@#335 TILLWE: If you were an editor/poster here, you could decide what gets posted, archived, etc. You aren't. So it feels "UnBoingBoingish"... so what? They are private individuals, they are not a corporation, they are not a government.

I also would add that, insignificant as they are, I've gone back and edited my blog posts on Myspace for content. So am I now guilty of censorship? Oh lord! I'm going into self-imposed exile right this second.

Not.

Wow, I had signed off on this, but after reading a lot of the thread, I wonder about people's understanding (or lack of understanding) of the difference between private citizens, publishing a blog, and the government of the United States.

Last time I checked, private citiizens were not considered nation-state level entities with Constitutions and a Bill of Rights. The fact that Boing Boing and it's creators have a right to privacy does not conflate with their criticism of the U.S. government's increasing disregard for the rights of private citizens.

Redirect that vitriol at the real destroyers of rights - the Republicans and their ilk. Geez.

@GREGLONDON: Right on. BoingBoingers: your blog, your rules. Nuff said.

Just read the story as well... get the comment from Lt. Tony Lopez of Denver's "Intelligence" unit: “We don’t snoop into private citizens’ lives. We aren’t living in a communist state.” You're right Lt. Lopez, it's called a police state. Which is ironic in more ways than one.

I'm going to start telling people I'm a "Terrorism Liason Officer" and they better comply with my demands. Then I'm going to deputize them all and arrest Bush and Cheney.

And oh yeah: Colorado is never getting a dime of my tourism money. EVER.

Three words for this travesty:
J***s F*****g C****t.

It reminds me of the living cars (snails?) on Cartoon Network's "Chowder"... cool

The back copy reads like a "Choose Your Own Adventure!" version of 1984. LOL.

First!

What does "bits of pork" have to do with these earbuds?

Was he paraphrasing Britney Spears?

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/03/cnna.spears/

@svenski: I thought I recognized Oscar Goldman ("possibly in character") but I couldn't remember his name. He's a ringer, thats for sure.

I just love the captions, and I'm wondering if they aren't some kind of a spoof: "Person driving somewhere in the last decade of the previous millennium (whereabouts unknown)" or the one that says it could possibly be "Phoenix or St. Louis", that's a pretty big margin of error.

Also, some people obviously enjoyed having their picture taken - the guy w/speakers in the convertible, the girl with her eyes closed blowing a kiss.

@ Aelfscine: Your post makes me think of Charles Stross's Glasshouse (spoiler warning!), because the protagonist participates in an experiment to recreate 20th century American life, and part of the reason for the recreation is because most data from the late 20th to late 21st century was 'encrypted' (read DRM). Ha ha.

@Comstock: Yep, seconded. I've been telling people about the ultraviolet trap designs in spiderwebs for years, and I don't even remember where I heard it ("Nature" on PBS perhaps?).

@#17 Demidan,

Awesome Repo Man reference! love it

Wow, I never thought I would see so much activism against suicide on Boing Boing! I haven't seen that many posts about euthanasia and such, but characterizing Hunter S. Thompson as a "loser" and evolutionarily deficient... just, wow.

Your life (and your body) is your own, do with it as thou wilt.

It's funny to me that the Rapture is an updated concept of the afterlife from the Middle Ages; that the saved would be able to view the torments of the damned, and this would make Heaven even more gratifying for them. I can't remember exactly what this was called ("the conceit of the saved"?) but even the Catholic church, prone to a bit of torture in the name o' god, eventually realized how petty and mean this made being saved seem and the teaching of this concept was marginalized.

Of course the current crop of evangelists seem to love this kind of thing. The christian concept of a god of love has been pretty much tossed, in my view (I'm not a christian btw).

Gotta mention that Six Feet Under opener where a woman thought a bunch of helium-filled blow-up dolls were souls ascending to heaven and then fatally crashed her car. Darwin in action.

For my money, the Tokyo Bay "Neptune" has the same idea but better style:

http://sfmoma.stores.yahoo.net/tokyobay.html

I've bought two (a new one after the first got pretty beat-up looking, roughly three years' use), and I love 'em.

IMO, they've been changing the definition of science fiction on the Sci Fi channel for years. I mean c'mon, "Field of Dreams" (which I've seen aired) is not science fiction.

It does make me proud to be human (which is a weird thing to say, but still). WE did that. We can reach out to other planets, and perhaps someday, the stars...

Why is the FBI and the political apparatus of the US stuck in a late-50s mentality? I'm surprised they don't goof and say "beatniks" instead of terrorists when they're recruiting informers. Anyone who doesn't lead a robotic work-consume-watch tv lifestyle is a potential terrorist in their eyes.

Manicbassman, thanks for the link! Saw the story elsewhere and wondered if it was just urine...

How about all the alcoholic beverage companies that used to contribute money to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA) before the PDFA recognized a conflict of interest (wow, it took them a while to figure that one out).

Why beer and liquor makers think people who enjoy pot can't also enjoy alcohol escapes me. Oh yeah, all they really care about is their bottom line...

Makes me think that pretty soon every Escalade and Navigator is going to look like those Japanese semi's that are covered with mirrors and LEDs...

love how the MSNBC article describes it as a "handy new item"... golly gee, i was wondering when someone was going to let me carry my torture device and digital music in one compact solution!