Build Date: Thu Jan 8 23:40:15 2026 UTC
The problem with some people is that when they aren't drunk they're sober.
-- William Butler Yeats
DeCSS A-OK in Norway
2003-01-07 08:42:01
"DVD Jon" Johansen was acquitted Tuesday of all charges brought against him for his authorship of the widely-publicized DeCSS code (not here), which enables Linux users to view legally purchased DVD content on their computers.
Hooray! All I need to do now is hop on a plane to Norway in order to watch The Powerpuff Girls Movie on my Debian laptop!
Incidentally, the PPG Movie has the best superhero origin story of any comic or cartoon, ever. They start off as evil Bad Guys! How cool is that?
So, in closing, this decision reminds me of a scene in Heathers, wherein The People are cast in the role of "Ram," the mean jock, and the MPAA as the "The Geek."
EXT - HIGH SCHOOL PARKING LOT - DAY
THE PEOPLE have the MPAA pinned to the pavement, one arm twisted painfully behind THE MPAA's back.
THE PEOPLE: Say you like to suck big DeCSS!
THE MPAA: Ow!
THE PEOPLE: Say it! Say it!
THE MPAA: Okay, okay... you like to suck big DeCSS!
THE PEOPLE wrench THE MPAA's arm even further.
THE MPAA: OW! Okay.. I like to suck big DeCSS. Mmmm, mmm, can't get enough of them. Are you satisified?
Satisfied, for now.

T O P S T O R I E S
The Crossroads are real and The Blues is a place; The enduring myth of Robert Johnson (More...)
California Glory Hole attracts huge crowds
A glory hole at Napa's Lake Berryessa is drawing huge crowds. According to Chris Lee, the general manager for the Solano County Water Agency, the glory hole hasn't been active since 2019, and only restarted operations on Feb 4. (More...)
Republican State Senator busted after soliciting a teenage girl
Republican State Senator Justin Eichorn of Minnesota was arrested for soliciting a teen girl on Monday just hours after he introduced a bill proposing "Trump derangement syndrome" (TDS) as a form of mental illness. (More...)
Parents claim measles is not that bad after having only one child die
The parents of a Texas girl who died from the measles are defending their decision not to vaccinate their daughter. "She says they would still say 'Don't do the shots,'" an unidentified translator for the parents said. "They think it’s not as bad as the media is making it out to be." (More...)
Delusional rich man tries to fire town staff
"I'm mayor now" said write-in mayoral candidate and founder of Pirate’s Booty Snacks Robert Ehrlich after losing the election for Mayor of Sea Cliff, NY. Then he tried to take over the Village Hall and fire everyone. (More...)
Musk claims Xitter security is staffed by idiots
Earlier this month Xitter experienced a massive outage. In an interview, Musk told Fox Business that he believes the attack came from "IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area." (More...)
C L A S S I C P I G D O G
Three Days and 25 Spocktails: A Cautionary Tale
Johnnie Royale picked me up from the dental surgery. I felt warm, safe, cradled in the anathesia's loving embrace. The pharmacy downstairs gave me a bottle of Vicodin and a few instructions: take it with food, don't mix with alcohol, don't operate heavy machinery. I put it in my pocket and we left. "Do you want to go home, or do you want to go to a bar?" asked Johnnie. (More...)
The Liquidation of Hobo Junction
Albany, CA's homeless hooverville by the Bay, "Hobo Junction," is going to be torn down by The Man. Entrances are already being blocked off, and it's now difficult and dangerous to get there. Worse, these obstacles are making it hard to get to the nearby HORSE TRACK on foot. Local historian, Pao Tzu, has an overview of situation. (More...)
This is one for the Ages. Our new signature SMRL drink. We beta tested this several weeks ago at the Goat Brothers B-Day Party. Oh my! (More...)
A Blast from the Past! Pao Tzu goes over and under the crucial variables in the production and consumption of Salvia Divinorum. A must read for psychonauts of all stripes. (More...)
So I was walking around the Tenderloin looking for stray twenty-dollar-bills that might have fallen into gutters, and I was thinking, as I often do, about my mother. (More...)
Negative Nancy, touring the gin joints of the world, sent us her latest Spocktail creation, The Inattentive Beachcomber, which she concocted and field tested somewhere in South East Asia. (More...)