A CD built for sharing

Why would big-name artists like David Byrne and the Beastie Boys agree to contribute songs to a compilation CD whose content is intended to be ripped, copied and traded under a Creative Commons license? Giving into reality, for one thing, says the Wall Street Journal:

If Creative Commons were to catch on more widely, artists might decide to let some of their music be traded free on the Web to promote concerts and related merchandise, as well as to drive sales of CDs and digital tracks protected by standard copyright notices.

A giant stumbles and falls

This almost never happens, but the most read, most e-mailed and most printed stories on SeattlePI.com today are all the same: The fall of AT&T Wireless.

Reporter Dan Richman delivers a very good, very detailed examination of how the Redmond-based industry pioneer deteriorated into takeover fodder. Missed opportunities, bad gambles on technology, poor service and post-merger culture clashes were all factors.

Trust the jester

Is "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart the most trusted man in America? Steve Young, political editor for NationalLampoon.com, says yes:

Enter Jon Stewart. A fake news host. Funny and arguably the most entertaining interviewer in politics, Stewart has become today's Walter Cronkite. Actually not today's Walter Cronkite, who has been painted as an out-of-the-closet myopic liberal. Stewart is 1974's Walter Cronkite. The most trusted man in America. His "Daily Show" on the Comedy Channel is the most consistently funny show on television. It also just might be the most honest news show, fake or real. ...

Satire is criticism, but the humor used to challenge must be bathed in truth, poking fun while, at the same time, presenting honestly the inanity of a situation. More critique than criticism, you hold up the words and thoughts to the light so it becomes clear what is actually being said. With a good satirist, the powerful don't get away with hollow profundities or hypocritical talking points.

Get your towels ready

Douglas Adams lives -- or, at least, his twisted imagination and voice continue.

Over on the other side of the Great Pond, BBC Radio 4 today begins broadcasting a new adaptation of the late humorist's best-selling "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" novels. The "tertiary phase" (i.e., third season) adapts the third novel in the series, "Life, the Universe and Everything." Adams posthumously plays the role of Agrajag, which he recorded before his death in 2001.

Fans who are out of radio reception range will be able to hear Webcasts of each episode for seven days starting the Thursday after its initial airing.

Adams began his satirical magnum opus as a radio series and, personally, I think it's still "Hitchhiker's" in its purest, most wildly entertaining form. I first heard the original 12 radio episodes, comprising two series, when Seattle NPR affiliate KUOW-FM aired them in the early '80s. I eagerly waited for more, but had long since given up hope.

BBC 4's "Hitchhiker's" radio site offers extensive background on the new series, including an amusing audio teaser, behind-the-scenes video and an insightful interview with the director of the new series. (Among other things, he explains how he picks up the action from the second radio series, even though it followed a divergent narrative and ended on a cliffhanger that doesn't appear in the books.)

BBC Online's main Hitchhiker's site is also worth checking out.

High heels as DWI defense

Durham, N.C., attorney Bill Thomas managed to get a client's drunk-driving case tossed out of court by arguing that she failed the field sobriety test because her 3 1/2-inch stiletto heels made it impossible for her to walk a straight line and turn around without stumbling.

Thomas raised other issues as well, as the Durham Herald Sun notes in great detail, but it's his unprecedented argument about footwear that's getting the most attention.

Questionable career choice

A Florida anger-management counselor with a history of assault arrests was charged with aggravated battery for allegedly unleashing two pit bulls on people taking refuge inside his office building during Hurricane Frances, the Palm Beach Post reports.

Your data's all wet

"Is information technology putting us constantly under pressure or could it also have a calming effect?" That's one of the questions that Datafountain, an interesting experiment in real-world interfaces, tries to answer. It depicts fluctuating currency rates for the yen, Euro and U.S. dollar as a sort of kinetic bar graph using upward-shooting jets of water.

It also inspires some wonderfully snarky commentary from Brian McDonough at News.com's News.blog:

This is why the Information Age is better than the Industrial Age. Where they had open sewers lining the streets, we get excessive data clutter, which fosters only a spiritual malaise. Beats cholera.

Watch this space--we're expecting news of bonsai trees cultivated to reveal global employment trends any day now.