[Quote:]

Pudding Media, a start-up based in San Jose, Calif., is introducing an Internet phone service today that will be supported by advertising related to what people are talking about in their calls. The Web-based phone service is similar to Skype’s online service — consumers plug a headset and a microphone into their computers, dial any phone number and chat away. But unlike Internet phone services that charge by the length of the calls, Pudding Media offers calling without any toll charges.

The trade-off is that Pudding Media is eavesdropping on phone calls in order to display ads on the screen that are related to the conversation. Voice recognition software monitors the calls, selects ads based on what it hears and pushes the ads to the subscriber’s computer screen while he or she is still talking.

[..]

“We can never obtain too much information from the targets, and I would love to get my hands on that information,” said Jonathan Sackett, chief digital officer for Arnold Worldwide, a unit of the advertising company Havas. “Still, it makes me caution myself and caution all of us as marketers. We really have to look at the situation, because we’re getting more intrusive with each passing technology.”

Targets. That’s what they call you.

[Quote:]

Senator Larry Craig, Republican of Idaho, will ask a judge this week to reverse his conviction for soliciting sex from an undercover police officer in a Minneapolis airport bathroom. He should prevail. Mr. Craig did nothing illegal, and the law he was convicted under should be held unconstitutional.

It is hard, though, to be entirely sympathetic. Mr. Craig, who is asking the court to take the extraordinarily pro-defendant step of undoing his guilty plea, has been a rubber stamp for the Bush administration’s drive to stock the courts with judges who have utter contempt for civil liberties — and for claims like his own.

[..]

Mr. Craig has a particularly hard case to make because he signed a guilty plea, which he now wants to withdraw ­ something courts rarely allow. He claims he signed in “a state of intense anxiety,” in an attempt to keep news of the arrest from getting out. To succeed, he will have to show that he suffered a “manifest injustice.”

It is an odd claim for him to make. Mr. Craig has consistently voted for President Bush’s judicial nominees, helping the far right to fill the federal courts with judges who are strikingly unmoved by claims of injustice. These Bush judges are not merely legal conservatives ­ they have been on a hard-driving campaign to weaken or undo protections that are basic to the American system of justice.

[..]

It would be gratifying if conservatives who saw the legal system’s flaws up close were changed by the experience. After all, as the joke goes, a liberal is just a conservative who has been arrested. But more often, they carve out an exception to their tough-on-crime philosophy, just for themselves.

Early in her career, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas was indicted on charges of using public employees for personal and political matters. She beat the charges, and blamed a prosecutor she said had a partisan agenda. But when the United States attorney scandal broke this year ­ with its substantial evidence of political prosecutions ­ Ms. Hutchison was quick to dismiss it as “a lot of to-do about nothing.”

Mr. Craig returned to the Senate last week. One of the first votes he cast was to support a Republican effort to block court access for detainees, people who have not gotten to see a judge or enter a plea at all.

The best thing that Mr. Craig has going for him may be that his case is being heard by a Minnesota state court, not a federal one. The last kind of judge Mr. Craig would want to appear before is one with the harsh legal philosophy he and his Republican colleagues have been foisting on the rest of us.

On the most recent episode of QI, Fry posed this question: “what is the largest man-made object in the world?” The answer: The North Pacific Trash Vortex.

[Quote:]

The North Pacific Trash Vortex - Researchers have discovered a Texas-sized area of (mostly plastic) rubbish floating in the Pacific Ocean.

[Quote:]

Virgin has closed Virgin Digital, its Windows Media-based alternative to Apple’s iTunes. It stopped selling one-off downloads on Friday, though subscribers will still have access to their collections until their next monthly payment is due.

After that, their songs will no longer be playable, thanks to the limitations placed on playback by the DRM technology built into each track.

[Quote:]

Page address: http://ambrosiasw.com/utilities/itoner/

Description: Woke up to the alarm at 6:30 am. Got my son out of his crib, handed him to my wife. OJ medication forgot to take my multivitamin. Checked my email, Twitter, etc. Did a couple posts. Showered but didn’t shave. Took care of my son while my wife went to the gym. He played on the floor a bit, we laughed and giggled together a lot. Good times. Then he got hungry so I fed him while watching Honey I Shrunk the Kids on cable. When my wife got home around 10am, I put him down for a nap, packed up my bag, and left for work. N train to Canal then a 5 minute walk to the office. Worked on some PHP for a couple of hours, making less progress than I would have liked. Caught a baby mouse in a drinking glass at the office. Went to get lunch with the gang. First and second choices no good, but ended up at an Italian bakery/deli on Mott. Turkey and provolone on a roll with mayo and lettuce, Pepsi, and potato chips (sour cream and onion). Gave leftover sandwich to the baby mouse, AKA “Feedy”. Sat back down at my desk. Selected “iToner” from bookmarks list and waited. Error number NSURLErrorDomain:-1005.

And don’t think this is unique.

[source:]

Here’s what 1 Gb looked like 20 years ago, and what it looks like today:

[Quote:]

Congratulations on your purchase of your new 110th Congress! These care and feeding instructions will help ensure many years of future enjoyment of your Congress: please read them carefully.

CONTENTS

As packaged, your new Congress contains:

• 1 Capitol (white)
• 435 live Representatives (also mostly white)
• 100 live Senators (mostly blazingly, translucently white)
• Congress Chow, in the form of hundreds of billions of dollars in cash
• A variety of checks and balances. You may set these aside: they don’t actually do anything.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Soon after installing your new Congress, a green, cash-rich buildup may occur. This buildup is a normal part of the ecological balance in your Congress; the murky green colors will fade slightly as the ratio of legislators to beneficial lobbyists finds a natural balance.

2. Do not expose your Congress to direct sunlight, as this may cause excessive “loss” of Senators and Representatives. In order to best ensure the health of your Congress, keep it in a dimly lit place, preferably near a variety of restaurants.

3. If your Congress begins looking drab, place an American flag behind the tank. This will stimulate your Congressmen into a variety of unusual displays. When the effect fades, add more flags.

4. Do not taunt your Congress. Their feelings are easily hurt, and may result in uncontrollable, deafening wailing. If this happens, add additional flags.

5. A certain amount of sexual perversion is normal. If your household includes children, place your Congress in a location where children will not have direct access to it. Positioning your Congress away from telephone and other communications equipment will help prevent a buildup of prostitutes.

6. As normal behavior, your Senators and Representatives will travel in schools. You may notice portions of your Congress from time to time erupt in panic over an unseen enemy, usually hippies or communists. This is normal, and will usually resolve itself through a series of sternly worded but ineffectual bills.

7. Your Congress is a carefully organized hierarchical society. Watch them work together to build highways, bridges, and overfunded vanity projects. Do not, however, expect them to show interest in you or acknowledge your presence in any way. If that’s what you wanted, you should have bought a dog.

8. Under optimal conditions, your Congress may develop one or two Presidential Candidates. The bright colors and dramatic displays of these creatures can provide hours of entertainment. While Presidential Candidates may add excitement to your Congress, note that they are territorial and prone to fighting: keep Candidates separate as much as possible. Also, be aware that Presidential Candidates require ten times the amount of nutrition of other legislators, so feed regularly.

9. Clean your Congress every two years to remove buildup and prevent disease.  Wipe your Congress with a disinfecting solution made up of cursory debate, weakly contested primaries, and embarrassingly shallow campaign coverage. It won’t make the slightest bit of difference, but what the hell — it will give you something to do.

All sales final. No refunds. May exchange for identically dysfunctional Congress only.