Today's Links
It's up to over 40,000 signatures: The Stop Ashlee Simpson Petition - asking her management and label to retire her for 'horrible singing' and to 'stop recording, touring, modeling[sic] and performing.'
Amateur image processing of Huygens probe images from Saturn's moon Titan.
Photos of Bill Gates from a 1983 issue of Teen Beat. Of course, he was 28 by that point - not really a teen, but he certainly looked like a (nerdy) one...
The Columbia Law School has started a hub for collecting materials and cases relating to Copyright - The CLS Arthur W. Diamond Law Library Music Plagiarism Project. A fascinating work-in-progress collection. Some examples: The band ZZ Top were sued by La Cienega music over their song "La Grange", but lost because their song, "Boogie Chillun", had gone into the public domain due to a registration error. ZZ Top then turned around and sued Chrysler Corporation for the car company's plagiarism of "La Grange" in an ad for the Plymouth Prowler.
According to the United States Capitol Police, the following items are prohibited from the Inaugural Ceremony for W: "Firearms, weapons of any kind, ammunition (either real or simulated), explosives of any kind (including fireworks), knives, blades, or sharp objects (of any length), aerosol sprays, coolers, thermal or glass containers, mace, pepper spray, sticks, poles, pocket or hand tools (such as a leatherman), packages, backpacks, large bags, duffel bags, suitcases, laser pointers, posters, signs, placards (including supports structures), animals other than guide dogs or service dogs assisting handicapped individuals, strollers, chairs, umbrellas, alcoholic beverages, and any other items at the discretion of the security screeners that may pose a potential safety hazard."