Dead musicians sign copyright extension petition

Over in the UK, the legal folks decided to not extend current copyright protections from 50 years to 95 years. Naturally, some musicians were upset. Moreover, some businesses that benefit financially from the legal monopolies they hold as a result of copyrights were upset. In response, they all banded together to sign a petition asking the legal muck-mucks to reconsider.

Normaly, such a thing would be one good way to go about trying to institute change. The folks behind this push, however, might get in a little trouble. I’m not sure if they’ll get in trouble for zombification of the dead, or for forging signatures. One way or another, however, those folks got some long dead musicians and artists, as well as quite a few non-British musicians and artists to supposedly sign on. And then got caught. Ooops. (via boingboing)

[tags]Undead musicians sign copyright extension petition[/tags]

Finally, some potentially good news for PS3 fans

There’s been a lot of negativity around the PlayStation 3 (I’m guilty of some, since there have been a lot of problems with the PS3 so far), but here’s something that honestly seems like good news to me (if it is true). According to an Electronics Arts exec, current games for the PS3 are only using around 20% of the consoles potential. That means that these games, as good as they look and as well as the play, are truly just a very early glimpse at what PS3 owners have to look forward to. Given the difficulties of developing for the PS3 that I’ve read, I’m inclined to believe this. Maybe 20% is a low guess, but it is potentially accurate. So think what the PS3 will be offering you in 3-5 years.

“The whole industry knows it’s been a challenge; the PS3’s a very complex piece of equipment. On one hand it’s a challenge, on the other hand there’s tremendous potential in that box. I think it’s going to take developers a little while to figure out how to unlock that power.

We’ve got games coming out now where we feel we’ve hit maybe 20 per cent of the potential of PlayStation 3. We know the power’s there, but like any new platform it’s going to take us a little bit of time to unleash it.

So we shall see what 2nd and 3rd wave games are like and see how accurate this is, shall we not? (via Kotaku)

[tags]PS3 games well short of full system potential[/tags]

Like Chuck, it brings t3h pain

pain-gun.jpgDeveloped in secret for 10 years, announced in 2001, and secretly tested so we don’t really know how non-lethal it is, here comes the pain gun. Or, as we like to think of it in the Blahg-o-bunker “t3H Pa1n gunz0r!!!1!”

The crowd is getting ugly. Soldiers roll up in a Hummer. Suddenly, the whole right half of your body is screaming in agony. You feel like you’ve been dipped in molten lava. You almost faint from shock and pain, but instead you stumble backwards — and then start running. To your surprise, everyone else is running too. In a few seconds, the street is completely empty.

You’ve just been hit with a new nonlethal weapon that has been certified for use in Iraq — even though critics argue there may be unforeseen effects.

Personally, I’m all for trying this thing out (on bad guys, not myself). I’m one of those soft-hearted people who prefers breaking up minor uprisings without mass elimination of life. Of course, when serious conflict arises, I’m all for havy doses of lethal retaliation, but “t3H Pa1n gunz0r!!!1!” sounds perfect for those instances when less than massive response will do. (via Engadget)


[tags]The pain gun, Non-lethel crowd control, t3H Pa1n gunz0r!!!1![/tags]