WILCO is the future of music, according to an article in Wired by Larry Lessig. That's not a musical opinion, however; rather, Lessig is talking about the band's use of the internet and related technologies. Wired fails to identify Lessig, who is a Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and founder of the school's Center for Internet and Society. He has also been involved in court cases involving Napster and Microsoft, to name just two.
ANOTHER REASON TO WEAR BLACK: Merle Kilgore, who co-wrote “Ring of Fire” with June Carter about Johnny Cash, has died of congestive heart failure, related to treatment he was undergoing for cancer. Kilgore was 70.
TALKING BACK TO 80s MUSIC: Jeff Goldstein revives a popular feature of his blog with an easy one. Stay for the comments.
WARD CHURCHILL UPDATE: Paul Campos, a University of Colorado law professor, outlines further allegations of academic fraud by Churchill, the U of C prof who has compared the victims of the World Trade Center towers to top Nazi official Adolf Eichmann, called for more 9/11-style attacks and said that the U.S. should be pushed out of existence. Academic freedom may protect such opinions, but it won't stop people from looking at his background and qualifications.
REINVENTING PHYSICS: Robert B. Laughlin, a 1998 Nobel laureate in physics, argues that “[t]he laws of nature that we care about… emerge through collective self-organization and really do not require knowledge of their component parts to comprehend and exploit.” As an analogy, he asks whether legislatures and corporate boards made laws or were made by laws.
“VIRTUALLY ALL MONKEYS will give up juice to see female hindquarters,” according to a Duke University study. Male monkeys also will 'pay' in fruit juice to look at a picture of a socially dominant monkey.
DEFENSE SECRETARY RUMSFELD says the press was totally “unfair” in selectively quoting from his now-famous exchange with a U.S. soldier regarding armored Humvees in December 2004.
GO-GOS CRASH MARDI GRAS, but went largely unrecognized by parade watchers, according to No Rock 'n' Roll Fun in a post that adds: “We're not quite sure if this counts as 'pop stars in reduced circumstances' or not; we suspect it's just the sort of thing that The Go-Gos like to do.” Given that the gals cracked the Top 20 of Spin magazine's “100 Sleaziest Moments in Rock” with the video described here, I would have to agree with xrrf.
PETE DOHERTY UPDATE: The New York Daily News reports that the maybe-Libertine and Babyshambles front man was bailed out by ex-galpal Kate Moss.
STROKES drummer Fabrizio Moretti has been dumped by Drew Barrymore — in writing — according to Lloyd Grove. Barrymore's camp is denying any split.
U2 drummer Larry Mullen apologizes for the snafu in online ticketing for the band's upcoming tour. This sort of thing will happen when you think that the number three is followed by the number fourteen…
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: fishbowl LA reports that “[t]he gossiblogosphere is abuzz with talk that one of the stars of Desperate Housewives will come out of the closet via the the cover of next month's Advocate. Teri Hatcher (not the subject of the rumor) is currently in a new relationship, but says it's not serious and she insists she has no Valentine's date. UPDATE: Marcia Cross denies the rumor, as does the Advocate.
LAUGHTER literally changes the way you see the world, an Australian researcher has shown.
GOOGLE looks like it is going to compete with Mapquest.
THE FCC is maintaining a “hands off” attitude to internet-based telephony.
FANTASTIC FOUR FLICK is moved from July 1st to July 8th by Fox, to avoid Spielberg's War of the Worlds. Probably smart, as I have heard some very mixed advance buzz on the FF.
BRING THE NOISE is a photo history of the evolution of portable audio hosted by the CBC.
SATELLITE RADIO: The biggest attraction to satellite radio is the absence of commercials, not original content like the future Howard Stern show, according to a survey released on Monday by J.P. Morgan.
ANIMAL RIGHTS: Worms squirming on a fishhook feel no pain — nor do lobsters and crabs cooked in boiling water, a scientific study funded by the Norwegian government has found. The government called for the study on pain, discomfort and stress in invertebrates to help in the planned revision of Norway's animal protection law.
LINUX VIRGIN is an erotic and informative video series for learning to build a Linux-friendly computer, launching on St. Valentine's Day.
ATTACK OF THE NANOBOTS: Howard Lovy explains why it's hard for the media to portray nanotech as a menace to society.
THE FBI TERRORISM UNIT is trying to determine whether a virus was placed over money to protect the interest of the Russian mob.
A WELSH RUGBY FAN cut off his own testicles after his team beat England. Was alcohol involved? Yes, it was!
