BIGSTUPIDGRIN

At 92, Movie Bootlegger Is Soldiers’ Hero

“Big Hy” — his handle among many loyal customers — would almost certainly be cast as Hollywood Enemy No. 1 but for a few details. He is actually Hyman Strachman, a 92-year-old, 5-foot-5 World War II veteran trying to stay busy after the death of his wife. And he has sent every one of his copied DVDs, almost 4,000 boxes of them to date, free to American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

First major outing of Hollywood’s UltraViolet digital streaming effort shows the scheme for what it really is: DRM all over again, and a way to make you pay for content over and over, too.

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—	UltraViolet: DRM by any other name still stinks Couldn’t agree more. (I also had no idea the streaming rights had an expiration date.)

propagandery:

Japanese Company Announces Plans to Build 20,000-Mile-High Space Elevator by 2050

Scientists have long considered the possibility of creating ultra-tall space elevators that stretch beyond the earth’s atmosphere to transport satellites and shuttles into outer space without the cost and environmental impact of rocket fuels. Now a Japanese company specializing in major infrastructure projects called The Obayashi Corporation has announced plans to build a space elevator by 2050, with the aim of taking tourists 20,000 miles above the planet’s surface.

Guess I know where I’m going for my 75th birthday…