So here’s an interesting problem.

ClearPlay is a software company which is now bundling its software with RCA DVD players — software that will filter “objectionable” content from movies, such as violence, sexual content or foul language.

Sounds fine in theory, one supposes — certainly this is something that family-friendly organizations would applaud, being able to remove content that you wouldn’t want your children to see, for example. But does this violate copyright? See, for example, the brave soul who woke the sleeping giant of Lucasfilm with The Phantom Edit, a fan-produced “reworking” of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE. (Note: the Salon article requires you to sit through a fifteen-second ad before reading the rest…) If someone (not the copyright holder, such as the studio) takes a film and cuts out certain scenes, regardless of their content, thus making a “new” film, isn’t that the very essence of copyright violation? And if that’s the case, isn’t that EXACTLY what ClearPlay and CleanFilms and the other filtering companies are doing?

Interesting.

Guess I’m glad someone really does have to do this: Planetary Protection Officer. It sounds like something out of a sci fi novel, but it really does exist…

via phonecam

I love stuff like this:

The comics community gets a new holiday this April 24th with the introduction of 24 Hour Comics Day, a day to not only celebrate but to engage in the creation of comics. Based on the creative experiment created by Scott McCloud, this holiday encourages everyone from comics fans to big-time pros to try to create their own full 24 page comic book in 24 consecutive hours.

…To help creative individuals participate in 24 Hour Comics Day, various comics retailers across the nation will host special 24 Hour Comics Day events. They’ll be offering creators space in which to work on their comics in a group atmosphere, so that everyone keeps each other’s energy up. Food and drink will be supplied. And while some stores are simply renting some working space in a nearby hotel, others will have the creators actually working inside the store, so that curious fans can actually watch this comics creation taking place. Some shops will even stay open for the full 24 hour period of the event, giving comics readers that rare opportunity to buy comics at 4 AM.”

I’m pretty sure that some pals of mine are doing this…

… and welcome as well to Baby May — Courtney Elizabeth May, born April 16, 2004.

Congratulations, Matt and Donna!

So Bill gets a job because nobody tells Kwame he can’t fire Omarosa.

This was a great show, right up until the ninety-minute mark, at which point Trump picked the winner. Then we spent an anticlimactic half hour of Bill making a no-brainer choice of job and, for some reason I can’t even fathom, essentially doing a hideously uncomfortable DATELINE mass interview with the show’s now-fired candidates — an interview which was either fawning and overly polite or overemphasizing the contestant’s personality quirks (i.e., Trump asking Omarosa why she lied on national television — and then never waiting for the answer.)

Weird.

From the Left: Will Saletan with Slate’s take.

From the Right: Fred Barnes with The Weekly Standard’s take.

The press conference itself: C-SPAN video | White House audio | White House official transcript

Wisdom from yesterday’s edition of ABC’s The Note:

But it is the press conference that will almost certainly shape the cycle, and here’s what you can count on:

1. The President’s opening statement will be filled with muscular, patriotic rhetoric with a “stay the course” theme.

2. The President’s performance will be really good or really weak. Or, perhaps, it will SEEM really good if you already like him, and SEEM really weak if you don’t. Watch the blogs for insta-reaction.

3. Reporters will struggle to phrase things just right to come off as both tough and respectful; the President will struggle to control the daggers of irritation flying from his eyes, and will fail at least once. (The words “Can I finish?” or “Let me finish!”will be uttered.)

4. Except for print reporters on deadline and cable talking heads, we’ll all be done in time to watch Mariners versus Angels on ESPN at 10:00 pm ET, Mr. President.

Uh… you know those motivational posters with beautiful imagery over a meaningful quote meant to inspire you, the stuff of freshman college dorm rooms and high school classrooms everywhere? You can now buy them featuring your favorite Marvel Comics character. Like this one, here, featuring mass murderer and arch-villain Magneto:

Or that time-honored rascal of a character, the ultra-violent Punisher:

… I really have no words for these…

Found these via artblog, who in turn got them from Jeff Patterson of Gravity Lens — and who offers his own versions along the theme: