Musings of the Great Eric

ThePirateBay.org Raided - Servers Seized
In their native Sweden, ThePirateBay.org enjoyed a level of immunity from copyright prosecution rarely seen in the file-sharing world. Often defiant in the face of those wishing to enforce their intellectual property rights, ThePirateBay.org would go on to become one of the premier BitTorrent indexing and tracking sites.
As one of the […]

But you’ll only need one:

Pointing to data indicating that 99 percent of the estate tax is paid by the highest-earning 5 percent of Americans, a report released by the Democrats indicates that CEO’s of major oil companies stood to gain significantly from a repeal. Democrats’ estimates put oil company gains at at least a “$200 […]

Business week discusses the DRM schemes on the HD-DVD and Bly-Ray disc formats, and how much further Sony’s Blu-Ray format goes towards crippling any content you buy on the discs. This is exactly why I’m boycotting Sony products:
Blu-ray, however, goes beyond the AACS, incorporating two other protection mechanisms: The ROM Mark is a cryptographic element […]

Link.
Technorati Tags: Funny, Videos

Hotness:

Comic book heroine Batwoman is to make a comeback as a “lipstick lesbian” who moonlights as a crime fighter, a DC Comics spokesman has confirmed.
Batwoman - real name Kathy Kane - will appear in 52, a year-long DC Comics publication that began this month.
In her latest incarnation, she is a rich socialite who has a […]

Pedophiles to launch political party
Dutch pedophiles are launching a political party to push for a cut in the legal age for sexual relations to 12 from 16 and the legalization of child pornography and sex with animals, sparking widespread outrage.
No comment. Just silent amazement mixed with disgust.
Technorati Tags: Netherlands, Pedophilia

‘Hogwarts’ Dragon Unveiled
A dragon-like dinosaur named after Harry Potter’s alma mater has performed a bit of black magic on its own family tree, say paleontologists who unveiled the “Dragon King of Hogwarts” on Monday in Albuquerque.
The newly described horny-headed dinosaur Dracorex hogwartsia  lived about 66 million years ago in South Dakota, just a million years […]

So says this study, anyway:

People who have suffered life’s hard knocks while growing up tend to be more gullible than those who have been more sheltered, startling new findings from the University of Leicester reveal.
A six-month study in the University’s School of Psychology found that rather than ‘toughening up’ individuals, adverse experiences in childhood and […]

Why it’s over for America:

That brings up a fourth issue that should deeply concern Americans, and the world: the sharp divide between public opinion and public policy, one of the reasons for the fear, which cannot casually be put aside, that, as Gar Alperowitz puts it in America Beyond Capitalism, “the American ’system’ as a […]

Just thought you all needed an update on what’s really important. You’d think for all the coverage this got originally the mainstream media would keep us better posted.
Technorati Tags: newsmedia, Natalee Holloway

In These Times asks this hypothetical, along with other interesting questions like “What if he was a former athlete?”, “What if he was a pop star?”, and “What if he had been the star of a TV show?”
After all, in a world where OJ Simpson, Scott Peterson, and Michael Jackson get round the clock coverage, […]

Wow. That’s just… wow. Or maybe insane. I can’t make up my mind. But sheesh, that’s impressive looking either way.
Technorati Tags: Apples, Mac, OS X, Web, AJAX

More bad news for Sony (makes me so sad to report, really).
Joystiq had a little poll asking what system or combination of systems it’s readers plan on buying, given the PS3’s high sticker price.
The result? At the time of this writing, a whopping 87% of respondants plan on buying a Wii either alone or with […]

Chicken and egg debate unscrambled:
It’s a question that has baffled scientists, academics and pub bores through the ages: What came first, the chicken or the egg?
Now a team made up of a geneticist, philosopher and chicken farmer claim to have found an answer. It was the egg.
Put simply, the reason is down to the fact […]

Robertson says he leg-pressed 2,000 pounds:
Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson says he has leg-pressed 2,000 pounds, but some say he’d be in a pretty tough spot if he tried.
The “700 Club” host’s feat of strength is recounted on the Web site of his Christian Broadcasting Network, in a posting headlined “How Pat Robertson Leg Pressed 2,000 […]

MSNBC:
President George W. Bush has bestowed on his intelligence czar, John Negroponte, broad authority, in the name of national security, to excuse publicly traded companies from their usual accounting and securities-disclosure obligations. Notice of the development came in a brief entry in the Federal Register, dated May 5, 2006, that was opaque to the untrained […]

Transform teaching now:

For all the New York City students working to meet rigorous new academic standards, nothing is more important than having a good teacher. Teaching is a tough job, requiring a high level of talent, drive, knowledge and skill. But a new study of graduating college seniors found that students who major in education […]

Controversial rhythm method study revealed:

A British study suggests the Roman Catholic Church-approved “rhythm method” may kill more embryos than other methods of contraception.

It’s believed the method works by preventing conception from occurring. But Professor Luc Bovens of the London School of Economics says it may owe much of its success to the fact that embryos […]

Because they’re worth that much to the company? Of course not.Because they’ve earned it? Hah!Because they at all deserve it in the slightest? Nope.
They’re paid that much to inspire you. So that you’ll work your ass off on the chance that one day, you, too, will be an obscenely overpaid executive.
At least according to Forbes […]

For Wiccan soldier, death brings fight:

Nevada officials are pressing the Department of Veteran Affairs to allow the family of a soldier killed in Afghanistan to place a Wiccan symbol on his headstone.
Federal officials so far have refused to grant the requests of the family of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, 34, who was killed in Afghanistan in […]