A source close to the British Labour Government has just given me reliable information about the most radical copyright proposal I've ever seen.
Secretary of State Peter Mandelson is planning to introduce changes to the Digital Economy Bill now under debate in Parliament. These changes will give t... More.
Marc Owens's augmented reality project "Avatar Machine" puts its users in VR helmets that display the world around them as though they were playing a third-person game, so that their own body is seen from behind. Owens theorizes that "The system potentially allows for
a diminished sense of social... More.
How much do you get paid to poop? That's the question asked by Workpoop.com, a Web site that will, helpfully, time your restroom breaks and then calculate how much money you make while on the toilet using that time, the number of times you go per week and your hourly salary. I'm torn between three... More.
The Associated Press, a organization with so little respect for fair use that they expect you to pay for a license to quote as little as five words from its articles, describes how it relied on fair use to do reporting on Sarah Palin's memoir Glowing Rouge:
"The AP was determined to get the f... More.
Going West is a beautiful short film illustrating the worlds in a book, incorporating papercraft to make something dreamlike and wonderful. It was animated by Andersen M Studio.
NZ Book Council - Going West
(via @GreatDismal)... More.
I remember reading a book years ago that mentioned a CIA plan in the early 1960s to sprinkle thallium salts into Castro's boots, which "would cause his beard, eyebrows, and pubic hair to fall out... like a follicle deprived Samson."
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As I recall reading somewhere (probably in one of the excellent Bathroom Readers series), the CIA actually approached Ian Fleming and asked him for ideas and he provided them with a few ideas including LSD on Castro's SCUBA mouthpiece combined with itching powder in his wetsuit, to make him go crazy and drown; thallium salts in his cigars or hat to make his manly beard and hair fall out and thus emmasculate him; projecting a massive religious icon in the sky above Cuba to induce revolution against communism; and probably more that the CIA never actually tried.
"Why did people in the 1960s think Castro's hair was so magical?"
Mark, it's easy for the public to latch on to obvious physical characteristics of public figures...just think:
Obama's skin color, Nixon's ski slope nose, George Dubya's deer-in-the-headlight facial expressions, etc
I doubt anyone in the early 1960s would have really believed that some sort of voodoo could have made Castro's facial hair fall out. Most of this stuff falls into the category of urban legend. But then again, one can never under-estimate the CIA
"Why did people in the 1960s think Castro's hair was so magical?"
surviving dozens of cia assasination attempts not enough?
Fidel and Raul swore they would not shave their beards until the revolution was successful. That's also why they continue to wear fatigues.
Once, Fidel Castro's beard gave a 6 1/2 hour speech to the United Nations General Assembly.
I think It was only Fidel who swore not to shave. I don't think Raul ever had a beard...
I could tell from the title this was a song-poem.
The CIA in the 1960s seems to have had no idea how to conduct an assassination.... or almost anything else. Everything I read about them comes off sounding like very bad comic book plots.
If that was a catchy tune for the 60's I can understand how people were ready for something like the Beatles to come along show what music could really be again.
I am also struck but the just awful production quality. Listen to the chorus on the accompanying "I-O-WA" song. It's like they are not even trying to sing together.
The trombone solo is awful too.
Has the copyright on that song expired? Because if it hasn't, ripping it to MP3 format and posting it online would be, er, copyright infringement.
"Why did people in the 1960s think Castro's hair was so magical?"
because his beard is so lucious.