Orange girl cats  #
Tuesday, 17 Oct 2006 04:46PM
I heard somewhere once that only male cats can be orange / ginger.

Not true according to Wikipedia!

Female cats can be ginger, it is just rare. The ratio is about 3:1. Female cats are much more likely to be tortoiseshell.


New Transformers music from Vince DiCola  #
Tuesday, 17 Oct 2006 12:10PM
Vince hinted about this on his TDRS music website ages ago but it has finally happened...

A new Transformers suite from Vince DiCola and Kenny Meriedeth:

Transformers Suite 2006
An overture comprised from the original Transformers theme music and select Vince DiCola compositions from the 1986 original Transformer movie.

... via seibertron.com


IceTV vs. C9  #
Tuesday, 17 Oct 2006 09:38AM
IceTV is a company that provides electronic TV guides, intended for use on computers and for those with personal video recorders.

It's software that enables the public to more easily watch the TV shows they love. As a result, I presume they'll watch more TV. Shows.

But, Channel 9 fears that because it actually enables people to more easily record shows, it indirectly helps people to skip ads. Because, as I'm sure you're aware, TV channels don't want you to watch the TV shows, they want you to watch the adverts [The Age].

As there isn't a law that let's companies sue other companies for exposing their unworkable profit making techniques, Channel 9 are suing on that all encompassing magic law, copyright!

You see, Channel 9 "owns" the "names" of their shows, so if you republish them, you're likely to get sued. And maybe killed. By flying monkeys. Horray!

I think a nice compromise would be for Channel 9 to provide an electronic timetable of advertisements (the real content of TV). Let us know when they'll be displaying our favourite nappy commercial and we'll set up our recorders to capture it is all it's poopy catching glory.

Coz TV is all about the ads.


Australian copyright reform continues  #
Tuesday, 17 Oct 2006 09:12AM
LawFont continues their excellent coverage of the current Australian copyright reforms.

It seems the current draft will still make iPods illegal.

They also comment on the changes to Australian copyright law enforcement including details of on-the-spot fines and the introduction of "strict liability":

Now let me emphasise again: what strict liability means is that a person can be liable for these offences in the absence of proof that they knew they were dealing with infringing copies or performances that were infringements..

Personally, I find it very strange that we would have these provisions without a requirement of knowledge. This is way outside the international norm, which criminalises intentional acts only. Can anyone enlighten me as to what is going on here?

I'm all for maximum carnage for those that sell pirated copies of copyright material. Bring it on.

But no matter how these laws come about, as soon as police start fining people for just using their music, they'll stop using it.

If they make it too hard for me to listen to my music (ie. by forcing me to play the purchased CD to prove I bought it, instead of using a ripped copy on my MP3 player) then maybe I'll just stop and start reading more.