Read the fine print.

Read the fine print. Apple’s new music service may sound attractive, but it uses yet another closed, proprietary format. This is not the first time Apple uses “soft goods” in order to sell hardware, nor is it likely to be the last. I’ll stick to MP3 myself thank you very much, and will continue to shun any service which considers me a thief who needs to be restrained by formats I can’t use on the hardware I already have.

Module Madness and Semantic Stupidity

Module Madness and Semantic Stupidity If XHTML is supposed to be a transposition of HTML to the XML standard, and the XML standard is modular, why is XHTML not modular? And why does the W3C seem to have given up on modularity for XHTML 2.0 by requiring a DTD which isn’t even really necessary? Tristan Louis ponders these questions.

XXX: Art or Porn?

XXX: Art or Porn? A West London show is ruffling a few feathers with what is said to be simulated sex on stage. Personally I’d think that if I go to a show called XXX I’ve pretty much given up my right to complain about the sexual nature of the programme — although not my right to complain about how awful Vin Diesel movies tend to be.

Sex for 20 Rand — in Prison

Sex for 20 Rand — in Prison Just your average story of “girl gets busted, goes to jail, pretends to have undergone sex-change in order to be in the men’s section and lead a life as a prostitute”. Who hasn’t heard that before? The richest quote in this: “She was here and we all had sex with her, she was charging R20, even the prison warders knew about her. She was very helpful.”

Massinova: Trancemissions for Life

Massinova: Trancemissions for Life Here’s a net-based radio station that consistently hits the right note for me, so to speak.

Satan’s Laundromat

Satan’s Laundromat A collection of photos taken on any given day around New York. I’ve seen some of these things! A collection of odd bits of things that’ll have you saying “Only in New Yohk”…

The Official San-X Site (in English… partly)

The Official San-X Site (in English… partly) If you like Sanrio’s line of Hello Kitty characters but wish they had more of a history of quirkiness behind them, this is the site for you… with Tarepanda (a mostly stationary character), the sourpuss Kogepan and Beer-chan (yup), San-X has something to make you smile. If that weren’t enough the ‘Engrish’ on some of these pages is sure to make you grin, and their flash bits are excellent.

Tariq Aziz won’t be getting that summer home in Dorset

Tariq Aziz won’t be getting that summer home in Dorset Chirac seems to like those Baath types, let him find a place for the man!

J.K. Rowling is richer than the Queen.

J.K. Rowling is richer than the Queen. I’ll bet she can’t do the royal wave to teeming crowds of complete strangers with quite the same gusto, however.

Monday is Saddam’s birthday!

Monday is Saddam’s birthday! Granted, this year the celebrations are sure to be a little toned-down compared to previous times.