The future’s so stupid, I have to wear blinders.

My life is presently impressively boring, so I’m looking elsewhere for inspiration and distraction. Right now I seem to be running about a day behind on some stuff. Lets see if I can catch up.

I wanted to share this look at the Wired NextFest. Being a technogeek and a science fiction reader I found it a lighthearted read of the strangeness that exists in people’s minds. I especially loved the army of cyborg or mechanically enhanced elderly that terrorize the future creating a virtual geriatric police state. And you wonder why I love Ars.

Well I’ve mentioned it before, but my hopes of something substantial have been dashed against the rocks. In the MGM vs. GROKSTER case the SCOTUS has seemingly ruled that legal usefulness has nothing to do with the suit. The ruling said the crux is whether software manufacturers/sellers specifically target the product towards the illegal file sharing community. It doesn’t seem to make any big statements itself, but it does open the door to lots of possible annoyance lawsuits to stifle small product innovation and development. I expect a flood of lawsuits to come out of this, slowly at first and then a crescendo to eventually be stomped out after it has caused much damage. I want all the little companies and sites that run a lot of this stuff to shut down in unison for 5 days as a show of force. I’m just curious what would happen. I also recommend perusing the forum discussion on the topic. Please post any other interesting links in the comments.

In relation to the above, it also seems that the former head of the RIAA has changed her tune now that she isn’t the mouthpiece of the industry. I really love how she tries to sound like she didn’t want anything to come off the way it did. In the article she makes the same very good points that other people have been making, since before she and the RIAA started the crusade against P2P and file trading software. I guess having the RIAA’s fists filled with money that far down my pants would make me say nonsensical stuff too. I just wish someone would have slapped the snot out of her and brought her to her senses when she might have been able to do something about it. Ars has a good article and discussion of it as well.