Here's a good one

Sony's DRM-enforcing rootkit apparently includes the LAME MP3 library, which is published under the LGPL. (A blog article can be found here) So not only do their CDs illegally trespass on your PC, but they violate LAME's copyright at the same time (by failing to make the source available)!

Veterans' Day

In a little while I'm going to crawl off in a corner and sing a couple of songs by Eric Bogle: "No Man's Land" and "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda", specifically. Just because it's a good day for it.

My late father was a WWII vet. He never talked about it. Not a word. I learned from his obituary that he had coordinated radar operations for the Allied air offensive in Europe. I never asked, but I think he felt that, although going overseas and killing people is something you occasionally have to do, it isn't really something to be proud of. Sort of like taking your kids' dog to the vet to be put down. He didn't talk about that, either.

Paranoids take note:

According to this article on the effectiveness of tinfoil hats, they're pretty effective against RF in general. But not always:

Among a fringe community of paranoids, aluminum helmets serve as the protective measure of choice against invasive radio signals. We investigate the efficacy of three aluminum helmet designs on a sample group of four individuals. Using a $250,000 network analyser, we find that although on average all helmets attenuate invasive radio frequencies in either directions (either emanating from an outside source, or emanating from the cranium of the subject), certain frequencies are in fact greatly amplified. These amplified frequencies coincide with radio bands reserved for government use according to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). Statistical evidence suggests the use of helmets may in fact enhance the government's invasive abilities. We speculate that the government may in fact have started the helmet craze for this reason.

You have been warned.

The Cross and the Penguin

A couple of interesting articles on free software and religion:

• Free Software's surprising sympathy with Catholic doctrine
• The Penguin Driven Church Office