Heh, that's awesome. You gotta love capitalism.
If there was no contract signing ownership of the video material over to Wal-Mart, this is totally legal. It also means you need to make sure that when you work with a professional {photo|video}grapher you get ownership of the material as part of the deal. Otherwise you really don't have much recourse when your image shows up on their website, brochure, etc.

@Baldhead #17:
It's called sarcasm and quite popular on both sides of the pond, I can assure you.

That actually looks more like a Menger gasket, although Wikipedia insists that it is actually a form of Sierpinski Carpet .

I have a particular soft spot for that pattern because one of the first things I did in 3D years ago was a program that would generate an N-level Menger Sponge using CSG rules.

I actually know enough uncranky, unranty vegans and feminists to know that:
A. They do exist
B. It's possible to uncouple one from the other.

So I feel pretty confident in also asserting that there are some people out there who seem like they would be genuinely unhappy if they didn't have something to protest or rush the fences over.

The ad agency that did this is rather cool and clever, too bad I can't say the same for the company that hired them to produce this ad.

Which brings up the question:
Supposing, hypothetically, one had a few thousand Euros(cash) laying around. Do you:

A. Shove it under your futon/mattress/rock. When everything falls apart you can use it to bribe your way onto a plane or across the border somewhere.

B. Give it to a friend you trust who can deposit in a Euro-based bank so that it stays in Euros.

C. Find some way to open a European bank account and deposit it there yourself.

D. Deposit it in a US bank when 1Euro=$20K US so you have enough to buy a loaf of bread on some fateful afternoon in the not-too-distant future ?

I'm basically think ACBD. Anyone else ? Bueller, Bueller?

Really, really one of my favorite authors, particularly when I was growing up. Others had Heinlein, I had Clarke and Asimov. Reading "The Sentinel" in a hardbound collection of SF stories my grandmother picked up at a garage sale and gave to me was an incredible thrill for my 10-year-old self and then watching "2001" was a practically religious experience. I didn't care that hardly anything "happened" for almost 1.5 hours into the movie, the spaceships were enough for my brain to surf on for weeks afterwards.

It's hard to say what my "favorite" work of his is, but certainly the most re-read and pageworn ones I have are a first edition hardback of "2001" and "2010" and a paperback copy of "Songs of Distant Earth".

Here's to you Sir!
Thanks for the adventures and memories. You really fired the imagination and dreams of this geek.

The EntertainmentIndustrialComplex is ripping off artists and not paying them!?!??!
NO!
Say it isn't so!

I'm sure there are fans of Pea-Soup Andersons' out there but I'm not one. I was dragged there on a trip to a conference at Yosemite a number of years ago and it was the worst of Pennsylvania Dutch Turnpike kitsch. Touristy atmosphere and decor masking really average(or less) food. Just bleah...

"The producers yielded on this point — and the directors did not push it —arguing that Internet distribution is unlikely to become a significant business during the length of these contracts..."

Read as:
The producers are likely to fight even harder AGAINST Internet distribution becoming a significant business(for as much good as it will do them).
It makes me a bit nervous as for what might be coming down the technology and/or legislative rivers in the next 3 years. The Industry now has 3 years to get their act together and either move online(HA!) and/or restrict the crap out of online distribution(HA HA!).

Happy Birthday guys!
You all rock...

The "pod" thing here is the killer for me. I could pack my Aeropress in probably about the same amount of space and get better tasting coffee, even though the Aeropress doesn't pressurize all that well...
Plus it's a LOT cheaper.
Get rid of the pods and I'll think about it...

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned Asimov's "Caves of Steel" either.

I have done a couple things in my life that I would classify as truly, incredibly, incredibly stupidly dangerous that happened to be as exhilarating as they were risky and skitching (what they call this up here in El Norte') between two Metrobuses in downtown DC would be one of them.

On the other hand, if this IS true, it's just as likely that they're doing this as a way of "commuting" to "work" as they are doing it for the thrill of it. Such is the difference between us and much of the rest of the world.

As for whether this has been photoshopped or not because of hair not whipping around and the like:

That close to the truck, the kids are going to be in the draft and not getting the same sort of wind effects you would if you just stuck your head out the window because of how the air flows over the truck.

Part of why this is so dangerous is that sometimes this non-laminar flow can create an effective vaccuum immediately to the rear of the vehicle. Skaters and bicyclists have been killed by this effect which sucks them in under the truck/car where they get run over.

"...Stop staring at the LEGO sculpture or you will miss out on your cake..."

Lovely. So much for getting any work done on trans-oceanic flights if you're not sitting in business class with in-seat power...or working and listening to your $MMP. And lets put those expensive digital cameras right in our unlocked checked luggage, right where they can be stolen.

"Validate that a pattern is physically possible to knit"

Okay, great, after all is said and done and committees have met, conferences are held, telephone -book-sized specs are shipped and MOUs signed, what we get from this is....Provable Knitting?

It looks great and I would definitely go see it, but I refuse to believe that there is anything such thing as a "normal high school girl", esp. in Japan.

After all, we all know when they're not out beating the mob into the ground, they're riding cyber-assisted motorcyles in form-fitting hardsuits, fighting Ro-Beasts or hailing Il Pallazo and trying to take over the City(and/or the world).

Sadly though DaveX, that's what passes for a lot of public discourse these days, esp. in the more public realm.
You use animal products in some way, so you're evil.

You had a joint at some point 40 years ago, so you're unfit to hold office.

Nuclear power in any form is evil, so we can't use that to cut down on carbon emissions. Anyone who argues otherwise is a money-grubbing corporatist bastard.

Wind turbines kill birds sometimes, so we can't use that either.

We beg and harass people and governments in far-off places to grow organic produce at "fair trade" prices using specific farming and harvesting techniques, but then demonize the purchasers here for being earth-destroying food elitists for buying stuff that only rich people can afford and had to be flown in on a 767.

We can't have discussions anymore because that might indicate that there is room to compromise and that would surely give The Other a wedge in which to stomp us into the ground and start a huge Domino Effect that will lead to Utter Ruin.

We ARE effectively throwing up our hands because we want it all with no cost, no effect and no having to make choices or set priorities and make compromises.

The K'Shawndra Jenkins response is actually fairly typical. She doesn't get it, and is either too scared, lazy or self-important to bother trying.

If you wanted to be really mean, you could make her into a slag term.

As in:
"Note to PR folk: Please don't kshawndra us. Use the online form instead"

*SIGH*
I love the smell of irony in the morning.
Really, I fail to see how my day could get much better after reading this.

@LochNess #22:
How so?
Thingamadad is merely stating what people should know by now. Captive, encrypted content you download has been around for almost 10 years now. It's not like this sort of thing is brand new.

Dealings and purchases with major media outlets are essentially deals with the devil. You should, by default, expect to get screwed at some point.

Is it fair? No
Is it ethical ? No
Is it good business practice ? --Well, in the short term obviously yes because they've now got all these rubes' money. In the longer term, no, it's not. Maybe. Because like Star Trek or Star Wars or any other type of Fan, some of the MLB's user base will bitch and moan and just ante up again in the end.

I think this is a bit specious because we know from numerous extant examples already that the EntertainmentIndustrialComplex doesn't give a damn about false positives.

They're pretty confident that the "victim" doesn't have the money to fight their lawyers so it's not something they have to care about.
It's all "collateral damage" in a war they wouldn't have to fight if people just went to the cinema like they're supposed to and didn't go off and invent this danged IntardTubeWeb Thang.

This is an awesome response to a bunch of lazy people.

There is a big huge sign on the wall in the sales dept. at the tech company I work at that says "TARGET THE CUSTOMER. AVOID 'SPRAY AND PRAY'".

Good advice. Too bad so many PR/pitchfolk out there are obviously not taking it.

@sexyrobot: While diversity is generally a good thing, I'm not sure a paucity of angel books is necessarily bad.

hrrmm...clicking on that link results in a blank white image with "horns" at the very top.
Talk about your lightning quick C&Ds...

@Chemical Orphan: I was able to read it fine.

@Stephen: Not going to happen. What they're really talking about ultimately is the elimination of manufacturing as a separate industry period. It all gets turned over to personal assemblers for small things or large-scale ones for something as large as a 787.

So, not only no more Detroit, but no more Shenzhen either. It's not just the US that is done with mass manufacturing, it will be the whole planet.

I only go to Costco because they gets stuff I need by the pallet-load from other place that make it. When I can make my own widget or my own hammer or bath towel, I don't need to go there anymore.

@DJ Perl: I've actually been saying that for a couple years now.

I want to know what happens if you refuse.

People have been harasssed and/or arrested and hauled off to $GULAG simply for not taking their shoes off fast enough or whatever else happens to tweak the agent at the moment. I want to know what happens if you tell them:
"No $AGENTNAME, I will not do this. I don't think it's promoting safety, it's not my job and I have no guarantees from you regarding what will happen to me at my destination on arrival, nor do I believe you are authorized to provide me with any such guarantees".

I've had this and it's pretty darn good. There is a definite bacon presence and the chocolate counterpoints the salt and smoke nicely. This is not something you want to have everyday though. They're really quite expensive (The $7 mentioned above is pretty much spot on) and the taste is pretty complex and something you want to sample and savor, not just toss back.

I'm currently working my way through the Yellow Curry and Coconut Bar and actually think I like that overall more than the Bacon Bar.

With both of these, the chocolate is really a carrier for the other flavors.

Heh...it's a whuffie ring. I suppose this means we'll all be casting our gazes downward at people hands instead of looking up @ the ol' HUD. :)

Cockpit visits are not entirely dead. I was lucky enough to score one this spring on my way back from a conference. It was really, really cool. You just could not get the smile off my face without plastic freakin' surgery for the next couple days afterwards.

This might explain why AAPL has been on the rise over the past day or so. Somebody on The Street figured this out too and decided it won't be such an ITMS killer after all. :)

I can't help but applaud this guy for his effort, but it's going to take a lot more than just a semi-cheerleading blog to convince me that this is anything other than whitewashing or astroturfing for the religious right. I see a lot of apologists here and elsewhere saying "Oh, but we're not ALL like that". To which I say "How?". How are you getting the message out other than not participating in the more egregious acts of the "Christian" political base ? Where are the ads in the New York Times and Newsweek and on CNN.com for distancing yourself from the actions of the James Dobsons and Pat Robertsons? You certainly seem to be capable of producing them when legislation for abortion or GLBT rights comes up.

Simply standing by and not participating is tacitly giving approval. This is not just a Christian trait, it's a human one. We all know that for every 2 people involved in a fight or assault, there are usually dozens standing around watching doing nothing, silently approving of the activity.

This is where I find myself in agreement with Sam Harris. It's not enough to just stand there with your arms crossed and say "But SURELY you must know we're not ALL like that". That's tsk-ing and throwing up your hands while a bunch of power-mad psychopaths take us ALL over the cliff because we're all in the same bus together.

I first saw stuff like this in a hole-in-the-wall shop near PatPong night market in Bangkok in 2003.
The owner had a Predator and an Alien and some sort of Mazinger/Shogun Warrior/Voltron mashup thing, a R2D2 and a bunch of others. That "DON'T TOUCH! NO PICTURES!" sign looks kind of familiar. I'm guessing it's the same guy/same group doing this.
They're all very neat, but hardly original.

The owner of the store in BKK wasn't rude, but clearly wanted you to either give him $5K for one of them right there on the spot or get the heck out of his store and quit gawking.