October 2003 Archived Blogs

		w October 24, 2003
		Bi-partisan Bill to Finally Fix USA Patriot Act ACLU Days before the second anniversary of the signing of the USA PATRIOT Act, the Senate Judiciary Committee held the first of a series of hearings to examine federal anti-terrorism laws. The ACLU is calling upon Congress to ensure that the powers granted to law enforcement are being used properly and to examine their necessity. There has been growing momentum on Capitol Hill to restore the civil liberties lost through legislation post 9/11. Currently, there are several bi-partisan measures pending in both chambers of Congress that seek to rollback parts of the controversial USA PATRIOT Act. A new bill recently introduced by Senators Larry Craig (R-ID) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) is a major step forward in the fight to restore checks on federal domestic spying powers. The bill -- known as the SAFE Act of 2003 -- would narrow several controversial sections of the USA PATRIOT Act and is garnering bipartisan support. This bill would permanently narrow the "sneak and peek" provision in the Patriot Act, which allows federal agents to search Americans' homes without notifying them for an indeterminate period. It also addresses Section 215 of the bill, which allows the FBI to obtain Americans' medical, business, library and even genetic records without probable cause. Specifically, it would require government investigators to show that the individual under suspicion has some connection to a foreign government or organization. This bill is being introduced at a time when nearly 200 communities have passed pro-civil liberties, anti-PATRIOT Act resolutions and several months after Representative C.L. Otter (R-ID) saw his amendment defunding sneak and peek searches in the PATRIOT Act pass by an overwhelming majority in the House. Stop the Patriot Act

		w October 23, 2003
		Venture to Offer ID Card for Use at Security Checks By JOHN SCHWARTZ Americans hate to wait. But will they pay - and submit to security screenings and even high-technology fingerprinting - to avoid the long lines snaking behind checkpoints in airports, office buildings and sports arenas? Steven Brill is betting that the answer is yes. Mr. Brill, a journalist and entrepreneur, will announce today a new company, Verified Identity Card Inc., which will offer customers an electronic card containing data showing that they are not on terrorism watch lists and do not have certain felony convictions on their records. More

		w October 22, 2003
		Machinima Festival at the American Museum of the Moving Image Check out the Machinima Film Festival 2003 at the American Museum of the Moving Image ib Saturday, October 25. Machinima is, basically, the practice of making short films using videogames and videogame engines. There will be talks, panels, displays, demos, continuous screenings, and a workshop. Everything is free, thanks to sponsors NVidia, AMD, and co-presenter AMAS (the Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences, of course -(http://www.machinima.org), who produced this whole event. For the gritty details

		w October 20, 2003
		Technology Initiative Flux Factory Flux Factory now brings you a diverse series of Sunday workshops throughout the fall season. From simple photography to open source programming and everything in between. What is coming up in the Technology Initiative: Oct 26th - Modern recording at home and in the studio (for those who missed the last one) Nov 2nd - A look into Linux pt. 1 Nov 9th - Rube Goldberg Workshop Nov 16th - Pinhole Photography Nov 23rd - Video Mixing & Streaming Nov 30th - A look into Linux pt. 2 Dec 7th - An Afternoon of Folk Electronics TBA - Pirate Paper MachÈ Puppetry Techniques More details: http://www.fluxfactory.org