Our Amazing World

A few things that have made this year Amazing (so far).

-a baby was cured of HIV (NYT)

-LED light bulbs are now less than $10 (TechReview)

-a meteorite was filmed by a lot of people (AtlanticWire)

-you can order a drone that fits in your hand (Wired)

-a person had 75% of their skull replaced via 3D printer (SydneyMorningHerald)

-anything can be 3D scanned and then 3D printed (Verge)

-two rats had their brains connected across the Internet (Wired)

-teleportation across a lake (Ars)

"Just Ring It Up With The Dong Tea"

[Update on 10/26/2009: Hulu has confirmed programming will stop being free at some point]

Hulu is removing Arrested Development seasons 1 and 2.

See TBM: Fox Kidnaps Itself

The article speculates that this is being done to drive DVD sales of Seasons 2 and 3. I disagree - this move seems more in line with Hulu offering paid subscriptions (currently in testing) and FOX's Murdoch love of paywalls to his properties.

See LAT: Will Hulu make you pay to watch?

Fortunately, shortly after AD was canceled syndication rights were sold to MSN. And because of that every episode is available at ArrestedDevelopment.msn.com.

A warning to FOX, content wants to be free. Removing dearly loved content like this will only drive your audience to other outlets.

G.O.B.: So is it for sale? I could use it in my act.

Asian Man: Maybe. Sword of Destiny hundreds of years old. Come with ancient story of warning, and...

G.O.B.: Yeah, I make up my own patter. Just ring it up with the dong tea.

Via: The OP (don't call it that)

It Is Okay When We Do It

DHS Report Says Leave Laptops At Home

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security appears to be of two minds about the security of information on portable devices.

On the one hand, it defends border searches of laptops as necessary to limit the movements of terrorists, to deter child pornography, and to enforce U.S. laws.

"One of our most important enforcement tools in this regard is our ability to search information contained in electronic devices, including laptops and other digital devices, for violations of U.S. law, including potential threats," said Jayson Ahern, deputy commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in an online post in June.

On the other hand, it has warned business and government travelers not to carry laptops or other electronic devices when traveling abroad, as a way to prevent "unauthorized access and theft of data by criminal and foreign government elements."

The Candidates' Technology And Media Policies

Basically Obama sees the Internet as infrastructure, McCain would see it as a product.

See Slate: Obama vs. McCain on media policy 2008

Being pro-net neutrality means that Obama and his advisers believe basic anti-discrimination rules (a modern version of the "common carriage" rules that make phone companies and innkeepers serve all comers) will preserve the open nature of the Internet—and keep it safe for unapproved speech and surprising innovations like Wikipedia and YouTube.

Camp McCain starts from a different ideological place: one that takes the Internet as, essentially, a very cool "product." As a product, the Net is less a public resource, and more something provided by the private sector in whatever form it considers best. In this sense, Camp McCain sees the Internet as more like cable television on steroids than some imaginary commons of the ether. What channels should be on cable is mostly a question for Time-Warner and Comcast—so why shouldn't Internet providers make the same kinds of decisions?

That's the view McCain pushed in 2005, when he co-sponsored a bill that allowed Internet blocking "on notice." If McCain's bill had become law, a cable or phone company could in theory block, say, the video site Hulu.com by providing notice in the "service plan." Interestingly, in that bill at least, McCain put himself at odds with more moderate Republicans, like Kevin Martin, present chairman of the FCC, who recently punished Comcast for just such consumer blocking. McCain (though he wavers in interviews) has put himself firmly in the anti-net-neutrality camp. According to his Web site, McCain might forbid some blocking, but in general, "John McCain does not believe in prescriptive regulation like 'net-neutrality.' "

The Verizon Vs Cable Battle

My post at TC Tech Notes - Verizon Gets Better, Cable Companies Get Badder