I unfortunately found myself at one of these performances a month ago in Thailand when I was attending a conference. I found it really quite cruel. The reason for the elephants prowess with the paint brush probably has more to do with the fact that they get a jab to the head with a metal spike if they don't do what they are told. The elephants I saw that weren't performing were tied up on chains often only 1-2 feed long, with baby elephants constantly swinging their heads in a deranged fashion.

Whilst it might be amusing to see elephants 'behaving like us' eliciting this behavior seems to involve a high degree of cruelty. I'd suggest people find other ways to amuse themselves that are more respectful to these quite amazing animals.

32, rthr sprs rgmnts - th jstfctn bng crprt mny = mr bngbng = grt. Hry! Wh crs bt nythng ls s lng s y gt yr cnsmr ht.

r w nt t thnk tht nc hkd n th ddtnl dd rvn tht BB wn't strt t slf-cnsr? r cn w xpct swth f strs bt th ntrnl cmbstn ngn, glbl wrmng r wht Hnd ws p t n WW2?

Wht's wrng wth lkng bynd yr wn prsnl ntrsts t pnt t ptntl cnflcts f ntrst, r bltnt hypcrsy f cr cmpny spnsrng th nvrnmnt sctn. nd sfty, h, crs r n f th bggst kllrs t thr.

WTF? Honda, fossil fuel burners par excellence sponsoring the environment? Just cause they build one car that is a bit less polluting, hardly makes it a green company. Global warming and oil wars anyone? Wht mks t grn s 'hp' plcs lk BB wh r wllng t pddl thr prpgnd.

Sms BB r rthr sly pmpd t. Crfl r y wn't hv mch f rpttn t sll sn.

Vry dsppntng, 'll mk sr my dblck s wrkng nxt tm rtrn, lss ftn mst lkly.

That pdf link seems to be broken, but you can see it here on google cache.

Interesting comments however I don't think you read the actual report, only the posting here :) The report isn't a moralistic argument about free software being better purely because it's free, it looks at what would be required for FOSS codecs to be a real option for independent video makers. That is it looks at the issue from a developer _and_ a user perspective. The report exists exactly because the usability of FOSS video codecs is not what it could be and independent video makers won't pick them up until they are made far easier to use. I don't however agree with you that OGG is that far behind the other options and I'd refer you to this report for evidence of that http://montevideo.dyne.org/releases/video-streaming-on-wan.pdf

Cheers.
And.