This giant image file (of unknown provenance) compares cells from classic movies with their send-ups in The Simpsons. There are a whopping 66 of them! Link

Jordan Hatcher did a fascinating presentation on copyright and tattoos at Gikii, last week's UK conference on copyright law. Hatcher explores the legal ramifications of tattoo artists who assert copyright over their works after they've been inked, objecting to the tatts being displayed in advertising -- and even seeking to prevent old tattoos from being erased! The presentation isn't online, but the slide deck is, and it's a really interesting read. PDF Link (via Oblomovka)

Alek sez, "The boundless archive of the NYT has spat out for me an article about Mark Twain's cunning plan to beat the early 20th century copyright law, with its short copyright terms. In short, Twain planned to republish every one of his works the moment it went out of copyright, with one-third more content in the shape of his serialized bibliography. He hoped that availability of such 'premium' version will make prints based on the out-of-copyright version less desirable on the market. There's a gem in the first paragraph - the author suggests that Twain's plan 'makes the present copyright law look like a very sick and discomfited pirate, indeed.' So, who's the pirate here?!" Link (Thanks, Alek!)

Update: Siva Vaidhyanathan sez, "I have an entire chapter in my first book about Twain and his shifting ideas about copyright. At the beginning, he was totally tolerant -- even celebratory -- about use, re-use, and revision. And he loved cheap books, so he was critical of efforts toward a treaty with the British and for term extension.

Only later, when he was old and worried that his daughters could not make a living for themselves, did he get interested in perpetual copyright. His plan was indeed wacky. But it reveals a lot about the status of authorship and the state of American publishing at the turn of the 20th century. (See Copyrights and Copywrongs, Ch. 2)"

The Foundation that manages the One Laptop Per Child Program (which will give one low-cost, Linux-based laptop to every child in the developing world -- eventually) is making their machines available for sale in the developed world this Christmas. The price is $399, and includes two laptops, one of which will be given to a child in the developing world. I've just signed up to get one -- I just wish that this was structured as a donation to the Foundation, since I think they'd sell a ton of these if the purchasers could get a tax-receipt for them just before the tax year closes.

Starting November 12, One Laptop Per Child will be offering a Give 1 Get 1 Program for a brief window of time. For $399, you will be purchasing two XO laptops--one that will be sent to empower a child to learn in a developing nation, and one that will be sent to your child at home. If you're interested in Give 1 Get 1, we'll be happy to send you a reminder email. Just sign up in the box to the left and you'll receive your reminder prior to the November 12 launch date.

Link (via Gizmodo)

See also:
One Laptop Per Child machines for sale this Xmas?
One laptop per child for the developing world
First photos of MIT's $100 laptop for developing world
Screenshots of OS for the $100 laptop
OLPC laptop runs DOOM

Steven sez, "In 2007, SEED magazine held its annual Science Writing contest. This year, the topic was 'What does it mean to be scientifically literate in the 21st century?' They've posted the first and second prize winner for all to read. I am, of course, submitting this for the betterment of mankind, and not simply because I'm still jazzed by the fact that my essay won second place." [Ed: Congrats, Steven!]

The winning essays are very good -- short, sweet and moving. Both converge on a single main point: scientific reasoning, characterized by a willing to rely on evidence instead of investment in some old institution, is sorely lacking from the public sphere, especially politics. From Thomas W. Martin's first-prize-winning Scientific Literacy and the Habit of Discourse

Several current presidential candidates have insisted that they oppose the scientific account of earth's natural history as a matter of principle. In the present cultural climate, altering one's beliefs in response to anything (facts included) is considered a sign of weakness. Students must be convinced that changing one's mind in light of the evidence is not weakness: Changing one's mind is the essence of intellectual growth. By forcing students into evidence-based debates with one another, this mode of interaction, like any other, can become habitual. After being consistently challenged by their peers, most students eventually see that attempts to free themselves from facts are a hollow, and fundamentally precarious, form of "freedom."

In an era in which we tremble at offending the sensibilities of our neighbors, students must comprehend that it is not only possible but absolutely vital that we criticize each other's ideas firmly yet civilly. They must do this despite clear cases of prominent scientists falling into petty, acerbic (and therefore counterproductive) exchanges. The responsibility for fostering scientific literacy of this sort--that is, literacy construed as an ongoing commitment to evidence over preconception--falls upon all of us in our discussions both formal and informal, both public and private. When scientific celebrities fail to set a good example for students, it is especially incumbent upon the rest of us to set them back on the proverbial right track, rather than to reflexively hasten their derailment.

Link (Thanks, Steven!)

Jason sez, "A colleague of mine introduced me to this great resource - a 1923 edition of P's and Q's - A Book on the Art of Letter Arrangement, by Sallie B. Tannahill. (A former teacher of lettering at Columbia University and a friend of Vojtech Preissig -- the Czech typographer and book designer -- whose work gets sampled frequently throughout the book.) I've posted high-rez scans of Part 1. (23 pages.)" Link (Thanks, Jason!)

Today on the Worth1000 photoshopping contest, "Fake It Till You Make It" -- photoshopped fakes. Link

Rich sez, "The webcomic XKCD had a meetup in Cambridge today. A few hundred nerdy folk showed up, and a few dressed as the stick figure characters, but even better were the people dressed up like Cory Doctorow! For more pics of the event, see Flickr photos tagged with 'xkcddreams'."

(A word of explanation: XKCD is a marvellous, unapologetically nerdy comic, and Randall Munroe, the creator, once did me the immense honor of making me the punchline of a strip, wearing goggles and a cape. This has become something of a running joke now, much to my delight) Link (Thanks, Rich!)

See also:
Geeky comic strip uses Cory as the punchline
Geeky comic about chess and roller-coasters
Xkcd fans bring chess-sets on roller-coasters
Nerd humor about Katamari Damacy
Bloggin' 'bout my generation
Pi joke
Funny map of online communities in the style of a D&D map
Sarcastic comic about computational linguistics (and emo kids)
Where LOLCats come from
Ironic Internet malapropism grid

Oakland artist Peter Gronquist created limited edition Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man hand grenades. Previously, he constructed a dummy grenade featuring the head of Darth Vader.
Link (via STRANGEco)

FBI spokespersons said this weekend they are reviewing a white supremacist website that published addresses said to belong to five of the six black teens accused of beating a white student in Jena, Louisiana.

The site read, "Lynch the Jena 6." Snip from AP item:

Sheila Thorne, an agent in the FBI's New Orleans office, said authorities were reviewing whether the site breaks any federal laws. She said the FBI had "gathered intelligence on the matter," but declined to further explain how the agency got involved.

CNN first reported Friday about the Web site, which features a swastika, frequent use of racial slurs, a mailing address in Roanoke, Va., and phone numbers purportedly for some of the teens' families "in case anyone wants to deliver justice." That page is dated Thursday.

Link to AP story.

The site in question, overthrow dot com, has been off and online intermittently -- but its cache and mirrors are easily googleable if you're inclined to observe the contents for yourself. "Overthrow" plus "jena" plus "bill white" plus the n-word will get you there in a hurry. One of the mirrors is hosted on blogspot, and the content is about what you'd expect (hey, surprise: The Jews are to blame, too!).

More wandering through Google and the Wayback Machine shows that Mr. White has a history of dramatically inserting himself into current events involving race; sort of a serial troll.

Editorial note: I usually don't link to neo-nazi websites, or any site that invites people to kill specific other people -- so I'll refrain from doing so here. I'd welcome your thoughts on whether or not that's the right thing to do in the comments.

Here's a question for federal law buffs and attorneys out there: what are the legal boundaries with this sort of website? Hateful or racist speech isn't illegal, per se, nor is publishing someone's publicly listed address on the internet. Many a troll would be in jail if that were the case. Is the legal issue at hand whether this site specifically calls for the murder of the people whose purported home addresses were listed? At what point does a site like this become defined as "hate crime" or "incitement to violence"? Again, your observations are welcomed here.

A moment of silence for famed French mime Marcel Marceau who died yesterday. He was 84.
Link

Here's a fantastic video of Devo covering the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" on Saturday Night Live, October 14, 1978.
Link (via Laughing Squid)