Incidentally, if you recall that I was keeping a log of the construction, I've discontinued that project. It was primarily a way for me to experiment with Greymatter. But if you're an alum who was enjoying the occasional constuction updates, I'll still be sharing particularly interesting photos and tidbits here.

For the crafters in the audience, there's an interesting On-Line Digital Archive of Weaving Documents which has got a fairly extensive coolection of books about weaving and textiles availble in PDF format. It's a category of books that tends to be expensive and poorly represented in small local libraries. I particularly enjoyed skimming some of the old periodicals.

It's slightly old news, but last week a court ordered ReplayTV users' viewing choices be recorded for evidence in a case suing the company for contributing to copyright infringement. ReplayTV used to collect individual user data but stopped after it became clear users disliked the practice. Now, they're being forced to incorporate software to start tracking again. I'd certainly think twice about having one of these machines if I knew my viewing choices were being recorded, so I wonder if this will hurt their sales. I sort of hope it does; it would be a good statement to industry that consumers want a certain amount of privacy.

It seems that their trouble stems out of the machine's ability to not just skip commercials automatically but also the ability to send shows to other users. Cable stations are alleging that they are losing viewers because people are just viewing friends' copies of cable shows, which they claim is theft of the shows. I think Jen is absolutely right in her comments on this at Whim&Vinegar, sharing a cable show with a friend is actually good for the station, as it makes it more likely you'll sign up. They cannot make 100% of their viewers pay for it, unless they install surveillance cameras on cable boxes and only air the show if the people in the room have all paid. And it isn't as if VCRs killed cable television.

This reminds me of publishers being mad that Amazon is making it too easy to sell used books, losing sight of the fact that people who buy used books are people who buy more books, period. It's what the music industry is yelling about MP3s. These are all industries that are facing a loss in profits because a new technology is allowing users to access or use information in new ways. In some cases, these uses may constitue copyright infringement, but new technology should not be outlawed just because it hurts an industry's profits. These industries need to find ways to make profits within the context of these new technologies, that's probably going to mean figuring out what they can offer that users will be willing to pay for.

Some background on Steve Mann, the self proclaimed cyborg who was recently in the news for being hassled by airline security, in a recent Chronicle article. I knew he approached cyborg-ism with a strong personal agenda, but I didn't know he taught a grad level class in which students build their own wearable computers, though only some are wearing them around campus as Prof. Mann does. On the plus side, Mann is less oblivious of the social impact of his research than some scientists, drawing a distinction between the privacy issues of wearable cameras as compared to surveillance cameras, and coming down strongly against the surveillance cameras.

I have to listen to music while I work, and I prefer the radio so I don't have to make choices and get variety, but Ithaca radio stations, in general, suck. I don't know how it took me this long to realize that, with the internet, I'm not limited to Ithaca stations. Recently, I've been enjoying KMTT out of Seattle. Matream rock, but they'll actually play multiple songs in a row that I like! And, if the client is playing correctly, it actually displays the name and artist for the current song, which is very cool. Also cool that they blank out most ads and you get bland background music instead, until the broadcast comes back.

Have I mentioned recently that reading Medley makes you smarter, sexier, and more successful? Try it - it works!

An impressive amatuer video of a light saber battle. Also amusing is Bunker Buster the Friendly Nuke. [via #!/usr/bin/girl]

I like to see the classic old games in arcades, even though I've never been very good at them. Certainly not good enough to, say, overflow the high score buffer on Galaga, like some people I know... It's not the same, but you can get a little practice in playing on-line at home. None of the high scores there break a million, though. [1295640 - You go J!]

CJ's being hunted! Cool! Ummm, because she's not real or anything. "No press secretaries were harmed in the making of this show", and all that....

I came across yet another comment about Amazon.com being evil today, where a weblogger was expressing shame at having ordered from them, and it was one of those camel's-back moments where I just became entirely sick of what seems to be an "evil Amazon" party line all good independent thinkers are supposed to adhere to. Actually, the original camel's-back moment was a couple of years ago when a party-goer at my house vandalized my Amazon magnet because "they are evil", particularly since the magnet had sentimental value (shut up...). But, I have been driven to rant again.

Amazon does not employ sweatshop labor or press small children into service. Amazon does not pour toxic chemicals into our water sources. Amazon does not test its products by torturing animals. Amazon does offer what many consider valuable and easy to use services. I have never walked into a book store and been able to get the same range of input on a book I was considering buying. You may choose not to shop there, but the amount of condemnation that one hears for admitting to buy from them is beyond what I've heard for almost any other company, and it's starting to piss me off.

Suprisingly amusing: vote for What's Better?. Pick the prefered of two random photos - by whatever definition of "better" you like. They use the stats to rate all their items. Over the past day Darth Vader has been moving steadily up the top ten - rightly so! "Calvin and Hobbes" versus "Hydroelectric Power" - how to choose...

Instead of waiting for AdCritic to come back, you can just head over to ads.com to look up your favorite ads.Doesn't offer the "top 10 ads" feature that AdCritic had, but you can view a list of ads which viewed during a particular TV show (only running for a couple of shows). [via BradLands]

I'm still not entirely convinced that he won't lead up to a twist and it's all a joke that he's seeing how extreme a view he can get his partner to agree to. I certainly get pretty aggrivated about how easily this guy agrees that something must necessarily be true, when absolutely no argument to that effect has been given, and the point is in fact not obvious at all. So, I'm sticking through it to see where it all ends up.

For more ill-spirited amusement at these people's expense, check out their Mall Mission article, in which we learn that malls are the temple of the forces of secularism, get more analysis of the subliminal messages store names are sending us, and get pointers on being a "mall missionary". Last minute male shoppers are particularly good targets, as renouncing consumerism and a quick trip back to the church for an "emergency baptism" is a lot easier than buying gifts. [via Mood Swings]

If you're wondering what the people who are already lined up to see Episode II are thinking (and if you're asking "episode 2 of what, just skip on by...), there's a group of people who lined up for Episode I who are out there again and have put up a website about the experience. Even more, they list the number of the pay phone at the line, so you can give them a call and chat. I won't admit how many seconds I spent considering it.

In an unusual way to use word frequency analysis, the TextArc project gives a visual representation of a text using a graph of word adjacencies. They claim their presentation "uses the viewer's eye to help uncover meaning", by making word associations explicit and highlighting frequent words. The ability to see all of the lines in a text which use a particular word has obvious uses, and certainly patterns of which words flow in and out of frequent use during the progression of a text reflects the text's meaning. The presentation in question, though, does not seem particularly revealing. It is overcrowded, so patterns aren't visible. I can't readily think of a question or problem which is most easily approached through this representation. [via Larkfarm]

I was sure I misheard the radio when it announced we could vote for the Home Depot Humanitarian Award online. After all, I hadn't had my coffee yet, and I wasn't really paying attention. Except, the Home Depot site really is asking you to vote in the Home Depot Humanitarian Award. The cognitive dissonance fades when you get to the tag line: "Recognizing Country Music Artists for Community Service and Generosity". It's a advertisting tie in with the Academy of Country Music Awards, since they'll announce the winner then. I'm considerably less confused now.

Nothing is better than geeky crafts. Does anyone out there want a Periodic Table Sweater? [via Breaching the Web] The same page also lists a "Tetris Baby Blanket" if you scroll down a little. Both are knit patterns. While the pattern isn't given, you can also go check out the Double Helix Cable Pattern on the cover of a recent edition of nature genetics; it looks like a proficient knitter would be able to reason out the stitches. [via Dangerous Chunky]