Yes, today is International Towel Day. Most of you who read this Blog will know what this is all about, but for the people who might not have the faintest clue what I'm talking about let me explain (and link):
International Towel Day celebrates the life and work, and commemorates the death of Douglas Nathaniel Adams, creator of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This radio play/series of books/TV series/Text Adventure/Website/Movie is recognised as one of the greatest works of English Sci-Fi Humour (or even just Humour alone) ever created.
Sadly Douglas Adams died much too early in 2001 and when it came to find a fitting way to remember him, some fans came up with the concept of this International Towel Day. The funny thing is that he didn't actually die on 25th of May, but it was deemed that a fortnight after his death was a respectful enough gap to make this day a celebration rather than a mourning, but also not too long after so it would be disconnected.
Personally I have always admired the man and the works. It is - together with Monty Python - the main reason I got in to English as a language and a way of life. I have read/seen/heard/played all forms of DA's books and can quote large passages verbatim (or near enough) from memory.
I have one lasting memory of the (tall) man himself: Before I moved to the UK I ran in to him (almost literally) when he walked out of the food department of Harrods in London with a precious Harrods-branded plastic bag firmly but defiantly clasped in one hand. It looked no more or less like having any other supermarket bag he was holding, and I'm fairly sure it would have contained no more than a pack of Tetly tea and some biscuits which he needed for his latest bath or deadline-avoidance.
So join me in celebrating his works, life and legacy by looking at the links above and remembering what he did for us. And for you who have not had the pleasure of perusing his works yet (where have you been?), find the radio play, it's the start of it all.
Douglas Nathaniel Adams (1952-2001)
(And for those of you who are wondering: Yes, I've got a towel with me today.)
Friday, May 25, 2007
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
128-bit numbers
I had a long(ish) post about the AACS and their attempts to copyright a 128-bit number here, but this Haiku ((c) 2007 by Edward W. Felten) says it best:
We own integers,
Says AACS LA.
You can own one too.
That last bit actually relates to this page (where I got the haiku from too). I think it's an absolute load of bunkum that someone can claim the copyright to a number.
Let's say I claim the copyright to, say, 66 8E 4A A1 CE 9D B2 18 93 21 7C 70 36 06 D6 68. Does that mean that I also own 66 8E 4A A1 CE 9D B2 18 93 21 7C 70 36 06 D6 67 + 1? Or maybe 66 8E 4A A1 CE 9D B2 18 93 21 7C 70 36 06 D6 69 - 1?
It reminds me a bit of the trouble with the number 'eight' wizards have in the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. They can't say it for fear of invoking powerful magic, so they say 'seven plus one' or 'sixty-four divided by nine minus one'...
The AACS are planning on suing everybody who has their precious number on their webpage. I say do your worst. They will single-handedly be responsible for taking down the largest chunk of the internet. Oh, and AACS: Look at my previous post please. I've got it up as well. Yoohoo!!
Bah. Humbug.
We own integers,
Says AACS LA.
You can own one too.
That last bit actually relates to this page (where I got the haiku from too). I think it's an absolute load of bunkum that someone can claim the copyright to a number.
Let's say I claim the copyright to, say, 66 8E 4A A1 CE 9D B2 18 93 21 7C 70 36 06 D6 68. Does that mean that I also own 66 8E 4A A1 CE 9D B2 18 93 21 7C 70 36 06 D6 67 + 1? Or maybe 66 8E 4A A1 CE 9D B2 18 93 21 7C 70 36 06 D6 69 - 1?
It reminds me a bit of the trouble with the number 'eight' wizards have in the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. They can't say it for fear of invoking powerful magic, so they say 'seven plus one' or 'sixty-four divided by nine minus one'...
The AACS are planning on suing everybody who has their precious number on their webpage. I say do your worst. They will single-handedly be responsible for taking down the largest chunk of the internet. Oh, and AACS: Look at my previous post please. I've got it up as well. Yoohoo!!
Bah. Humbug.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
"The Sea of Memes"
The Internet is a wonderful place. It makes it possible of all kinds of grassroots movements to take hold and make an impression on a wide audience.
This week for example Amanda and I discovered the Lolcat meme. The first time we saw the collected works of the Internet at large we almost peed our pants laughing.
And there's been so much more: All your base, Leeeroy and now '09 f9 11 02 9d 74 e3 5b d8 41 56 c5 63 56 88 c0' (look here and here for more information) which almost brought Digg.com down with it.
I love the diversity of the Internet. But it can be a murky place to navigate. So I tried to find a map
and lo and behold: here it is. Just be careful when you sail on The Wet Sea of the internet. As it warns on the map: "Here be Anthropomorphic Dragons!!"
This week for example Amanda and I discovered the Lolcat meme. The first time we saw the collected works of the Internet at large we almost peed our pants laughing.
And there's been so much more: All your base, Leeeroy and now '09 f9 11 02 9d 74 e3 5b d8 41 56 c5 63 56 88 c0' (look here and here for more information) which almost brought Digg.com down with it.
I love the diversity of the Internet. But it can be a murky place to navigate. So I tried to find a map
and lo and behold: here it is. Just be careful when you sail on The Wet Sea of the internet. As it warns on the map: "Here be Anthropomorphic Dragons!!"
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