The Null Device

2001/3/15

Btw, for those of you in Melbourne: tomorrow (Friday) is the last day of the poster sale in the union building at Melbourne University. While most of it is the usual late-90s guff(Jennifer Lopez, 90s alternateen bands, dope-smoking cartoon aliens and fluffy animals feature heavily), there are a few more interesting posters (The Cure, Betty Blue, A Clockwork Orange, &c.) Unfortunately, they don't have that giant Joy Division Love Will Tear Us Apart poster, though, nor is one likely to find that this side of eBay.

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The All Your Base meme may be officially dead, but that hasn't stopped advertisers from swarming to its carcass like flies.

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This is a bit late, because I haven't had much time for blogging lately due to work. The UK patent office shows itself to be more clueful (and/or less beholden to the interests of corporate power in itself) than most and comes to the conclusion that software should not be patentable, and neither should be business methods. Let's hope they stick to their guns.

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Controversial idea of the day: Was legalising abortion responsible for falling crime rates 18 years later? Two professors claim to have found a causal link; namely that abortion reduces the number of children born in poverty, who are most likely to turn to crime as they grow up. This report has raised hackles on both sides; not only of the usual religious demagogues but also of left-liberal types who argue that such views may justify eugenics against the poor.

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Not from Risks Digest: An elderly war veteran stabbed his next-door neighbour to death, after a fireworks display triggered a flashback to World War II and he mistook the frail widow for a German soldier. (via Leviathan)

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The Australian peso's value has fallen below US$0.50, and looks set to fall even further.

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According to Q magazine, the best album cover of all time is the one from God Save The Queen, by the Sex Pistols. #2 is Joy Division's Closer, and #7 is New Order's Blue Monday (hang on--wasn't that a 12" single? Or do they mean Power, Corruption & Lies?), also designed by Peter Saville.

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Smaller, faster, more: A wily hacker has trumped the seven-line Perl DVD descrambler with a smaller and faster C version. It's still not under the McQuary limit, though, although not by much.

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