Though geneaology is one of the most popular activities on the Internet, family historians in the UK are used to going to the Family Records Centre in London and doing research the old fashioned way, by looking through the written records of births, deaths and marriages. So, their decision to cease all access to paper records this weekend has caused quite an uproar amongst researchers. The records are still available via microfiche, but researchers claim that the microfiche is illegible for many of the records on file. The project to provide online access to all of the records is slated to complete sometime in mid-2009, but that timeline, as with most IT projects, could slip further. The question remains though, while searching through the records may be aided with its digitization -- the project will create an online index of 250 million births -- how accurate will the digitized data be? The paper records are being stored permanently in Christchurch, so the project, outsourced to India are using the same illegible microfiche currently available in place of the paper versions. Or, perhaps the researchers will find that the ease of use afforded by online technologies will actually lead to them finding data more easily, which not only make their jobs easier, but also expose many more people to the joys of researching their pasts.

E1ven writes "Ars Technica has published their in-depth review of the newest version of Mac OS X. John Siracusa both covers the user-visible features such as the new UI tweaks and Time Machine, and dives into the increased use of metadata and the new APIs introduced and what they mean for the future of OS X."

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In the last few years, every time a massive data breach is reported, you can be assured of one thing: a few weeks after the initial report comes out, a second report will come out admitting that the breach was worse that previously expected. We saw it with Choicepoint. We saw it with the VA. It seems to always happen. In fact, with the now infamous TJX breach, we'd already mentioned that the problems were worse than originally announced -- making it the largest such breach ever reported. This wasn't surprising once you found out just how incompetent the company was -- failing to comply with nearly all of the credit card company's security guidelines and leaving their entire system wide open to anyone who could hack a simple insecure WEP WiFi system (something that's quite easily done). The data from the breach (unlike many other widely announced breaches) has already been used in numerous frauds, costing upwards of $60 million. With such astounding incompetence and a breach so large, should it come as any surprise that even the updated breach numbers weren't complete? That's right, thanks to documents being filed in the lawsuits against TJX, it's now coming out that the breach has impacted even more people than was earlier announced. Of course, the question still remains whether or not the punishment the company receives will matter. It doesn't seem like anything is really done to stop companies from being so careless, and there's no indication that's going to change in this case either.

Fishbat writes "In a cutting message to the Foundations of Mathematics mailing list, Stanford's Vaughan Pratt has pointed out an elementary mistake in the recently announced proof that Wolfram's (2,3) machine is universal."

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There's been renewed interest in music industry business models now that we're seeing a number of top musicians experimenting with changing business models. The backlash to those early reports was somewhat amusing and seemed to fall into one of two camps. First, there were those who said that these business models would only work for big, well-known bands, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. Then, there were those who would pick apart each business model to point out why that particular business model wouldn't work for other bands. One of the things that we've tried to do around here is make it clear that there no longer is just one business model that works -- but that there are many different business models that all are based around the idea of the music being free and then charging only for scarce goods. However, if we gave an example of bands making money off of concerts, people would say that some bands don't like to tour. If we gave an example of a band making money through merchandise, we'd hear that some bands don't want to sell merchandise. That's fine. The point is that there are lots of different business models, and bands can find the ones that work for them. Two articles that came out over the weekend help to highlight this.

The first is in the NY Times, and it talks about how big bands are embracing all kinds of new business models from having their music used in TV commercials to selling other related goods (beyond the typical t-shirts and CDs), such as branded drinks. The second article focuses on less well known bands, and how they're adopting all kinds of new business models that focus on getting fans to pay up. In fact, it mentions one band that appears to be using a close variation on the subscription fan club model we suggested years ago. What these two articles show, however, is that both big and small bands are learning there are all sorts of ways to make money in making music even if the music itself isn't where the money comes from. You provide the music to build up a fan base, which helps build up the value of lots of other things as well. It's nice to see more musicians recognizing this trend -- even if the RIAA continues to deny it.

spiffyman writes "The New York Times is reporting that on Wednesday the FCC will end exclusive contracts to provide cable service to apartment buildings. Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin is quoted as saying that cable prices have risen 'about 93 percent in the last 10 years' and that the FCC hopes to see more competition out of this move. This is a step in the right direction. In my apartment, for example, I have (dead) outlets for one cable company but am forced to go with the higher-priced firm. Moves like this will help those who live in areas where competition — even minimal competition — exists. The article also discusses the impact this may have on low- to middle-income families, who disproportionately live in apartment complexes."

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M.E. sez, "I just spent well over a month working on this article about Disney's Haunted Mansion & various related DIY and craft projects. (There's plenty of introductory information for people who have never been on the ride or who don't remember it in much detail.) I talk about the illusions involved in creating some of the effects, how people are using elements in their own lives (esp around Halloween), all the crafts I could find, some other craft ideas, and so on." Link (Thanks, M.E.!) (Photo credit: Gingerbread Haunted Mansion, Craftster)

On Friday, I got the Twin Peaks Definitive Gold Box Edition -- a 10 DVD set of David Lynch's mind-bendingly creepy/dreamy TV series.

In addition to the remastered versions of all 29 episodes plus the US and European pilots, it's loaded with excellent supplemental material, including lots of making-of documentaries and interviews. It's a terrific package of stuff.

This 10-disc set includes "Greetings from Twin Peaks" collectable postcards and a plethora of special features, including hours of newly-minted bonus content, featuring exclusive cast and crew interviews and rare footage never before released on DVD.

"Secrets from Another Place: Creating Twin Peaks" is a collection of four new documentaries exploring the origins, production and impact of the show. The cast and crew, including co-creator Mark Frost, composer Angelo Badalamenti, singer Julee Cruise, actors Kyle MacLachlan, Joan Chen, Piper Laurie, Ray Wise, Sheryl Lee, Kenneth Welsh, Maedchen Amick, Miguel Ferrer and many others share their memories of creating the show in this in-depth piece covering the sensational and tumultuous evolution of TWIN PEAKS in four parts: "Northwest Passage: Creating the Pilot," "Freshly Squeezed: Creating Season One," "Where We're From: Creating the Music" and "Into the Night: Creating Season Two."

Co-creator and four-time Academy Award(R) nominee David Lynch, Kyle MacLachlan and Maedchen Amick take an amusing look back at the series in "A Slice of Lynch," an all-new get-together of friends over piping hot coffee and sweet cherry pie.

"Return to Twin Peaks" follows a group of devoted fans to the 2006 Twin Peaks Festival, where the show's faithful have been regularly gathering for costume contests, celebrity sightings, trivia games and other wildness in the woods outside of Seattle. And an Interactive Map allows viewers to revisit the show's unforgettable locations as they appear today...and how to find them in real life.

Newly remastered from the original negative and personally approved by David Lynch, the episodes have never looked better. Moreover, viewers will have the option of enjoying the episodes in either new 5.1 Surround Sound or the original 2.0 network television audio.

Link

Back in the spring time, we noted how there was as lot of hype coming in the press about how the change in when Daylight Saving Time started would be just like another Y2K. In the end, it turned out to be pretty much exactly like Y2K: a lot of hype, a few minor issues that were easily taken care of and no major problems. Given that, it appears the press didn't bother to whip everyone up into a frenzy for this past weekend, which is when the latest time shift would have happened if Congress hadn't changed the schedule. In fact, we hadn't heard anything at all, but it didn't seem to change the results. Joseph Beck writes in to let us know of assorted minor time change problems including screwed up parking meters. In other words, basically the same totally minor problems that happened in the spring... or in years past when people simply forgot to change their clocks. My cell phone was among those that got the time shift wrong, but it wasn't too difficult to figure out the problem and fix it Sunday morning when I noticed it had the wrong time. So, basically, hype or no hype, every time there's a time change, there are going to be a few minor problems, but it's no "aclockalypse now".

SK writes to tell us that a new streetcar, powered by lithium battery, has been invented by the Railway Technical Research Institute in Kokubunji, Tokyo. The new transport is capable of speeds of 40 kph for 15 kilometers and can convert 70 percent of its deceleration energy into electricity which is then sent back to the battery which can recharge in under one minute.

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Kris Kuksi makes fantastical sculptures that are microcosms of a bizarre, grotesque, and surreal world that HR Giger, Hieronymus Bosch, and HP Lovecraft would happily call home. Seen here, "The Macabre Ride" (mixed media, 23" x 18"). Dark Roasted Blend interviewed Kuksi:

DRB How long have you been doing this, and how do you define your genre?

Kris I started my first one in 2004 called "Parasite and Host", and from there they have evolved into what I call an appropriated onslaught of shit put together that otherwise shouldn't be together in order to create a physical world of what is in my head...

DRB What kind of "mixed media" do you use in your sculptures?

Kris Mixed media is a very simplified term for what materials I use, but the list would be to long for this interview. I use "things". These things are pre-fabricated, injection-molded, press-molded, mass-produced, kitschy, weird stuff all brought together in a very articulated way that involves imagination, skill, math, craftsmanship, paint, and lastly, magic.

Link to Dark Roasted Blend interview, Link to Kris Kuksi's site

When Shai Agassi left SAP earlier this year, he talked about how he was inspired to do something in the alternative energy space. He apparently didn't waste much time in moving forward. He's now raised $200 million to try to build electric charging stations for electric cars around the world. It appears that the working theory here is that one of the things that's held back the success of the electric car is the lack of more widespread infrastructure to support it. There are gas stations everywhere, but electric charging stations are still quite rare (though, there are some). Of course, some might argue that there really are electric charging stations everywhere: they're called outlets. The second part of the plan is apparently that the company will own the batteries and charge people a service fee or rental fee to use and charge them at the stations -- lowering the upfront cost to consumers of buying an electric car. No matter what, this is definitely a "big bet" type of operation, and when you think about it, you could even ask if $200 million is even close to enough to actually accomplish the goal (meaning that the company is likely going to have to raise a lot more money). However, a bigger question is whether or not it really is the lack of these stations that are holding back the electric car industry. If you believe it's a chicken and egg issue, perhaps Agassi is onto something by getting folks to bet on building a bunch of chickens. But if the problem is that the eggs don't work right yet, then it may be quite a long time before the chickens matter. It would be nice to see this succeed, but it's a timing play. If Agassi is right about the timing, then this could become a huge business. If not, this could become another Iridium, with billions of dollars spent on mis-timed infrastructure, eventually left to rot away or sold for pennies on the dollar.

PJ1216 writes to mention that vinyl seems poised to make a comeback in the music industry. Some are even predicting that this comeback coupled with the surge in digital music sales could possibly close the door on CDs. "Portability is no longer any reason to stick with CDs, and neither is audio quality. Although vinyl purists are ripe for parody, they're right about one thing: Records can sound better than CDs. Although CDs have a wider dynamic range, mastering houses are often encouraged to compress the audio on CDs to make it as loud as possible: It's the so-called loudness war. Since the audio on vinyl can't be compressed to such extremes, records generally offer a more nuanced sound. Another reason for vinyl's sonic superiority is that no matter how high a sampling rate is, it can never contain all of the data present in an analog groove, Nyquist's theorem to the contrary."

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In today's episode of Boing Boing tv:

Here's what happens when you take Halloween too far. A cautionary tale provided courtesy of Danny Diamond and a crew of video guerrillas who say: "We dedicate this to the memory of Tim E Woodsman, 1972 - 2007. We miss you: Jason, Jolon, Glasgow, Martha, Brody, Danny & everyone who made CRAPtv possible."

Link.

Hulu.com, the online video venture from NBC Universal and News Corp., has launched a private beta program. Early reports suggest it's far from being a YouTube killer. "Although Hulu's parent companies have done a lot of things right with the service, the scheduling leaves something to be desired. For the time being, the site will only feature five weeks worth of content for any given show. From there, it's assumed that older content will get the boot in favor of newer episodes and movies. This isn't necessarily a deal breaker for us, but for a lot of viewers this will prevent the service from becoming with online video Shangri-La they'd imagined. Furthermore, with the lack of user-generated content, it falls short of the end-all be-all site for online video. Viewers are still going to go to YouTube and still click their ads -- but in terms of piracy a minor rebellion may have been quelled."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Remember the strange circumstances surrounding the Gulfstream II jet filled with 3.7 tons of cocaine that crashed in the Yucatan last month? There's more.

According to Mad Cow Morning News, the plane was once owned by ultra-rich Bush supporter Stephen Adams. (In July, the Federal Election Commission filed suit against Adams on charges that he "failed to report and include proper disclaimers on $1,000,000 in billboard ads during the 2004 Presidential race.")

Not only that, but Mad Cow alleges that Adam's business partner owned the other American drug plane that was found in Mexico with 5.5 tons of cocaine in 2006.

Recently-released FAA records from the Gulfstream II business jet that went down in Mexico a month ago with four tons of cocaine reveal that before it was “parked” in the name of a New York real estate developer with ties to the Russian Mob, the plane was owned by a secretive Midwestern media baron and Republican fund-raiser, who had a business partner who, incredibly, owned the other American drug plane, the DC9, recently busted in Mexico.

Adams was in business with Miami attorney Michael Farkas, who founded SkyWay Aircraft, which owned the DC9 busted in Mexico 18 months ago with 5.5 tons of cocaine aboard.

Moreover at the same time the Bush Ranger extraordinaire Stephen Adams owned the Gulfstream (N987SA) in 1999 and 2000, he was personally buying over $1 million of billboard ads for George W. Bush for his 2000 Presidential election bid.

Link

Earlier this month, we wondered if Fox was going to sue some Republican Congressional Representatives, after they used Simpsons characters in an awful parody press release. A Fox spokesperson claimed it was a violation of copyright, but it seemed unlikely that Fox would actually do anything about it. However, in a somewhat similar issue, it looks like Fox is actually going after Republican candidates for using Fox debate footage on their websites. Apparently, Fox first targeted just John McCain for using debate footage, but after being called out on not treating to the other candidates fairly, sent cease-and-desist letters to all candidates using Fox footage. What would be interestin