Slashback: Cameos, Sculpture, Brimstone

Slashback this evening provides updates on recent Slashdot stories about BBC podcasting, the impact of GPL'd fonts on documents and programs which make use of them, Moore's Law, the much-anticipated "Hitchhiker's" movie, and more -- read on below for the details.

What if my ship is under the GPL, and it crosses the International Dateline? innocent_white_lamb writes "A participant on the Scribus mailing list has posted a reply that he received from the FSF regarding the recent GPL font-licensing discussion, i.e. when does your document become subject to the GPL if you use GPL licensed fonts."

In short, it's less of a worry than some people made it out to be in the earlier Slashdot discussion, but it's not a merely imaginary issue.

They should offer MP3 players shaped like tiny fish. ProsperoDGC writes "The BBC is offering more shows as podcasts. While only non-music programs will be available (due to potential copyright problems with music-based shows), the variety of content is representative of BBC radio's output, including news, interviews, documentaries, and sport."

Every year, the artist has to double the bottom-most layer. Qbertino writes "The online version of the German news-magazine Der Spiegel has a short photo-bulletin on a sculpture in the Heinz-Nixdorf-Museumsforum of Paderborn. The sculpture represents Moores Law, formulated 40 years ago by Intel co-founder Gorden Moore. It states that the amount of transistors on a chip doubles every 24 months while at the same time the size of the chip halves. The law still applies to this very day. Bulletin and thumbnail here (text in German) and a larger picture here. An impressive visualization."

Look very carefully for that fellow from 'The Office.' jangobongo writes "In an interview with SciFi Wire, Garth Jennings, director of 'Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy', reveals some hidden in-jokes and homages in the movie. Among them: Simon Jones, who played Arthur Dent in the original TV series, can be seen and heard briefly as a Magrathean announcer - in 3D (get out your red & green 3D glasses!); the original Marvin robot can be seen in a queue of volunteers lining up to save Trillian; and in several places, head shots of Douglas Adams can be seen. Look for one, as the characters are flying through the planet factory, where Douglas' whole head is a giant planet. "It's quite lovely," says Jennings."

Popping trial balloons as they slink up the flagpole. bonch writes "Sony is now backpedaling on a recent CEO's slip of the tongue about a recently reported iTunes-like movie-download service. Steve Banfield, vice president of Sony Connect, says Sony is digitizing its movies and will allow some video clips to be used royalty-free for video 'mash' projects, but that Sony is not planning to to create an 'iTunes for Hollywood.'"

Dino alive, kicking, and annoying. Last May, we posted a story about the dino-shaped cam surviving under harsh conditions on New Zealand's volcanic White Island.

fraygos writes "Counting on the sulphur and high acid environment to deal to the creature has yielded little as Dino refuses to die. It's been almost a year and our darling dinosaur shows little erosion."

Obviously!

[stinerman]

Sony is now backpedaling on a recent CEO's slip of the tongue about a recently reported iTunes-like movie-download service.

Really ... why would Sony want to be the first big player in a market that has massive demand?

dino

[rd4tech]

Counting on the sulphur and high acid environment to deal to the creature has yielded little as Dino refuses to die

It would probably take a meteor.

Poor Dino...

[GillBates0]

...destined to wander about the fiery chasm in eternal search of his beloved masters Fred and Wilma.

If only he hadn't eaten them for dinner all those years ago...

Re:What If...

[Anonymous Coward]

You can't "accidentally" put yourself under the GPL. It's not like "whoops, I accidentally released this under a license I didn't intend to!"

Try telling that to SCO : p

Re:Hilarious, Timothy!

[Electroly]

-1, Incorrectly Assumes Slashdot Has Any Journalistic Integrity.

HHG - look closer

[option8]

[SPOILER]
if you look closer - pay attention in the second reel - you can see Douglas Adams actually spinning in his grave.
[/SPOILER]

Re:Moore's Law

[Anonymous Coward]

There is such a thing as Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle and unlike Star Trek, there is no Heisenberg Compensators for it!

Actually, the latest research has shown that we know that Heisenberg Compensators exist, we just can't tell where they are...

Hitchhikers & fans

[pm_agapow]

Upset about the Lord of the Rings? Angry about Hitchhikers? Sassy about about Sahara or exercised by X-men? To save time in future, please fill out this form first:

GFC/97X - GENERIC FAN COMPLAINT

I've just come back from seeing the long-awaited adaptation of the classic _____. It was terrible! It was full of glaring errors and unnecessary changes like
o _____ has the wrong [accent / hair colour / facial expression]
o _____ says _____, but in the original he actually says _____
o I always imagined the city of ____ would look like _____ and not _____
o the relationship between _____ and _____ just wasn't right
o leaving out all the [poems / songs / bestiality]

I'm also mad that they omitted the vital character of
o _____'s [brother / sister / father / mentor / sidekick/ turtle]
o the [barkeep / general / wizard] at the [inn / base / mystic Elven village of Elrohéremélossëhelin na Telperiën]
o second trooper to the left

and the entire backstory concerning
o _____'s rivalry with _____
o ____'s fear of [spiders / snakes/ heights/ death]
o the childhood of ______
o the entire lineage of ______, including births, deaths, marriages, divorces, illegitimacies, pets, and house renovations

This is a betrayal of _____'s vision. Why, the author must
o be spinning in their grave
o laughing all the way to the bank

Did the producers even bother to
o read the book?
o read the manga?
o watch the original?
o consult the fans?
o kill a goat and read its entrails?

I remember when I first encountered _____ at school. I
o laughed non-stop for days
o collapsed and wept
o immediately bought the rest of the series
o went through puberty

And it looked so cheap too! You could totally tell it was filmed in
o New Zealand
o Sydney
o Vancouver
o Toronto
o an Eastern European country with low wages and minimal labour laws

_____ was completely wrong as the character of _____. They should have cast
o Orlando Bloom
o Arnold Schwarzenegger
o Samuel L Jackson
o Jessica Alba
o Keanu Reeves
o Brad Pitt
o Kofi Annan

Sure it might be alright if you're
o not a fan
o didn't read the special small press issue with a limited run of 12 that came out in the early 80s and is OMGWTFBBQ totally brilliant
o an oxygen-breather
o have a life

but Hollywood totally failed to do justice to it! Why didn't they
o make a 17 hour version, so they could fit everything in
o make a trilogy, so they could fit everything in
o make a television series, so they could fit everything in
o film absolutely all of it and release it on the DVD as extras, so they could fit everything in

I'm sure thousands if not millions of fans would pay for that! In fact, we should
o write a petition
o start a campaign to raise money

I'm so angry that I'm going to
o post my opnion on a dozen forums, complaining bitterly to anyone who will listen
o see the film another 10 times, complaining bitterly to anyone who will listen
o queue up for the sequel, complaining bitterly to anyone who will listen
o buy the DVDs when they come out, first release and special edition, complaining bitterly to anyone who will listen
o announce loudly that I'm going to transfer my allegiance to a fandom that deserves me, like
o Battlestar Galactica
o The A-Team
o Bubblestar Robot Whore Battalion Miyozuki

Re:Hitchhikers & fans

[kenp2002]

AMEN!