More Blinks

So let's see, what is in the news today?

For six years now, Forbes magazine has been calculating the top money-earners amongst dead celebrities. In each of the first five years, Elvis ruled the chart with yearly earnings around $45 million. This past year, Kurt Cobain toppled The King as his estate made a total of $50 million. Much of that is attributed to Courtney Love selling off a quarter of Nirvana's library. Bing Crosby must be rolling in his grave.

iTunes and iPod music have copy-protection codes to combat piracy. This protection scheme is actually quite good - or it was until now. This article explains that an infamous hacker named Jon Lech Johansen or "DVD Jon" has cracked the code. Previously, this guy made a name (or a nickname) for himself at the age of fifteen by cracking the copyright codes for DVD movies and giving it away for free. This time, at the age of 22, he's trying to sell the hack and make some money off of it. It actually might be legal because reverse engineering, a la Paycheck, isn't technically stealing, it's just being extra smart.

Speaking of iPods, did you hear the one about Apple shipping a virus with them last month? Their Video iPods included the RavMonE virus. In Apple's official press release on their website, they said, "As you might imagine, we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it." That's right, the blamed Microsoft for being allowing viruses. Silly monkeys. That's like blaming your parents for allowing you to break a window.

And finally, here's an odd story about a woman who decided to run for mayor for Oakville because the city allowed her house to become completely inaccessible from the roads. Over the years, new houses were built around her house until they finally closed her in completely. She has been fighting a battle of principle for a few decades now. The Old Lady and The Sea, as it were.