"When they finally / put you in the ground / I'll stand on your grave / and tramp the dirt down" -- Elvis Costello

The CIPA -- the Child Internet Protection Act -- is dead. At least for now, anyway. Further appeals may push it up to the Supreme Court.

The collection of confusingly-acronymed child/Internet laws has become bewilderingly vast, so let's review. The CIPA is, in my opinion, one of the most ridiculous and ill-advised of the lot. It would have made use of Internet-filtering software compulsory in any library that accepts federal funding.

It's the rare library that can subsist without federal subsidies, so this would in effect have made Internet censorship mandatory in public libraries.

The limitations and failures of such filtering software have been widely demonstrated, most notably through demonstrations of their tendency to block safe sex information, breast cancer information, and other useful health information.

However, even smut has its place in a library. Erotic fiction and photography have entered the pantheon of legitimate scholarly research topics, and consequently, I would find even a filter that didn't block health information to be more restrictive than should be acceptable in institutions that are dedicated to collecting, archiving and organizing our culture. Our whole culture.

As recognized by the three-judge panel, there are other ways to manage children's access to the Internet, ways that do not consequently limit the availability of relevant information to adults.

So, dance on the grave of the CIPA! Tramp the dirt down!

The site finally made its appearance on Google today. Woohoo!

Traffic is running at the low, but steady pace of about 12 not-me visits per day.

I know you're out there.

I just want to say welcome, thanks for reading, and feel free to leave comments on the articles, or in the Shoutbox at the lower right.

Feedback is what separates pixels from paper, so tell me what you think, tell me what you feel, tell me what you had for breakfast.

Cheers!

Star Wars merchandising in conjunction with the release of Episode II is predictably widespread. The usual Legos, lunchboxes, minibusts, and action figures are all out there on the shelves in the now-traditional marketing blitz.

But God help the poor rocker boy or grrl who purchases these guitars, made by Fernandes and found via The Angry Robot. Let me Jedi mind-trick you for a moment -- if you think having one of these will make you cool, think again.

If a band manages to get a video on MTV playing one of these guitars within the next 10 years, I'll personally eat all of their broken strings for the rest of my life.

After that, ironic coolness will set in and it might actually be hip to have one. But for now, These Are NOT The Guitars You Want. (insert subtle hand flourish here)