Foreplay after Marriage
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Speak softly and carry a big stick.
Teller performing "Shadows"
Teller, the silent half of the well-known magic duo Penn and Teller, has sued a rival magician for copying one of his most famous illusions. The case promises to test the boundaries of copyright law as it applies to magic tricks.
In “Shadows,” a spotlight casts a shadow of a rose onto a white screen. When Teller “cuts” the shadow on the screen with a knife, the corresponding parts of the flower fall to the floor.
A Dutch magician with the stage name Gerard Bakardy (real name: Gerard Dogge) saw Teller perform the trick in Las Vegas and developed his own version. Bakardy sells a kit—including a fake rose, instructions, and a DVD—for about $3,000. To promote the kits, he posted a video of his performance to YouTube and prepared a magazine ad. (With the video down, the link points to screenshots from the video filed by Teller in his lawsuit.)
Teller had Bakardy’s video removed with a DMCA takedown notice, then called Bakardy to demand that the magician stop using his routine. Teller offered to buy Bakardy out, but they were unable to agree on a price. So Teller sued Bakardy last week in a Nevada federal court.
Can you copyright a trick?
A fundamental principle of copyright law is that copyright covers the expression of ideas but not the ideas themselves. This puts the essential elements of the trick—the concept of rose petals falling when the shadow is “cut” and the technical details of how this effect is accomplished—outside the bounds of copyright protection.
So what’s left? According to New York Law School professor James Grimmelmann, copyright law protects pantomimes and choreographic works. So Teller may be able to claim the “Shadows” routine is protected under these categories. Teller describes “Shadows” as a “dramatic work.”
Teller’s case may hinge on exactly how similar Bakardy’s routine is to Teller’s. in a 1983 copyright registration,Teller describes the sequence of actions that make up his performance. Ars Technica was not able to find a copy of Bakardy’s video, so we weren’t able to determine how similar Bakardy’s routine is to the one described in Teller’s copyright registration.
Still, Grimmelmann argues that “Teller has an uphill fight on his hands.” In a 2007 paper that became an instant classic, Jacob Loshin showed how magic thrives without significant protection from either copyright or patent law. Instead of relying on formal legal mechanisms, magicians derive benefit from their inventions through informal social norms that encourage magicians to give due credit to the original inventor of a particular trick.
Further reading
- Teller’s complaint (ia601207.us.archive.org)
- Orginal Article
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Choose Your Path
This should be reversed. Fatty should take the stairs. Lose some weight.
If you’re skinny, you’ve earned the escalator.
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Be Honest in Your Relationships
There are "book" smarts and then there are "knowin yous ugly" smarts.
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Solid Parenting Skills
"Oh, shit. Where's the dog?"
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Weird Japanese movie trailer of the day
From the director of The Machine Girl and RoboGeisha, a new typical Japanese classic: Zombie Ass: Toilet of the Dead
(Warning: sNSFW)
I went to IMDb to find out more about this movie and the #1 “Plot Keyword” is “Anal Penetration“…
Sounds like my kinda flick.
Also, why does IMDb have “Anal Penetration” as a possible plot keyword?
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Project Glass Is Google Goggles for Your Head
Today, Google offered a preview of Project Glass, their search giant’s augmented reality glasses. The video above shows a possible (probably best-case) reality of the glasses in action.
You may already know about or even use Google Goggles the app (which Lifehacker thinks is prettygood at a lot of things), and in theory, Project Glass is sort of the über Google Goggles. You don’t need to clumsily interact with your phone. Your eyes and voice do the all the interaction, but the use cases (making calls, sending texts, getting directions, responding to notifications, and so on) are very much like a smart phone you wear on your head.
Judging only by the video, we may very soon have a lot of weirdos walking around talking to themselves. Which frankly, we already have, and while I get the gut reaction that says “this is weird and will probably be annoying”, that’s the same reaction a lot of people had when the iPhone was released. (I can still remember feeling self-conscious about using my first-gen iPhone in public.) So let’s give it a chance! (Also, let’s ignore style issues for now. Some day we may be talking contact lenses, or at least something a little less conspicuous.)
No word yet on when the glasses will be available.
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This Woman Is Too Good Looking
According to writer Samantha Brick, “there are downsides to being pretty — the main one being that other women hate me for no other reason than my lovely looks.”
Friends have frozen Samantha out of their lives due to jealousy and insecure female bosses have barred her from promotions at work.
Samantha discusses all the trials and tribulations of being so fucking gorgeous in a piece she wrote for the Daily Mail.
In it she explains that dinner parties and social gatherings are very tough. “If I can’t wriggle out of them, then often dress down in jeans and a demure, albeit pretty, top.”
To which commenter Helen of Troy remarked, “I know, right?”
[via the Daily Mail]
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A Holiday Message from Ricky Gervais: Why I’m a good Christian.
You have the right to be offended, and I have the right to offend you.
But no one has the right to never be offended
The title of this one is a little misleading, or at least cryptic. I am of course not a good Christian in the sense that I believe that Jesus was half man, half God, but I do believe I am a good Christian compared to a lot of Christians.
It’s not that I don’t believe that the teachings of Jesus wouldn’t make this a better world if they were followed. It’s just that they are rarely followed.
Gandhi summed it up really. He said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
I have always felt this way, even when I believed in God, and in a weird way I feel I am still a pretty good “Christian” who doesn’t believe in God.
So many Christians think that because they believe in the right God, they are automatically good and have a one-way ticket to everlasting life. Dare I say it but I suspect this is their main reason for believing. I’ve heard so many “believers” say, “Well, since there is no way of being sure whether there is a God or not, it’s better to believe in God than not, because that way, if you’re wrong it doesn’t matter and if you’re right you get everlasting life.” Win:win.
This is of course Pascal’s Wager, which assumes that God if he exists would reward blind faith above logic and living a good life as an atheist.
To the Christians’ God by the way, it’s just as bad to believe in the wrong God as no God at all. The idea of other Gods is of course ridiculous to Christians. Supernatural poppycock. As if there was ever a Zeus; stupid, ancient, unenlightened superstition. And even if there are other Gods (which of course there aren’t) then the Christians’ God is the best. Hardest, smartest… just better. He would laugh at Zeus and call him a Greek bender. (I doubt that God is racist and homophobic but the Bible isn’t clear. Some bits go on about love and equality and others say you shouldn’t trust certain types and that laying down with a man as you would with a woman is punishable by death and is a bit sick and evil.)
So remember. If you are gay you are “Bumming for Satan” basically. (That would make quite a good T-shirt.)
Jesus was a man. (And if you forget all that rubbish about being half God, and believe the non-supernatural acts accredited to him, he was a man whose wise words many other men would still follow.) His message was usually one of forgiveness and kindness. These are wonderful virtues but I have seen them discarded by many so-called God-fearers when it suits them. They cherry pick from their “rulebook” basically. I have seen such cruelty and prejudice performed in the name of Christianity (and many other religions for that matter) that it makes me wonder if there has been a bit too much selective reading and reinterpretation of the doctrines.
God or not, if I could change one thing for a better world, it would be for all mankind to adhere to this little gem: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” I assure you, no more stones would ever be thrown.
So maybe we should go back to basics to find out where it all got confused.
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The Ten Commandments The 10 Commandments are found in the Bible’s Old Testament; Exodus, Chapter 20. “And God spoke all these words, saying: ‘I am the LORD your God.'” So let’s take the test. |
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| ONE ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.’I definitely do not. Excellent. I get one point. |
TWO ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.’This basically means don’t make or worship a religious statue or bow to it thinking that it’s holy. Tick. Another point to me. |
| THREE ‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.’I never do. But let me explain something. Most people think that The Third Commandment means that they shouldn’t use his name as a swear word, e.g. shouting, “Oh God!” when they stub their toe instead of, “Oh Fuck!” This is not the case (although I love the idea that God would rather them shout “Fuck” than “God”. That makes him cool in my book. But no.) The commandment could equally be, You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in “vanity” e.g. when your enemy is hurt or defeated saying, “that’s God’s wrath,” or when you win an award saying, “thank God.” This is using his name in vanity. It’s suggesting that you KNOW that God helped you win that award because you deserved it more, or because he was on your side. It’s always tickled me that God would have a favourite actor at The Golden Globes. Anyway I get another point. I think most non-atheists will lose a point here. |
FOUR ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.’Before we score this we need to discover what it really means when God commands us to keep the Sabbath day holy. In understanding our answer, and the true intent of God’s word, it doesn’t matter what day of the week we celebrate the Sabbath. There were no calendars when God created the heavens and the earth so we don’t know what day he stated and ended. Don’t let the ‘day’ become more important than the ‘intent’. If we look at the portion of The Ten Commandments which refers to this, Exodus 20:8-11, it seems to be very specific; According to the Bible, God commanded us to keep it holy. But what does that really mean? Work is basically referring to that which we do to earn a living, or in working around the house, or any labour we participate in daily. So, if we never worked at all would that mean every day was holy? No. This absolutely is not being holy. In various places in the Bible we are told of our need to work, for in our work we honor God. So… basically you have to work for the equivalent of six days a week with a day off. I do this. I get another point. |
| FIVE ‘Honour your father and your mother.’I think I get a point if anyone does with this one. |
SIX ‘You shall not murder.’Nope. Tick. |
| SEVEN ‘You shall not commit adultery.’Nope. Tick. |
EIGHT ‘You shall not steal.’Nope. Tick. |
| NINE ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.’Nope. Tick. |
TEN ‘You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbour’s.’Nope. Tick. Another point for me. |
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Not bad for an atheist.
I make that 10 out of 10.
How did you do?
Even if this doesn’t prove I am a good Christian it does prove that the Bible is a bit inconsistent, open to interpretation, and a little intolerant.
This is not peculiar to Christianity to be fair. And I like to be fair. Because unlike ALL religions, as an atheist, I treat ALL religions equally.
RobDurdle.com 
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