In his latest "Prime Palaver," Flint discusses how posting his books for free on the library have increased his sales. And he uses his own royalty statements to back up his claims. In summary, "it does not follow that simply because a copy is available for free that sales will therefore be hurt. In fact, they are more likely to be helped, for the simple reason that free copies -- call them 'samplers,' if you will -- are often the necessary inducement to convince people to buy something."

The very same can also be said of Napster and the other file trading services. When Napster was in full swing, CD sales skyrocketed. But after its demise, CD sales lagged. Unfortunately, the Recording Industry chooses to ignore these facts. Instead, they shoot themselves in the foot by raising prices to help offset slowing sales.
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Have you purchased a copy-protected CD? Are you sick of the industrys goal of copy-protecting all future CD releases? Well, there is a class action lawsuit "on the verge of being filed against the Big 5 Recording Labels over copy-protected CDs." If you're not happy with their plans, consider joining the class action lawsuit.
(Corrupt CDs Consumer Protection Lawsuit)

NASA scientists have accidentally discovered a huge supply of hydrogen gas stored beneath the Earth's crust. Regarded as the "ultimate clean fuel," this stored supply of hydrogen gas could conceivably end our dependence on dirty fuels, such as gas and coal, as it produces only water when burned. But the cost of extracting the trapped energy "is likely to be prohibitively expensive" for the time being. How will the energy monopolies (ExxonMobil, BP Amoco, Chevron-Texaco, et al.) react to this discovery?
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In what appears to be the first sign in the adoption of a national ID card, Viisage has been contracted "to design, develop and implement a new digital drivers' license system for the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles." The new system will allow the state of Connecticut to "acquire digital images, signatures and demographic data and store them in a relational database" as well as utilize the biometric features found in the new digitized drivers license system. It'd be interesting to see what would happen if everyone simply refused.
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In related news, Oracle's Larry Ellison appears to be still pushing for a national database. And the Oracle database will, in his own words, "track everything." It's a scary article.
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The wounded are still hiding in the churches at Manger Square, Bethlehem. An ambulance, after much international pressure, was allowed to travel from Deheishe in to Bethlehem to retrieve 6 bodies. But when it made a second attempt, the IDF "blindfolded, tied, and undressed the doctor, driver, nurse and a wounded person inside the ambulance." Their whereabouts are still unknown at this time. The situation in Bethlehem is deteriorating fast. Intervention from foreign government(s) is needed immediately. The massacre of innocent civilians need to stop now!

The situation in Ramallah and Bethlehem is getting worse and worse with every passing second. Wounded Palestinians have sought refuge inside the churches at Manger Square, Bethlehem. Because Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are blocking ambulances and other humanitarian aid from getting through, the wounded are being cared for by the priests and nuns of the churches; None have received official medical assistance. Seeking help is impossible due to the presence of Israeli snipers and tanks nearby who have taken up an official shoot to kill policy.

Suraida Saleh, a 21-year-old U.S. citizen, was gunned down by Israeli soldiers (Real audio file) in Ramallah while her 9-month-old son sat in her lap. Her father, Farhan Mohammed Saleh, had to bury her in the hospital's parking lot, alongside nearly 30 other dead Palestinians, because the hospital's morgue is overflowing and no one can get to the cemetery because the hospital has come under Israeli fire. The U.S. State Department knows, but has chosen not to release a statement or take any action.
 

U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte yesterday heard arguments from both sides regarding Elcomsoft's motion to dismiss the case. But after an hour of presenting their cases, Judge Whyte issued no ruling. It is expected that he'll issue a ruling on Elcomsoft's motion for dismissal within the coming weeks.