I got this link from Slashdot. CNN is running a story on IBM getting in trouble for using guerilla marketing techniques in SF. Seems they sprayed stencils using biodegradable chalk that didn't disappear when it rained.

A lot of folks have been talking about the day when writers would be employed to do pieces for companies, legal or otherwise. The fact that Big Blue (IBM) straight up bit graf shows just what influence writing has on the US popular culture.

I wonder if IBM had guys in white shirts and ties out doing the bombing?

Spyware detection and removal

Got a PC? Use any "free" software? You're probably already infested.
spychecker.com

Wired 9.04: The Hot New Medium: Paper

This is the most amazing thing I've read so far this month. If it works, expect the revolution to begin this fall.

Freighthopping and other interesting reading

Alternative Press Review - Zines - Your Guide Beyond the Mainstream

Just say no to HTML and Javascript email

E-mail wiretapping

A graffiti fantasy world
All Your Base Are Belong to Us

Maps of Europe

Another great Dutch site

Piece Time Holland

Free? Trade?

Some helpful person just sent us this:

"In a little over a week, Quebec City
will host - behind a six-mile long,
barbed-wire fence - the meeting of this
hemisphere?s political leaders to
discuss the FTAA, a plan to extend free
trade throughout this side of the earth.
This agreement would bring huge
corporations into a height of power
previously unimagined; it would be an
exponential growth of the sweatshops in
Mexico"

I found these information sites:

Fighting the Octopus: Protest Against the FTAA - Quebec City - April 2001



WTOAction.Org: FTAA Summit, April 2001 - Quebec City



Stop the FTAA


Coalition to Shut Down the OAS/FTAA

I really dig the ACLU, even when they support some wack stuff. This is one thing that's not wack:

The ACLU Pocket Card on Police Encounters

http://www.aclu.org/library/bustcard.html

If you're in LA, and are looking for folks that are trying to make a change, take a look at this gathering. These people have supported writers for years now and are always looking to build bridges to others folks.

Dreaming Revolution II: Breaking It Down

Dreaming Revolution I was the beginning last December. Now the League of
Revolutionaries for a New America (LRNA) presents another ground-breaking
citywide gathering, Dreaming Revolution II: Breaking it Down. This time we
will expand on our theme of a positive vision of the future based on the need
for a peaceful, cooperative society. We will break that vision down into
different components, the opportunities and dangers that lie before humanity
on the road ahead.

Music & Poetry

Keynote presentation: "What is a Revolution?"
by Luis Rodriguez, author of Always Running: La Vida Loca--Gang Days in L.A.

Workshops will include:

Napster, California's Energy Crisis, Spirituality and Revolution, The American Power Structure, Radio and Revolution, Race and Class, The Police State

Saturday, May 19, 9:30 AM-4PM / $3 donation
UTLA Auditorium, 3303 Wilshire
(corner of Berendo, east of Normandie)
Lunch will be available

For more information: 323-969-1885 / musicrev3@aol.com

Wear Masks!

Breathing paint fumes can kill you quickly or it can kill you slowly. Wear a real respirator with fresh cartridges whenever possible, especially indoors and in tunnels.

I got a letter from a writer's widow recently: "my husband, Kevin (ESR) died from a brain tumor (undoubtedly from never ever wearing proper protection)"

Read more about masks and your health in this article by Sehm.

Remember, Fumes+Trains=sparks=BOOM! Don't let it happen to you.

Opera

A leaner, meaner browser from Norway. Check it out. And the Mac version finally went into beta.

Opera 5

Sope BA IHU, RIP

It is impossible to say anything meaningful when someone dies suddenly and tragically, because it defies sense, logic. We are stunned and saddened. Sope was a cool guy who was well liked, and he had great style. He was WAY too young to go. Big hugs for his crewmembers, friends, and family.

BA crew would appreciate your Sope photos for his memorial page. Go to
burningamerica.com to do that and to pay your respects. They have a eulogy for Bill here.

There are only a few of his pieces online right now. They don't do justice to his work, life or influence. But they're all we have now except the memories.

You are your own greatest asset. Respect yourself and be wise. Cities are dangerous places and deadly accidents happen every day. Writers especially are at risk, because of that abandoned building fetish.

Don't go alone.
Take a phone.
Never trust a rotten roof.
Know your escape routes.
Watch your back.
Don't set fires.
Avoid concentrated fumes.

Be careful out there.

Chicago Flava

Don't miss it. Front page is a tad slow so wait for it.