According to this article on CNET, Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) is planning to introduce a bill to the US Senate that will put the control of Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems under the control of the FTC. The draft of the bill reviewed by CNET also contains provisions that limit …

DV Magazine has two articles in its Technical Difficulties column, one last month (not available online for some reason) and one this month (available here, but only if you log in) that describe the benefits and pitfalls of chroma sampling. Chroma Sampling is what is used by the various DV …

I've had a chance now to run some existing Keynote files through 1.1 and export them into PDF, QuickTime, and PowerPoint. I'm happy to report that most of these have been improved significantly. QuickTime export looks great now (although, I thought it looked pretty darned good before). File sizes …

It's probably not a shock to anyone, but the Department of Defense is funding a program to build Distributed Intelligent Video Arrays (DIVAs) to watch people and alert the authorities if they think that something is amiss. The article from Wired continues on to describe the background of the Computer …

In England, a man who tried to sell stolen pages from the upcoming Harry Potter book (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, ISBN:043935806X), was convicted and sentenced to 180 hours of community service and court costs, according to this article on BBC News.

Continuing what has already been a fast-moving week for the software, pardon me, hardware manufacturer, Apple has released version 1.1 of Keynote, their presentation software. A quick review from Keynote User is available, and the update can be downloaded directly from Apple's Keynote page. Improvements are said to include …

CBS Markecensoredch is reporting that Palm is purchasing Handspring for $169M. Press release from Handspring is here.

An article from Pioneer Press describes steps being taken by some parks in the Minneapolis area to stop geocaching in the area. Geocaching is a "sport" where player use their GPS systems to guide them to small caches of clues or other items. However, it is under fire for causing …

An interesting article from Wired writes about how G8 protesters tried to get their message out about what was going on by using the web, laptops, and smart phones. This whole idea makes an interesting comment about the web and freedom of the press. As long as there are opportunities …

The RIAA is at it again. This time, they're suing Streamcast (yes, I know, they just lost a separate case against Streamcast) over a service that Streamcast never brought to market. According to an article in Wired, the RIAA is suing because Streamcast (in preparation for launching a radio service …

I personally don't agree with the number published annually by the Business Software Alliance, but it is interesting to note that the Washington Post is reporting that this year's numbers are actually down (in terms of percentage of pirated software in use). They mention that the "cost" of software piracy …

An article in the Washington Post describes three teenage girls in Maryland that help the FBI act like teenage girls online. They consult on everything from current hot celeb's to typing styles and language use.

The Washington Post reports that AOL has lost over one million customers since last fall. The decline marks a move from price-sensitive customers (about 20%) to cheaper services (like NetZero/United Online) and speed-conscious customers (about 50%) to Cable offerings from their local cable companies or DSL offerings from their …

There's a great story in the Austin Chronicle about a trio of boys in Mississippi who (between 1981 and 1988) made a shot-for-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Ten years later, somebody in Hollywood slipped a copy to Steven Spielberg and he loved it. The film debuted in …

An article from ComputerWorld has an interesting couple of tidbits in it, including comments from analysts who have said they will forego SCO's opportunity to review the offending Linux code because it requires an NDA, and a comment from Linus where he says the whole situation reminds him of a …

SCO, embroiled in a nasty fight with the Linux community, has shut down their German web site, according to this article from CNET. The move comes after a Linux advocacy group, LinuxTag, succeeded in getting a temporary restraining order in Germany due to what it has called unsubstantiated claims being …

A page on Librenix has a number of cute haiku poems. These include:Overclock your boxit is very fast ... at firstwarranty now void

Eric Eldred's website (of Eldred vs. Ashcroft fame) now contains a petition requesting that the copyright law be amended to require a token payment 50 years after the original issue date which in order to renew the protection to its current length. Otherwise, if the owners don't renew, the property …

Chalk one up for the game industry (and the future of online game distribution). Yahoo! is reporting (from the Associated Press) that a St. Louis federal court has ruled unconstitutional an ordinance passed by the St. Louis city council.

The folks at Apple have been busy today. Along with the Bluetooth, QuickTime, and iSync updates, they've now released an update for iMovie, bringing it to 3.03. The update claims to increase performance and reliability and to add some new functionality to the well-liked "Ken Burns Effect".