I just listed to the most recent TWIT Episode (149), and tech writer & sci-fi author Jerry Pournelle, who has always had an interesting voice (both audibly and written), was in rare form on the show.  The man sounded just like broadcasting God and Cub Man, Harry Caray.  It’s almost as if he was doing an impression of Caray in his waning years, when genuine cries of joy and disappointment were an everyday, and often comical occurrence.

Audio and Video proof after the jump…

Here is audio of Jerry Pournelle on TWIT with Leo Laporte and below is Harry speaking out on the audacity of Cracker Jack’s.

In all seriousness, Mr. Pournelle has been in poor health as of late, and my best wishes are with him.  He has amassed an amazing amount of work and is still going to this day.  A good example of his brilliance can be seen in the first minute of this Tom Snyder clip.. and take note of the suits.

Here’s a shot of Josh Brolin playing George W. Bush in his college years for Oliver Stone’s upcoming pic.

First off, Brolin looks he has a gigantic head, or the body of a child, your choice.  It’s very odd looking, almost in a pinhead sort of way.  And the chimp face he’s making is a nice touch.  I’m sure this is going to be a straight-up bio-pic, right down the center line, right?

via (LA Times)

An article from the International Herald Tribune today discusses a deal between the US and EU on sharing personal data between law enforcement agencies, “including credit card transactions, travel histories and Internet browsing habits”.

Normally an article like this gets a quick pass over, an obligatory “That’s fucked up!” comment and escapes the mind within minutes, maybe a day.  But something strikes a chord here in regards to the possible consequences of a move like this.  Sharing is caring, right?

The way authorities say they are using this data, and I would assume this is true at least 95% of the time, if not more, is for crime-stopping; apprehending a wanted criminal for the sake of the public at large, right?  The FBI talks to Interpol, they both want a bad guy, and work together to find him.  I would assume that as a US citizen, if I’m caught speeding in a car somewhere in Europe, the police officer couldn’t look up my US driving history and see that I have outstanding parking tickets, and possibly a warrant for my arrest.  Although that may not be the case now, anyone can make the argument that it’s only a matter of time until our private data is available to any government agency in the world, from Embassy’s all the way down local police.

Of course, this kind of scenario makes hiding in remote parts of the world a much more difficult venture.  Take Andy Dufresne, who found a new life for himself on a coastal town, presumably somewhere in Mexico.  In the story, we are left to assume that he lives the rest of his life in anonymity, living as a free man without fear of being caught.  But if he were to escape in twenty, thirty years from today, the possibilities of his not being caught could be severly limited.

As technology continues to envelope our lives, it makes a potential escape that much more difficult because you would really need to live “off the grid”… or have a friend that knows how to create legends and the documents to prove them.  No longer can you daydream about knocking off that liquor store down the street with your old man’s .22 for what’s in the register, then high-tailing it to Fiji with your cash and a life of beaches, fruity drinks and relaxation.  Why?  Because you’ll always be looking over your shoulder for that one guy who knows you frequent stileproject.

(via U.S. and EU near deal on sharing data)

The talented isawdrones recently released the EP We Were Warm through his Track 53 project.  I first heard of it on the twoism messageboards (Boards of Canada), and I’ve grown quite fond of the opening track in particular.

The five tracks he offers are great work, so I highly recommend a download if you’re into some quality IDM.

I have resurrected a blog I never gave much thought or care to when it was first created. It was bastardized into a collection of links and haiku’s within its first year, and before I knew it it was gone forever, it’s uniform resource locator whored out to the next john in line.

Let’s see if bygones can truly be bygones. Let’s see if neglect passes on through generations. Let’s just see… and discuss again at a later date.

Here goes nothing.