cyberpunk2020.de

Bruce Lee fights Chuck Norris. Beware of Chuck Norris hair-do.

[youtube RKQ7JA24O74]

I love the kitty.

Interesting

piece

about Cyberpunk as a “movement” and its end by Marc Savlov. Very well written, so you might wanna check it out. Not exactly a must read.

Boing Boing TV has an epic interview with Syd Mead, who created the visual inspirations for the Bladerunner movie. Check it out.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

If you lack time, part 3 is the most relevant part for Bladerunner fans.

Many of you will have read in the last week that, as a result of intense lobbying, the EU Commission disregarded the balance of evidence and formally accepted the proposal to extend the duration of copyright for sound recordings. Writing in the UK press Dave Rowntree, the drummer from Blur, explained why this proposal would be damaging for Europe’s creators and consumers. He hasn’t been alone in voicing his concern:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/07/17/do1707.xml

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article4374115.ece

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080716-eu-caves-to-aging-rockers-wants-45-year-copyright-extension.html

Fortunately, the battle isn’t lost. You can help us campaign for a rational copyright policy in four ways.

>> How you can help 1:

We need more people to show their support. Over 12,500 people have signed our petition, so tell your friends and help us spread the word across Europe so that you can be heard in Brussels: http://www.soundcopyright.eu/petition

>> How you can help 2:

The full texts of the proposal and the relevant impact assessment are open for collaborative commenting. Please help us challenge their arguments and point out evidence that disproves their claims.

http://www.openrightsgroup.org/consult/commission-proposal-for-term-extension-com20084643/

http://www.openrightsgroup.org/consult/term-extension-commission-impact-assessment/

>> How you can help 3:

The UK Intellectual Property Office, the government body charged with ensuring balance and fairness in Intellectual Property, has asked the public and all those with an interest to make sure their voices are heard, and contact the UK-IPO by the end of August. Remember, always be polite and considered when explaining why term extension concerns you.

http://nds.coi.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=374549&NewsAreaID=2

You can find out which government body in your country is responsible for intellectual property policy here: http://www.wipo.int/directory/en/urls.jsp

>> How you can help 4:

Show your support for our work by joining or donating to the Open Rights Group. Check out www.openrightsgroup.org/org-gro/ for more information on our campaigns.

Thanks again – we’ll keep you updated.

The Sound Copyright Campaign

Run by the Open Rights Group and EFF

Here it starts:

Tent City, USA

There is a really interesting article on mainstream news over at www.cyberpunkreview.com. It features the picture above, which I just had to share with you guys.

As someone grown up in a amazingly liberal part of the world and living in a “at-home” version of the university’s library on political science I’ starting to get more and more afraid. How is a democracy supposed to work if the voters are uninformed, afraid to talk because their phonecalls and travels are closely monitored and kept in fear of terrorist attacks?