Minyard decided to take advantage of that and put me on the air for about 10 minutes.

I'll have clips later this week.

HUMP DAY NEWS


MACWORLD MANIA
Like Moses coming down from the mountain, Steve Jobs delivered his annual Keynote address at MacWorld happened yesterday. Some of the highlights, and lowlights. The good stuff - GARAGE BAND, joins updated versions of iDVD, iMovie (with StarWars-esque scroll) iTunes, and a faster iPhoto for the iLIFE suite. Garage Band puts a $50,000 recording studio on your MAC with premade looped tracks to allow users to be their own "Alan Parsons Project." They even state that the non-musician can be an "American Idol."

The not so hot news that went over like a lead balloon was the "mini-iPod." Not because of it's design - a 4GB - 1,000 song size - but because it's PRICE. $249! For only $50 more you can get the whole magilla with iPod Sr. Nice colors, though.

Then there's the G5 MacServe. HUH?
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THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WORLD WIDE WEB
Conservative columnist and Talk show host Hugh Hewitt has an article on good and bad uses for the web. Love him or hate him, the proclaimed "California State Sommelier" has a reasoned analysis on most things, so his article is worth a read.

YOUR PAPERS, PLEASE
The U.S. has started taking fingerprints and digital photos of all international travellers coming into U.S. airports. A good idea, but considering that passengers from most European countries, Australia and Japan are exempt, one wonders what the point is. And if the borders are kept open like a sieve, seriously, WHAT'S THE POINT?

Besides, need we remember that all the 9-11 terrorists came into Boston from smaller commuter airports? A good idea in theory, but in practice it's typical symbolic politics which do little.


MARRIAGE, THE FINAL FRONTIER
Geekdom now has it's own "mecca" as the Vegas Hilton's Star Trek Experience now offers TREK THEMED WEDDINGS. Packages include a ceremony on the bridge of the USS Enterprise 1701-D by a Starfleet officer, photos, and intergalactic wedding music.

Come on, we all know that Trek geeks can't even get a date, much less a wife!

"Get a life ... look at you, have you ever kissed a girl?" - William Shatner, GET A LIFE skit.


MEMO TO THE MPAA
Wired has a great memo to the MPAA on why it should embrace change and stop all the lawsuit nonsense.

Meanwhile, Cory Doctorow from EFF.ORG points out on his blog that the MPAA claims that fewer users are file-sharing out of fear is really a misnomer considering who would answer an MPAA survey about filesharing accurately? He goes on to say that the PEW study shows that file-sharing levels remain constant, thus proving the practice is still in the mainstream.



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