PLANET example

Drawing faces is hard; and as children suckled at the teat of MTV we posses neither the patience nor the discipline required to learn the skill. So imagine our surprise to discover the Self-Portrait Machine, a device that snaps your photo and then forces you to draw your own face by dragging your bound hands around until the portrait is complete. Jen Hui Liao's project is the result of an observation that "our personal identities are represented by the products of the man-machine relationship." So it's like art and the intersection of philosophy... only it's not -- it's just a robot too lazy to make the portrait itself. See the video after the break.

While AT&T's still claiming MicroCell will be out before the year's up, Sprint's bringing out the big words by boasting to Unstrung it'll be beating everyone to the market with its 3G femtocell solution. Company VP of device and technology development Mathew Oommen is pretty light on some of the finer details -- like actual release date, hardware supplier, pricing scheme, and pretty much every other piece of information we'd want -- but he did imply there'd be multiple options available for the CDMA EV-DO Rev. A extender, including a device more tailored for enterprise use. Look, you two can fight all you want over who gets first, but in the end, we just want our Pres and iPhones to live together and home in perfect-reception harmony -- think we can get that in time for Christmas?

ABC has just picked up FX TV Studios' series Defying Gravity from Grey's Anatomy producer James Parriott. The show revolves around eight astronauts from five countries who undertake a mysterious six-year mission through the solar system. And while the 13-episode adventure tale doesn't really involve a medical plot, it has been described as "Grey's Anatomy in Space."

via http://www.monoscope.com/2008/11/johnson_banks_glenfiddich.html

via http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/8090/empireisokhk6.jpg

Today, at the "Aspen Institue Ideas Festival" a deeply knowledgeable panel discussing "Global Insurgency" included former secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, Representative Jane Harman, General (Ret.) Jack Keane, and member of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board Mike McConnell with Slate columnist Fred Kaplan as moderator. The panel ruminated on the nation's preparedness against future attack . It was a sobering discussion about the ambitions of radical Islam to bring massive destruction to the United States and the West in general. Perhaps the most ominous comment that came from the panel was that,as matters now stand, there is a consensus within the intelligence community that a weapon of mass destruction will be released (biological agents, chemical attack, or nuclear detonation) within the next five years. That our ability to deal with this threat has improved, but is still far from the level that it might be if government did all it could. To paraphrase a comment made during the discussion attributed to Sidney Harman, a trustee of the Institute, "Ironically we are armed with an analog capability fighting against an enemy astute in cutting edge digital know-how, aiming to bring us back to the 12th century"

Given the grim procrastinations, it seems singularly incongruous that a branch of our government is oblivious or impotent to this present and grave threat to the nation's safety. Just the other day the Supreme Court, in its wisdom or lack thereof, upheld the ruling of a lower court ruling that four Saudi princes and Saudi Arabia are immune from 9-11 litigation that would have held them accountable for their alleged actions in assisting Al-Qaeda. The immunity is extended to them not because they are innocent of the issues raised in the lawsuits by families of the 9-11 victims. No, but rather the doctrine of "Sovereign Immunity" makes them inaccessable to justice in American courts

This raises the very troubling question that if "Sovereign Immunity" applies and is extended to Saudi princes, how can we effectively deal with the issue of terrorism. It would mean a tier of engaged protagonists would be permitted to function as instigators and supporters of terrorism, accountable to no one, least of all the courts of law where their alleged murderous intercession was in large measure responsible for the death of thousands.

Sunday, July 5 will be a day for elections in Mexico. Positions for governors in several states, more than 600 positions for mayors and other public representatives will be filled. However, an important percentage of the Mexicans citizens are expected to forgo their right to vote and some have decided to turn in a null ballot.

According to Mexican newspaper Milenio [es], 10% of the ballots of the elections are expected to be nullified as a way to express political discontent. According to the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary (Tribunal Electoral del Poder Judicial de la Federación , TEPJF), abstinence could reach 70%, as declared to newspaper El Norte [es, requires subscription].

There are many known reasons to avoid voting for any political party. They include feeling a lack of representation by the candidates and their proposals, the inefficiency of the current public representatives, the lack of credibility in the Mexican electoral system, and media manipulation of the electoral campaigns. Illustration artist and blogger Edgar Clement explains in his blog [es] that he will nullify his vote unless four conditions are met:

via http://www.formfiftyfive.com/

On Wednesday I spoke with antitrust attorney Gary Reback, the man who spearheaded the push to break up Microsoft in the nineties. The event was hosted by HBSTech at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley.

If anyone in the world can make antitrust law interesting, it’s Reback.

I'm liveblogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts, or follow me on Twitter. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for news related to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time. You can support this post on Digg here.

3:43 AM ET -- Ahmadinejad 'facing diplomatic isolation.' The Los Angeles Times' term -- "diplomatic isolation" -- may be too strong for what we've seen thus far. A dozen or so countries have recognized Ahmadinejad'd victory, and even the U.S. provided visas to Iranian officials who visited the UN in New York last week. But as the Times notes today, Ahmadinejad's diplomatic treatment has certainly undergone a significant change since his tainted "victory" in last month's election:

A similar pattern has emerged in the Middle East, where Arab regimes have long been wary of Iran's ambitions. Authorities in Jordan withdrew licenses for two Iranian news organizations this week and the sultan of Oman reportedly canceled a trip to Tehran following the unrest after Iran's June 12 election.

The GOP is always vastly outnumbered in the executive branch's bureaucracy - no matter who is president.

A little preparation can help you get your message out properly. (Sign up as a citizen reporter for PJTV here.)

Two new Battlestations: Pacific DLC inbound
Paparazzi beware! Flash purse stalks the stalkers
The Pirate Bay, well on its way to irrelevance at record speed
What will you do if piracy as we know it goes away? (I’ll just read more)
Video: Heinz Beanzawave in action
Coming soon to a theater near you: Asteroids, for God’s sake

After pitching new spending programs as job creation, the horrendous unemployment numbers spell trouble for Dems.

What do Iran, China, and the U.S. have in common? More than you might think.

For a country with heavily religion-infused politics, gay couples in Israel enjoy an impressive number of legal rights.

The rocker's timely cover of "Stand by Me" is a reminder that Iranians still need us to stand by them.

As BuddyTV reported previously, The Bachelor star Jason Mesnick and runner-up girlfriend Molly Malaney appeared yesterday on Good Morning America where Melissa Rycroft serves a special correspondent. The much-awaited TV appearance was Mesnick and Malaney's first together in nearly four months. 

If you've been gaming as long as we have, you know that Columns is one of Sega's great puzzle games. Like most puzzle games, the object is simply to line up four same-colored gems -- horizontally, vertically or diagonally -- and watch them explode. Whether you're familiar with the game or not, we've got some good news: Sega is giving away the iPhone version of Columns for free in celebration of USA's Independence Day. The app will be free starting midnight, Friday, July 3, all the way through Monday, July 6. Sega didn't specify a timezone, so we suggest you avoid downloading it if the price reads anything other than free.

WASHINGTON — Vice President Dick Cheney talked with top White House officials about how to respond to reporters' inquiries into who leaked the identity of a CIA operative, according to a court filing.

Cheney told the FBI about his recollection of discussions with his former top aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and other White House officials on the media's questions. But the Obama administration is fighting in court to keep the substance of what Cheney revealed to the FBI from the public.

The FBI interviewed Cheney in 2004 as it was investigating the leak of former CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to reporters the year before. Her name was revealed after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, criticized the Bush administration's prewar intelligence on Iraq.