June 23, 2004
Gypsies sue IBM over role in Holocaust
A timely reminder of how bureaucracy quietly acts as a shield against personal responsibility. Did IBM tweak their tech to aid genocide during WWII? What responsibility for war crimes do today's technology companies take?
According to The Guardian today, IBM's appeal has been more about questioning jurisdiction than any denial. The paper goes on to say that IBM's founder Thomas Watson was "an admirer of Hitler and was decorated by the Third Reich in 1937".
June 09, 2004
Extreme T released by Arkaos
Arkaos have released a VJ content pack containing the best bits from my last two films, Extreme T and Fan Dance. The idea is that you buy other people's clips and use them when you VJ.
https://www.arkaos.net/shop/details.php?p_selected=67
As well as the video there is a KOS file, Arkaos' VJ software file format, that lets anyone with a MIDI keyboard play with the video, jpgs and effects. I recorded two mixes, one to Basement Jaxx and one to Ladytron, as a sampler. You can re-connect these tunes by selecting your own MP3s through the software.
The idea of selling my films in this way is convenience, not access, because if you just want to watch the films they are available elsewhere under a Creative Commons license.
This is good timing because my new film SANCTUARY, being produced by MOD Films, was always intended to be a re-mixable film. We are going to make the film and give it away for non-commercial use. You may not have to buy it to watch it but the film experience is designed to be MOD'ed, so you can hack it to bits and re-assemble it if you're so inclined.
We don't expect everyone to get into this stuff but VJs and game MOD'ers are already doing this with impunity. I'm pretty sure it will catch on. It's not rocket science.
June 08, 2004
Baise-moi
Watching Baise-moi (2000) on the weekend and found it totally shocking in parts. Gang rape is not something I have any experience of, directly or indirectly, but it came across as real, almost too real.
Then I pick up the papers and read that the London Metropolitan police have re-opened 2000 gang rape cases in reponse to calls that many women are less than persistent in seeing their attackers brought to justice.
According to an article in The Guardian (June 5, 2004), the conviction rate for this kind of crime sits at 6-7%.
