Hell's Half Acre

robot chuck's internet news of note

yeah. .  .bloggers vs. THE MAN. Bloggers win.

APPLE ORDERED TO PAY BLOGGER LEGAL FEES
Apple was ordered to pay the legal fees in a case involving two Apple enthusiast sites, seven months after a judgment in its favor was overturned, essentially giving bloggers the same protection as traditional journalists in the state of California. The case involved Apple rumor sites AppleInsider and PowerPage.org.
http://www.betanews.com/article/Apple_to_Pay_Bloggers_Legal_Fees/1170179049

Hard to imagine Apple computers as THE MAN but you know, underneath the shiny exterior, the cool gadgets, and "user friendly" devices, Apple is still a corporation and corporations have never been known for their altruism or their 'live and let live' pholosophies. 

outstanding achievement in the field of excellence

beige has just let me know, in a monetary fashion, that even though I have attendance issues, they still want me around. They let me know by a bonus, which I had no idea was coming and a retarded raise. . .retarded in a good way. Retarded in that, the only way you usually get a raise like this is if they are scared to lose you or you came in below market salary and they are trying to correct the situation before you figure it out.

Anywho, maybe this time in London I won't be afraid to shop or eat. HA.

news from Robot Chuck

COURTS SHOW AN INTEREST IN WIKIPEDIA
The NY Times runs an interesting article on the willingness of courts to cite to Wikipedia. It notes that more than 100 judicial rulings have relied on Wikipedia, beginning in 2004, including 13 from circuit courts of appeal.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/technology/29wikipedia .html

Robot Chuck reads Professor Michael Geist's Internet Law Newsletter religiously. This excerpt is lifted from his newsletter.

creative writing

so the class is exactly what I had hoped for and what I was afraid of. It's brilliant. I basically get to sit around for 2 hours and talk about movies (easy.) Then I have to write stuff (a little harder.) Then I have to read what I wrote (phuck.)

I'm not great at making stuff up which is okay because I am good at taking pieces of real stuff and making them bigger. I guess that IS making stuff up. So the first assignment is a monologue. Internal dialogue, etc.  No prob. The monologue stems from a photograph the instructor handed out. My photo was of three Indian dudes trying to take down a sacred cow in what looks like a rodeo ring. The cow/bull has a wreathe of flowers around its horns.

All I can think of when I look at this picture is Minerva. I think of the ritualism of marriage and worship and how false it all seems. It doesn't seem connected but then again whatever I come up with doesn't have to be a literal interpretation of the image.

The second assignment is to take the character from the monologue, give that character a conflict in a scene. Scene has to be in screenplay format.

This is like playing. I probably would have made it through college in like eight years instead of twenty if it had always been this enjoyable.

new class tomorrow

Flash class was cancelled due to low enrollment. I'm a little bummed because I already purchased the FIVE books that the guy put out on the syllabus. I bought them from Amazon so I can't just march them back. . .anywho, the other reason I'm slightly disappointed is because I was looking forward to learning a marketable skill which I could hopefully turn around and use at beige and beyond.

So, in the non-marketable skillz department, I have decided to take this class:

Narrative Theory and Screenwriting
Prerequisite: History and Theory of the Media

This course focuses on the study and practice of the fundamentals of narrative, visual storytelling, and dramatic writing for dramatic animation, film and television. Narrative strategies for writing characterization, dialogue, pacing, setting, and structure will be examined through exemplary films, television, and screenwriting exercises. Screenwriters will have the option of adapting a work in the public domain or writing an original script. Screenwriting software will be a focus of analysis and instrument of production.

I'm a little nervous. What if I go blank and can't write in this class? What if I want to write a screenplay about Frixcourt and Robot Chuck? How do I make Spinekey believable? (PS Spinkey is real and if you don't believe me you can go ask Mixfort. She knows. Someday I will tell the story of Spinekey but not now.) 

Since this class is supposed to be "a fun elective" I am not sure why it is causing anxiety?   

robot chuck--keeping you informed

Robot Chuck asked me to pass this along:

Secrecy Is at Issue in Suits Opposing Spy Program

By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: January 26, 2007
The Bush administration has employed extraordinary secrecy in defending the National Security Agency’s highly classified domestic surveillance program from civil lawsuits. Plaintiffs and judges’ clerks cannot see its secret filings. Judges have to make appointments to review them and are not allowed to keep copies.

Judges have even been instructed to use computers provided by the Justice Department to compose their decisions.

But now the procedures have started to meet resistance. At a private meeting with the lawyers in one of the cases this month, the judges who will hear the first appeal next week expressed uneasiness about the procedures, said a lawyer who attended, Ann Beeson of the American Civil Liberties Union.
read on. . .

More from the intranets:

The Trouble With Vodka
The trouble with Vodka is that it lacks personality. It has no zest or flare of it's own. It's like a chameleon of character; molding it's soul to whatever surrounds it. The tofu of the spirit world, minus the spongy texture. The bare particular of your liquor cabinet. The neutral fallback ingredient when you come down with bartender's block. read more. . .

the internets are funny

So, I don't know if you've heard about SecondLife, the virtual world that is practically turning into a major social experiment. Even the Economist did an article about the Economy in the virtual world. Wha????

Anyways, a blogger in Vancouver B.C. made a parody website called GetAFirstLife.com.  Hysterical. Check it.

And in the You Can't Handle the Truth department. . .MIcrosoft tries to pay people to edit Wikipedia entries.

MICROSOFT OFFERS CASH FOR WIKIPEDIA EDIT
Microsoft landed in the Wikipedia doghouse Tuesday after it offered to pay a blogger to change technical articles on the community-produced Web encyclopaedia site. While Wikipedia is known as the encyclopaedia that anyone can tweak, founder Jimmy Wales and his cadre of volunteer editors, writers, and moderators have blocked public-relations firms, campaign workers, and anyone else perceived as having a conflict of interest from posting fluff or slanting entries. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/16528310.htm

the garden of earthly delights

I heart this picture so much I had to steal from GG's blog. Sorry Geej.

jolly and then some

I am planning another trip back to the jolly in March.  It's for a little over a week. Having already booked and paid for the place I will stay for the last four days of the trip, I have been left scratching my head over what to do to fill in the other days.

For awhile it was Paris. I dutifully bought an intermediate French book to brush up. I downloaded podcasts and rented Indochine and Breathless to start training my ear.

Then, a friend said he wanted to come with. "Where do you want to go?" I asked. "I'm game for just about anything." He replies, "I want to go up to the Scottish Highlands and look at castles." So I research. Inverness. Cool. Loch Ness. Creepy and cool. Highlanders in kilts. Sweet.

He bails. So I think, 'Where would I have the best chance of getting laid?'  AHA. Ireland. I've always had a good track record with the Irish boys.

Then I see that the movie Room With A View is due to arrive via Netflix.

I am now officially staying at some beach resort south of Pisa, renting a car and touring Tuscany for a few days. The Uffizi is number one on the lsit.  It'll be in March. . .less crowds, fair weather.  Flight booked from Gatwick to Pisa, hotel is paid for. I'm set.  Birth of Venus here I come.

on the edge of the world

have you ever sensed that the world is actually flat and that at any moment it could tip and you would go tumbling off the edge? I am holding on tightly to the railing at the edge of the earth, tyring my best not to get thrown off. I need to let Robot Chuck and Frixcourt take over the blog for awhile until the meds kick in and things stabilize.

Ciao.

kf