The Time Traveler Convention - May 7, 2005

An update on The Time Traveler Convention - May 7, 2005:

"The convention was a mixed success. Unfortunately, we had no confirmed time travelers visit us, yet many time travelers could have attended incognito to avoid endless questions about the future. We had a great series of lectures, awesome bands, and even a DeLorean. We regret having had to turn away visitors, but there were capacity restrictions governing Morss Hall. Thanks so much to the dozens of people who helped. "

Ah, well. I'd say 'better luck next time', but...

Perhaps in some alternate timelines this report will look very, very different. :)

The Time Traveler Convention - May 7, 2005

You can't knock this for geek genius.

Tell your friends, write it in the margin of library books, carve it into stone tablets and bury it in peat, but make sure that all future civilisations know about
The Time Traveler Convention - May 7, 2005:

"The Time Traveler Convention
May 7, 2005, 10:00pm EDT (08 May 2005 02:00:00 UTC)
East Campus Courtyard, MIT
42:21:36.025°N, 71:05:16.332°W
(42.360007,-071.087870 in decimal degrees)"

The idea is that if time travel is in fact possible, it will be invented at some point in the future. So, if potential future time travellers know about the WORLD FAMOUS Time Traveler Convention, it'll be high on their list of places (and times) to visit. Ergo, pop along on the 7th and you might just see a myriad of people from assorted periods of the future there. :D

Of course, the alternative possibility is that it'll be the one place future time travellers are banned from going to, precisely because they'll be so expected, conspicuous and cause paradoxes/break the future/meet their own grandfathers etc.

Which would be ironic.

Expect humorous stories turning up at the end of the News where you live, and multiple socially deviant geeks posing as visitors from 2589. Of course, the canny real Time Traveller will be the guy looking nicely inconspicuous in the background...

ThankyouGeorge.com

Suck up to Mr Lucas (if you want a load of spam I suspect...)

IFTF: What's your personal video gaming history?

Palo Alto's Institute for the Future are inviting any and all to email them with a personal video gaming history. It's up to you how much and what you tell them...

artPad

Have a look at artPad. It is teh k00l!

Damn Small Linux comes of age

I've posted before about Damn Small Linux, since I discovered it as my gateway into the world of Linux computing - it rejuvenated my girlfriend's tired ol Windows laptop.

Well it has now passed the version 1.0 stage, and is available in multiple formats as a way to try out Linux cheaply and cheerfully. Coolest of all, for those new to 'The Revolution (TM)', if you download the embedded .zip file version, you can run it direct from Windows using QEMU (included with the zip). Geekgasm!

There's now no excuse not to try out Linux. Oh, except that it runs very slow under QEMU, unless you've got a fast processor (over 1.5 Ghz). But then there's the USB-key version, the CD-version, the business-card version, and all sorts of other goodness.

You can find the downloads pagehere.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Music | Music industry 'nails UK pirates'

So the music industry 'nails UK pirates'. In other news, record companies are arguing for the prices of downloads on, eg, iTunes to rise - at the same time that they're being investigated for inflating UK download costs relative to toher parts of Europe and the US.

The record industry has got it all wrong. They're using outdated paradigms. They are focused on ownership, profits and litigation that protects their 'property'.

Clearly artists need remuneration for their work. But can I suggest three things:

Instead of 'piracy', peer-to-peer downloading is actually 'radio on demand'. If you're interested in a band, you can see what other people are listening to, download a few tracks, see if you like them. If you do, you'll maybe buy an album. You'll talk about them. You'll get the DVD. You'll buy the next album, etc. It's free, word-of-mouth style publicity.

Reduce the prices to the threshold that makes peer-to-peer not worth it any more - especially if you're a parent. Why bother with broken downloads, porn links, corrupt copies, the wrong songs, etc, when a perfect quality, reliable, redownloadable iTunes copy is only, eg, 20p?

At the very least, since the internet is a worldwide phenomenon, the industry needs to settle on worldwide standards if they're going to 'beat' what they call 'piracy'. Proper international competition. (Even 10p a track is better than 'stealing', surely.) Compatibility between platforms. (Why pay for an iTunes download when I can't play the track on my MP3 stick? Why pay for a wma when it won't go on my iPod? I'll download an MP3 thanks, and it'll be free, even though I was willing to pay.)

At least having failed to post for a month, I'm back with a proper rant. :)

Linux Counter

I'm now registered as a Linux user at the Linux Counter, having got Mandrake 10.1 up and running on my PC (alongside Windows... for now). This is my official Linux Blue Peter Badge:



So there! Welcome to the revolution.

NICE TITS!

The Royal Tit-Watching (Ornithological) Society of Britain. A great British institution with a sense of humour. Fantastic.

Damn Small

Discover the joys of Linux - small,neat, and FREE - with DSL, Damn Small Linux. Bringing life back to an obsolete laptop near you. Geek power.